PIER 39
Bayside pier marina overtaken by hundreds of wild sea lions, plus shops and waterfront views.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to PIER 39 in San Francisco follows the sea lions that hauled themselves onto dock K in September 1989 and never left, and the marina staff who wanted them gone. It traces the debate that followed, including a rumor linking their sudden arrival to the Loma Prieta earthquake weeks later, and reaches back to Warren Simmons, the man who spent years fighting government agencies to open the pier in 1978. Simmons once bet the mayor she'd wear a bikini here if he hit his deadline, and she did.
This audio guide was created using AI.
Similar places
Fisherman's Wharf
Waterfront district of seafood stalls, sea lion-packed docks, and bay views toward Alcatraz.
San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park
Historic fleet of tall ships and a working pier telling the story of Pacific Coast seafaring.
Blue Heron Lake
Willow-fringed lake ringed by a walking path, surrounding a wooded island where great blue herons nest each spring.
Ferry Building
Beaux-Arts transit hall with a towering 1898 clock, reborn as a gourmet marketplace on the waterfront.
California Academy of Sciences
Living-roof natural history museum housing an aquarium, planetarium and rainforest under one Renzo Piano-designed structure.
Main Street Tiburon
Row of former nineteenth-century houseboats, drained and set on foundations, now shops and cafes.