Alcatraz dock closure

Alcatraz Island is closed to visitors through Friday, April 24, after dock repairs halted all landings at San Francisco’s most visited island site. (nps.gov) The National Park Service posted the closure on April 17 and said access shut down from Monday, April 20, through Friday, April 24. The agency said all scheduled tours were refunded and told visitors to reschedule through Alcatraz City Cruises. (nps.gov) SFGATE reported the island is scheduled to reopen on Saturday, April 25. Joshua Winchell, Alcatraz’s chief of communications and special park uses, said the work was a planned repair and inspection of the dock pilings. (sfgate.com) The closure stops the only ferries allowed to unload passengers on the island. The Park Service says Alcatraz City Cruises is the only National Park Service-authorized ferry provider permitted to dock there. (nps.gov) That matters because Alcatraz visits depend on a tight ferry schedule from Pier 33. Alcatraz City Cruises lists 15 daily daytime departures in the current spring schedule, starting at 8:40 a.m. and running through 3:50 p.m., plus separate night-tour sailings Tuesday through Saturday. (cityexperiences.com) The island is one of San Francisco’s biggest tourist draws, and the dock is its choke point. Winchell told SFGATE that more than 1 million people disembark there each year, so even a short repair window scrambles a large number of bookings. (sfgate.com) Alcatraz is not just a former federal prison stop. The Park Service describes it as a site that also includes a military fort, a military prison, and the 1969-71 occupation by Indians of All Tribes, which it presents as part of the island’s civil rights history. (nps.gov) Visitors who still want to go later this spring are likely to face a tighter booking calendar after the reopening. The Park Service already recommends buying ferry tickets in advance, and City Cruises’ current fares start at $47.95 for adult day tours and $59.65 for adult night tours. (nps.gov)