Alcatraz Island Guide Reviews 

The boat ride was seamless, the island and the history was really great. The pre-recorded guided tour really helped my family and I better understand Alcatraz and its history.

Our only issue was one of the volunteer guides, "Mother Constance." She is a historical reenactor of the Civil War. She mainly kept to her character and presented information as she felt it would have been seen from that time period, but she deviated from it to include a modern perspective that incorrectly stated that the cause of the Civil War as not due to slavery. Several states cited protection of slavery as their main reason for succession (i.e., Mississipi, Georgia, Texas, S. Carolina) and VP of the Confederacy Stephens stated that slavery was a main motivator for succession. She stated the Civil War was about state rights- but she left out that it was the states' right to enslavement that was the motivator. She also said that San Francisco was largely confederate at that time, it was not. In addition, she emphasized that in the 1960's when native Americans took over Alcatraz it was not "abandoned" in order to discredit the movement, why Alcatraz was taken over, and the fight for rights. She was caught up on this point, which is questionable, to invalidate the movement. It was very black-and-white in her telling and we would have preferred a non-biased source to better teach us about what happened and why.

All in all, we truly enjoyed the actual tour of the prison, but wish we had walked by "Mother Constance."

The entire experience was wonderful! Very organized and streamlined system for boarding/disembarking. There are ferries back every 20-40 minutes, you are able to stay as long as you want. The self-guided audio tour was fantastic. I would highly recommended doing this in SF.

Everyone was super helpful and friendly, loved the volunteer presentation by Steven and the audio walk through was so easy to follow!

Bring back the HUMAN tour guides!!!! I used to LOVE Alcatraz when they had human tour guides! This time I paid almost $200 for a tour of the prison for myself and a family member who’s a senior citizen. The icky, gross, tour headsets wouldn’t work correctly, and there wasn’t a single park ranger around/in sight to assist us with fixing them!!!! So, we went through the whole darn tour only having access to the little information that was noted on the actual displays. It was so dreadfully BORING and a total let down for my family member!!! I would be willing to pay more $$$ for a VIP tour in which:
1.) We’re taken up to the prison via the tram, by a HUMAN tour guide who points out key information about the prison and the island on the way up, and
2.) we’re also shown additional parts of the prison that are closed to the general public.

BRING BACK THE gosh-darn HUMAN TOUR GUIDES!!!!

I decided to take my visiting friend to a "tourist" destination. As a resident I have only gone there twice before. It serves as a toursit destination but also its unique history as a prison and the 19 month takeover by indigenous peoples. So it serves as a valuable educational site for the many people that visit it across the wor4ld.

The crowds were worse than any others I've experienced in many years. Way too many people were let on to the island/into the cell block at the same time. It ruined the experience. And I couldn't even get on to the boat I had booked, even though I arrived 30 minutes early. And most of the island is roped off too but that's more of a minor thing. And the audio tour isn't even that great (it was informative but I thought it would be a little more dramatic and include more stories). So honestly I don't think it's worth it at all. It's not even about the money. It's a waste of time for an uncomfortable and lame experience overall. The whole process is disorganized and horribly managed.

The team that created the audio tour and visuals deserves all the kudos. They helped us understand the gravity of what we were experiencing. The sound effects really drove it home. I also appreciated that we were able to see the “real thing” as opposed to a cleaned up version. It felt like even the building had received a life sentence in prison. Thank you all for what you do to educate the public in such a powerful way. We’ll never forget your work.

We were flying to San Francisco but the airline canceled the flight as we were at the airport. I emailed this company to see if we could get a refund due to unforeseen circumstances and with in 15 seconds got an automated response saying denied request. Not a company I will rebook with when we make it San Francisco.

Everything was orderly and friendly. Staff were helpful

Disappointing that large parts of the prison are no longer accessible and those that are, are really really poorly maintained and untidy. What is advertised as a 2 to 3 hour excursion is more likely a 1 to 1 1/2 hour at most.

I loved it I always wanted to visit this place I’m very happy

I have been in San Francisco 3 times and for the very first time I get to visit Alcatraz, overall is a great experience but I love history and would love to have more about facts, about stories that happened there.
To have access to other buildings

BEWARE: This company is not an authorized official provider, they take your reservation then go to official providers website to book your reservation using your information and their virtual card. They never send the tour operators actually confirmation. They run two websites selling exactly same thing in order to scam as many customers as they can. Their other website is Alcatraz-tickets.com. They also a running same scam in New York for the Statue of Liberty. They just appeared online in February of 2026 and have no experience selling tickets to Alcatraz. Also website made with Ai, including ads.

Overly crowded, was not informed that large sections were under construction and the audio equipment was broken

We don’t normally go on tours. But, I wanted to take my granddaughter to have a different kind of experience on our trip together, so I chose the Alcatraz tour. It was sooooo interesting and well done. The short ferry trip itself was fun and beautiful. The tour was so unique and interesting. I think the best part was having the audio tour use the accounts of the actual wardens, inmates, and guards tell their own stories. It was just the best. Thank you!

Booking process, was easy. Boat ride was great to and from. We felt rushed through audio tour only because it was extremely crowded. We would have enjoyed it more if they limited the amount of guests. The island was under construction would have liked to explore more.

The jailhouse tour was the highlight of the journey

My experience was great. I have no complaints! I loved it! I especially appreciated the audio tour, it was a easy way to dive more into the history and facts behind alcatraz. I enjoyed every bit of my time there and I would highly recommend anyone go and visit.

The whole experience was amazing. My whole group said this was the best part on our trip

Everything went perfect thank you. Well organized. Friendly Staff