San Francisco

Alcatraz Island and its infamous prison holds fascination for many of us, and so I was absolutely certain I didn't want to miss a tour to the Island on my recent trip to San Francisco. Visit the NPS.gov website for more information, and this links you to the http://www.alcatrazcruises.com/ which is the official agent for tickets.

There are several crossings a day over to the Island, typically every half hour, and Evening Tours are also available. It is recommended you leave around 2.5 hours for the trip and I would agree with this. Tickets are non transferable and non refundable.

We happened to be down at the wharf almost 24 hours before we were due to depart and spotted a ticket collection point (requiring credit card) at Pier 41. We decided to retrieve them to save time the following day, and we soon realised we had mixed our dates up! I had booked Saturday, having agreed this with my youngest sister, but then I got it into my head that I had booked Sunday instead for some reason. We visited the ticket booth and were served by a wonderful assistant who swapped them for tickets for the following day without quibble. I am just glad the tickets were not particularly expensive if I did have to shell out for three more! Top Marks for common sense service from me.

The Island itself is only about 1.5 miles from Fisherman's Wharf out into the Bay. On water, 1.5 miles does not look like a great distance, and it seems unfathomable that none of the 36 men who tried to escape made it, with five who were never seen again presumed to have died in the cold water with its strong currents.

The queues to board the boat were considerable, but it managed to absorb everyone with ease, and the journey over is fairly swift. In fact the queue to board was slowed down because of their professional photographer taking photos of each couple/family group before they boarded. We declined to have ours done, as I find that too tacky for me!

My other sister and fiancé had visited the previous day, and given us a tip to head straight up the hill to the prison, rather than listening to the Park Ranger who she stated "loved the sound of his own voice" and would keep you there at the dockside in the intense heat for ages. In fact he kept our boat-load there a considerable time, as we had almost finished the prison tour, before we bumped into my brother-in-law's family starting their tour, and in the blaring Californian sunshine, I am glad we did not stand around for too long. Take that tip from me now too!

The Island is known as the Rock, and is not particularly big at all. There is a fairly steep but thankfully short walk up to the Prison entrance, and there is also a tram type service for anyone with walking difficulties, which is first come first served and not provided for the enjoyment of everyone.

The prison tour itself is a self guided tour. Our headsets were included in the price, and you are guided through the prison over a period of about 40 minutes. Much of the voice over is by ex Alcatraz prisoners themselves.

The prison is not particularly large and while it had capacity for over 300 prisoners, it never housed more than around 260. The cells are grouped into four blocks A/B/C/D Block, with D block being the most severe punishment cells - for extra discipline.

The inmates had their own names for the corridors that ran parallel to the four blocks, a sense of humour perhaps, in that two of the key corridors are named "Broadway" and "Michigan Avenue". In fact these cells were completely basic, and the bars meant that the men had no privacy from the cell mate opposite them. Most men were sent here from other prisons, for behavioural issues, and Alcatraz was seen as a last resort.

I think it was surprising that Alcatraz was not used as a Federal Penitentiary for a particularly long time - just 29 years prior to 1963. It was also used as a Military Prison from 1859 and escapes were more successful under the army regime.

The audio tape gives insight into some of the most notable escape attempts on Alcatraz, including the 1946 3 day siege known as the Battle of Alcatraz which resulted in several deaths of both prisoners and guards. You can even see inside the cells of the escape of 1962, when three prisoners foiled guards by leaving dummy heads in their beds, meaning they were not missed until morning - and indeed were never seen again.

The prison itself was closed in 1963 as the running costs were too high to house the prisoners, and wardens and their families. It was quite bizarre to think that several prison warden families lived here on this tiny Island which contains nothing more than a prison. It was then occupied by American Indians before they were forced off after a couple of years and the Island was turned over to the Park services.

There are a couple of shops selling Alcatraz related books, films and other gift items. There is no food and drink available on the Island and therefore it is advisable to take your own water especially. (there are limited food and drinks available on the ferry over)

Overall, it was a very enjoyable and interesting trip and I think the voices of prisoners on the self guided tour give an excellent insight into the harsh conditions - if the sight of the cells don't do that already.