San Diego – Along the Embarcadero, the Maritime Museum of San Diego does not look like a typical museum. Its main exhibits are historic vessels moored at the waterfront, and visitors can climb aboard many of them. The collection is worth a visit for its range alone, spanning sail, steam and submarine. Before you go, the fleet has one change that matters, and it is covered below. ([1])
A sailing ship that has seen the world
The centerpiece is the Star of India, an iron barque built in 1863 and one of the best-known vessels on San Diego Bay. ([2])The ship weighs 1,197 tons and was originally launched from the Isle of Man. ([3])Its career was long, and one source says it has sailed around the globe more than 20 times. ([4])
The museum calls it the world’s oldest active sailing ship, and that claim appears throughout its own materials. ([5])Visitors can walk its decks and go below to see how the vessel was rigged and crewed. The interior exhibits explain how sailing technology shaped life at sea during the nineteenth century.
A Hollywood frigate and a closing date
The fleet also includes HMS Surprise, a replica of an 18th-century Royal Navy frigate. The ship gained wider fame as the vessel featured in the Academy Award-winning film “Master and Commander.” ([6])It has been part of the museum’s collection since 2004, and it has sailed alongside the Star of India and the schooner Californian. ([7])
Anyone hoping to board the frigate should plan soon. The museum has said that access to HMS Surprise ends on August 1, 2027, when the ship stops welcoming visitors for good. ([5])Other vessels, including the San Salvador replica of a Spanish galleon, remain part of the general admission experience.
Practical details at a glance
The museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the last guest entry is at 4 p.m. ([6])Tickets can be bought online or at the booth on the embarcadero. Ticket prices differ between resellers and the museum’s own site, so checking the official website before arrival is the safest approach. A narrated bay cruise aboard the 1914 pilot boat Pilot lasts about 45 minutes and is sold separately. ([8])
The submarine beside the tall ships
Among the vessels is the USS Dolphin, a diesel-electric submarine launched in 1968. The Navy decommissioned it in 2007. ([2])Its presence gives the waterfront a striking contrast, with the wooden-era rigging of the Star of India a short walk from a modern steel hull that once operated beneath the surface.
Descriptions of the submarine’s current role vary. One guide calls it the world’s deepest diving submarine, and another says it is still used primarily for testing and deep water research. ([4])Visitors who tour the boat will see its interior and learn about the crews who served aboard it, which gives the visit a more modern counterpoint to the historic fleet.
Most visitors spend two to three hours on the grounds, which leaves room for a bay cruise or a docent-led tour. ([9])For a city known for its beaches and zoo, the museum offers a different kind of day, one centered on the water and the ships that once worked it.
