Boat Tours From Lower Manhattan: Which Boat to Actually Get On
By 17John Hotel ·
Quick answer
Most boat tours from Lower Manhattan leave from two places: Pier 16 at South Street Seaport and the terminals at the bottom of the island. Pier 16 is where Circle Line Downtown runs its 50-minute Liberty Express to the Statue of Liberty, and where the South Street Seaport Museum sails the 1885 schooner Pioneer through October. If you want the harbor for nothing, the Staten Island Ferry from Whitehall is free and always will be. The only boat that actually lands you at the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island leaves from Battery Park, and that's a different kind of day out.
The harbor from the water, which is the only way to see this end of the island properly. · Photo by Zoshua Colah on Unsplash
We're at 17 John Street, and the water is a ten minute walk east down Fulton Street, so this is the question we get asked most in summer: which boat is worth it?
The honest answer is that they're not competing with each other. One is free and takes 25 minutes. One is a 140-year-old sailing ship. One actually lands you on Liberty Island, and one is really just the commuter ferry doing what it does anyway. Here's what each is for, where it leaves from, and who we'd send on it.
One piece of geography first: Pier 16 and Pier 11 are different piers. Pier 16 is the Seaport, at the foot of Fulton Street, where the tall ships are tied up. Pier 11 is Wall Street, a few blocks south, and it's the commuter dock. People get these mixed up and miss boats over it.
The Staten Island Ferry
· About a 20-minute walk south, or two stops on the subway to Whitehall · Free
This is the one we recommend first, and not because it's free. The ferry runs around the clock from Whitehall Terminal at the bottom of the island, takes about 25 minutes each way, and passes close enough to the Statue of Liberty for a real photograph. Stand on the right side of the boat heading out. There's no commentary, no ticket line and no upsell, which some people find is exactly what they wanted and others find a bit plain. If you only have an hour, take this one.
Circle Line Downtown at Pier 16
· About a 10-minute walk down Fulton Street to the Seaport · Ticketed, varies by route
The Liberty Express runs 50 minutes from Pier 16 straight down to the Statue of Liberty and back, which is the shortest way to see the harbor properly with someone telling you what you're looking at. It's the right pick if you have a narrow window in the afternoon or you're travelling with kids who have a limited tolerance for boats. It does not stop at Liberty Island, so if the plan is to stand under the statue, this is not that trip.
The 1885 schooner Pioneer
· Pier 16, same walk down Fulton Street · $5 to $70; standard sails are $32 adults, $28 seniors and children 0-12
This is our favourite thing on the water down here. Pioneer is a working cargo schooner from 1885, run by the South Street Seaport Museum, and on a sail they'll let you help haul on the lines if you want to. It's quiet, it's slow, and it's completely unlike the engine boats. The season runs into October, and evening sails go out as the light drops behind the Statue of Liberty. Book ahead: the boat is small and the good sailings fill.
The ferry to Liberty Island and Ellis Island
· Battery Park, about a 20-minute walk south along the water · Ticketed, includes both islands
This is the only boat that actually lands you at the Statue of Liberty and at Ellis Island, and it's a half day rather than an outing. Go early. The security line at Battery Park is the bottleneck, not the boat, and by late morning it's the longest queue in Lower Manhattan. If your interest is really the museum at Ellis Island rather than the statue itself, give yourself two hours there and treat Liberty Island as the stop on the way.
NYC Ferry from Pier 11, Wall Street
· About a 10-minute walk south to Wall Street and South Street · Standard NYC Ferry fare
Not a tour, which is the point. Pier 11 is a commuter dock, and the routes fan out to Brooklyn, Queens and up the East River. You get the same harbor and the same skyline from the top deck for a fraction of the money, and you end up somewhere you actually wanted to go, like DUMBO or Rockaway in summer. Check the schedule before you walk down; commuter boats keep commuter hours.
