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The Golden Gate Sausalito Ferry to the Ferry Building in San Francisco
This ferry is run by the public Golden Gate Bridge District, which serves both ferry terminals in Marin County: Sausalito and Larkspur from its base at The Ferry Building. Click here for the Sausalito Ferry Schedule linking Sausalito to the Ferry Building (located where Market St. reaches the Embarcadero in San Francisco) and we also have a page listing Sausalito Ferry Ticket Prices.
The Sausalito ferries now depart from Gate E behind The Ferry Building. The video above shows a Golden Gate Ferry voyage from San Francisco to Sausalito.
The Golden Gate Ferry website is here. In San Francisco, Sausalito Ferry tickets are sold from machines at the pier behind the Ferry Building (see photo below). In Sausalito they’re sold from machines located to the left (north) where the pier meets the parking lot. The ticket sales windows in San Francisco are no longer staffed, although the people at the pier are very pleasant and helpful when you ask questions.
NEW! ONLINE TICKETS AVAILABLE FOR GOLDEN GATE FERRIES. On the Golden Gate Ferry (not Blue and Gold Ferries — see below) you have to buy your ticket before you board. Tickets are available from the ticket machines at the pier. You can also buy tickets online here. Online tickets are good on any Sausalito Golden Gate Ferry sailing between the Ferry Building and Sausalito, but are not accepted on the private Blue and Gold service to Fisherman’s Wharf. The Golden Gate Ferry tickets are good for 90 days from the date you buy them, but there are no refunds or exchanges for unused or unwanted tickets.
Insiders Tip: The online ferry tickets work just like the downloadable tickets you may use on your phone at the airport. If you print or download your tickets and have them ready when you approach the pier it will make boarding faster for everyone.
If you ride the Golden Gate Ferry frequently you can buy a Clipper card that gives you big discounts on Ferry tickets! Clipper Cards are accepted on some Blue and Gold Fleet voyages to Fisherman’s Wharf, but you don’t get a discount since it is a private company. The monthly Ferry passes and Ferry ticket books that many of us grew up with have now been discontinued.
The capacity of the Sausalito Ferry is normally 715 but (unlike the morning runs in Larkspur) the commuter runs are never full and everyone gets on. The ferry can, however, fill up on summer afternoon departures from Sausalito when there are so many bikes on board that they run out of space. This is less a matter of how many people can ride on the ferry than a restriction on the bike storage space, and affects bike riders rather than regular passengers.
Click here to learn about other route from Sausalito, the Blue and Gold Fleet Ferry service to Pier 39 / Pier 41 at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco
