Bay Quackers

Does anyone know if this company is still in business? I have tried multiple times to reach them via phone and it says the line has been disconnected, and ticketweb is not available to purchase tickets through. Yet their site is still up and running, and I have paid for Groupons. Would love to know if I am just missing something, but this isn’t looking good.
I just noticed another reviewer here that mentions service being suspended due to Insurance issues. I still leave a poor review, as there is NOTHING on their website giving any information.

It makes me really sad to write this, because I’ve had a couple of great experiences with Bay Quackers — a friend loves them so much that he’s chartered rides for his birthday parties!
I booked (and prepaid for) the Xmas lights tour because my family was coming to town and, having heard my raves about how fun it was, my dad was really excited to go.
A week before the tour, I got a cancellation email. It read in part:
«I am very sorry to announce we cannot operate until further notice. Due to a misstep by our insurance agency, we are unable to provide tours at this time.»
The email included a phone # to call «to receive an immediate refund.» It sounded like a bad situation all around. Bummer!
But okay, I called the refund number and left a message. And another. And another. And sent several emails. I finally got a response telling me to email their reservations address for a refund. 10 days later? Nothing, and now their phone is disconnected & their email addresses are bouncing.
At this point I am going to assume the company went out of business, and I’m really unhappy that my $ 75 tickets will apparently go un-​refunded.

After reading all the great reviews, I am wondering how we had such a bad experience! We are locals and since Groupon was offering an amazing deal, we wanted to take advantage and be a tourist for a day.
As soon as we got there, we were told the tour was cancelled. Oh wait, it was sarcasam by «Captain Awesome» as she refers to herself. We were then told to get on the tank. We got on the tank at 3:00 for a 3:00 tour, we then sat until 3:14 in the hot sun. We were waiting for our tour guide who we were told wasn’t there yet… oh wait, Captain Awesome comes on board and is our tour guide. So she was there?
The information provided on the tour was informative (hence the 1 star) But then she started referring to weed («You know how people in SF like their grass») while there were kids on board which made me uncomfortable. And really, are we all lumped into that one category just because we live in San Francisco?
Then we went into the Bay, which I personally was excited for, until she let all the kids take the wheel and drive us around in circles. Which I get it, it’s a family tour and you should let the kids have fun… but at least be informative and shout out some facts about the bay to distract us from puking.
And by the way, we didn’t even get our duck noise makers!!!

After seeing a few ducky boats around town during the last few Giants games, we took action and made reservations when a visiting relative came to town. The perfect excuse to act like a tourist in your own backyard eh? After our Bay Quackers tour, we couldn’t have been happier…
Captain Joe was a funny and knowledgable tour guide, with loads of cool tidbits and lore from San Francisco’s rich history that he packs into this nice land-​and-​sea tour. It’s very San Francisco with a very pertinent 60s and 70s soundtrack, synced up to the various locales around town… speaking of the music, there were hip and modern pop hits you can dance to as well, and yes, a few people were dancing in their seats for sure.
We smiled, laughed, enjoyed a few purposefully corny jokes, as well as quack-​quacking at some passers-​by. And there are a few cool surprises along the way, e.g. a chance to steer the boat and learn some useful marine mammal facts while enjoying a ride along side the swimming and napping California sea lions.
Overall, it’s well worth the money, which we later discovered is priced very competitively. So go for it, jump into the Bay Quackers ducky-​boats-​with-​character, and like me I’m sure you’ll learn something about the area, a good thing even for Bay Area locals.
And who would’ve guessed the term Sugar Daddy came from a girl who lives in Union Square?!

It was soooo much fun! My 7yr old son loved the ride, and was even able to steer the land-​sea worthy automobile once we got in the ocean.
There were a few sea lions around and the scenery is quite beautiful. Being a Bay native I was surprised to hear some of the stories about the areas we visited on land.
The music selections were hilarious and Captain Joe was awesome!

An absolute blast! This is my second time to take out-​of-​towners on the Bay Quacker. We went on the Peking Duck this afternoon. I thoroughly enjoyed the ride and the info the tour guide told us. I love the fact the amphibious vessels are from WWII and women built them. It is fantastic when the Duck goes from land into water.

We had a fabulous tour with Captain Joe on the Psychadeladuck earlier this month. We were celebrating BF’s birthday on a Friday afternoon & no one else signed up for our tour, but Captain Joe gave us his all. I used to live in SF & BF spends a lot of time there, but we still learned quite a bit about the city. I also drove the boat, which was super fun.
We really enjoyed the music. Captain Joe selected songs that related to the area or history & he played more subdued tunes while we were in the water. We still have «Kung Fu Fighting» in our heads.
Next time we’re taking BF’s daughter with us.

Unenthusiastic, unoriginal tour guide with bad jokes + ANNOYING duck whistles + sea sickness + BORING = NEVER AGAIN.
If our guide was actually funny I probably would’ve enjoyed it more. Unfortunately we did not have the Swiss tour guide that everyone seems to rave about. The whole thing was just so boring. even though I’m a native, I expected the tour to be a little more fun and interesting. The best part was watching the seals and the pelicans try to catch food, even though the waves were making me really sea sick.

Loved our Swiss tour guide this morning– he was hilarious, made the whole ride fun and interactive. He gave us so many great unknown facts about the City of San Francisco. Coming from a native, that’s big!
We started by boarding this quack quack bus/​boat. Of course we sat in the back, the very last seats which turned out to be the best because they were elevated over everyone else and had no canopy– thank God the weather was absolutely gorgeous. We took an hour and a half tour of the downtown area, starting near Ghirardelli at the Cannery, through North Beach, Chinatown, Union Square, Soma, and past the Giants ballpark before we headed straight into the Bay without even stopping. We coasted along the waterfront before heading back onto land where we ended our tour driving along the Embarcadero and Pier 39.
What fun we had– even my three year old daughter had a blast.

Went with friends from England, we had a great time! The driver was a guy from Norway (or Sweden? Perhaps Denmark? I don’t know. Some place with blond, blue eyed white people), and he was pleasant and informative. I could have done without the gay jokes, but they weren’t really bad, just not necessary. Besides, people who aren’t local didn’t get the oblique references to the Castro anyway.
The tour is about 35 bucks per person, and lasts about 1.5 hours. You get a brief drive about, seeing Union Square, Chinatown, North Beach, SOMA, AT&T Park, and the Embarcadero. You go out into McCovey Cove, on the water, and see AT&T Park, Cape Hudson freighter, and the Bay Bridge and shipping cranes from far away. You can sit in the driver’s seat and have your photo taken. Big fun!
It’s a great way to get an overview of SF, see what things in the northeast that you may want to visit further, and it’s just a lot of fun to drive around. You’re taking pictures, people are taking photos of you, if you are with friends or family, it can be a great time.
The office oddly smelled like cigarette smoke. They are in the Anchorage Square, parking is 2 dollars every 20 minutes. Take public transit there if you want to save some money. I bought online and printed the .pdf sent to me, the lady said, «That’s it? No tickets?» No, tickets did not magically come out my printer when I printed the .pdf. She told me to sign and date the paper I printed, and drew an «x» and a line on it. Weird, but whatever, it worked.
I had a really good time, even being a local taking the tour. It’s just long enough to be enjoyable and informative, but not too long so it becomes obnoxious or your butt hurts from the wooden seats.

If you’re asking why I went on a duck tour of my own city, I would answer you, «Why not?» Going on the occasional tourist adventure sometimes makes you appreciate the city all the more! Or, it’s your roommate’s birthday and this is what he opted to do…
We happened to take the duck tour on what appeared to be a rough day for the Bay Quakers. For starters, their online reservation system wasn’t working properly and the tours looked booked when they weren’t. I felt bad — our tour only had our party of 4 and 1 other couple. Luckily, with that small of a party, the captain could tailor the tour for us and gave us a lot deeper history of San Francisco than he normally would. He also busted out some «Let’s get it on» while out on the water. The other ‘rough day’ indicator was our captain shared with us some disappointing news that the Bay Quakers could no longer give out the duck whistles. Story goes, a competitor stomped onto the scene with their duck whistles and now Bay Quakers are forbidden from joining in on the duck quacking fun. It was real shame as I was most looking forward to quaking at people for 80 minutes.
Regardless of the drama, I have to give Bay Quakers 4 solid stars for a job well done. The captain blew our minds with his knowledge of the city (especially the Cape Hudson!) and he’s not even originally from SF. They’re trying hard to fend off their competitors and they definitely earned my support!

If you’re going to be spotted by friends and co-​workers on a tour bus circling the San Francisco streets, make sure you’re sitting in a funny-​looking boat-​on-​wheels called BAY QUACKERS. Because everyone stares at you in the boat-​on-​wheels and you will be identified by friends and co-​workers who see you quacking by. Twice, even.

I have been on duck tours in other cities, and while this wasn’t the best, it wasn’t the worst either. Let me just say that I love riding around in ducks. you get such a difference perspective of cities when you view them from the water. Often you get to see sights that aren’t normally accessible either. We took this tour on a recent visit to San Fran over Memorial Day.
Anyways, the guide was great… really informative and funny. he let people drive the duck when we go around towards the baseball stadium. Problem is that i think he was driving a bit fast in the city. It is not a secret that the duck driving around is for tourist/​sight-​seeing purposes. There is no need to speed past the sights before people even realize what they’re looking at. I don’t even remember the first 15 minutes of the trip. I know a lot was said and pointed out, but I couldn’t tell you what it was. As soon as we were told a fact or something we would be a block and a half past it. Also, the music played between the guide’s talking was really loud. Maybe it was just where we chose our seats (extreme rear, on the elevated portion).

I have lived in multiple cities with a duck tour, and have been wanting to go on one for FOREVER! I finally went on the SF duck tour over Memorial Day Weekend and had a blast!
The driver was really knowledgeable and funny, and I even got to drive the boat.
The company was super professional, on time, and the guy we bought the tickets from gave us a great recommendation for an awesome dim sum place in The Richmond.
I would recommend this tour to anyone visiting the city or living in the city!
Lastly, and possibly most importantly, the music that they played on the tour was super fun to sing along with.

L got us free tickets to go on this fun ride! I like the fact that we tour around the city streets then went into the water for a blissful sail for a bit before returning to our starting point at the wharfs. It was fun to be a tourist for a day and the driver was funny and cracked us up with his witty jokes while telling us tales about San Francisco. Say, SOMA means south of Market Street?! My friends laughed at me coz I didn’t know that haha!
We were given a «beak» and when you blow the beak it gives out quacky noises. The whole bus will do that whenever the driver says «quack quack». Needless to say we got pretty much attention wherever we go!
I’d say everyone on the bus had fun yesterday! If you are visiting San Francisco for the first time this is something you want to do on top of cable car ride and ferry out to see Alcatraz & Golden Gate Bridge.
Also, it could be windy. Dressed warmly, wear something with a hoodie or bring a beanie just in case.

Went with my Mom when her work had their annual xmas party… it was SO MUCH FUN!
First you start off on this obnoxious looking duck/​bus contraption that had all the people in the streets gawking at you BUT I stopped caring about that after I found out that they let you bring food and alcohol on board! Oh yeah!
They take you through the city and go through all the touristy places, all the while making it fun and enjoyable. quack-​quacking along the way!
I was really scared when we finally got to the pier and were about to go into the water… in my head I was praying we wouldn’t sink… but the bus magically turned into a boat and we chugged away… with great views of the city and the bay bridge…
It was a thoroughly enjoyable and unforgettable, touristy thing to do in SF!
I highly recommend it at least once!

Quack Quack!
Great way to see the city sights on land and from the water! Went on the tour with relatives that were visiting from Germany, Tokyo, Colorado and Florida — Everyone LOVED it. The tour was fun and interesting and the driver gave lots of people an opportunity to drive the duck in the water which was a nice bonus. We asked to be dropped off at the Ferry Building (so we wouldn’t have to take the trolley back) and he happily accommodated us.
Even if your from the Bay Area this is a great way to spend a few hours out of your day in beautiful San Francisco!

I was always curious about these vehicles, which often appeared at SF Giants games. After zipping on the Bay, they would drive out of the water, and would drive around, with partiers whooping on board. It seemed kinda fun, but up until recently, I had never experienced it for myself.
That situation rectified itself, as I was invited along on a trip with the cool cats from 3^rd St. Boxing Gym/​Titanium Training Center (see my reviews of those fine establishments). My roomate/​RCTV cohost DDDanny does videography and editing work for the lads (Simon & Paul), and I help out on occasion. The guys have taken a liking to both of us, so Danny and I were asked (it was also my B-​day weekend) to join the fun.
So, we did.
At first, we thought we were gonna be on a «party bus”-type thing, but as the staff and friends of the company had a few pregame drinks and some food to start off, the big yellow Quackers vehicle pulled up, which everyone thought was great. We were in for a treat, and so off we went into the Bay for a short run to catch a fireworks display at ATT Park. A very nice, friendly (and patient) gentleman was the pilot/​driver, and he got us all loaded (no pun intended) up in short order.
As we went from Mission Bay towards the Park, we waved and hooted at the various boats and people along the way, and got a lot of smiles and waves back. A Coast Guard boat eyed us suspiciously, and swooped in for a closer look, but we weren’t harrassed any further. We continued on, consuming various liquids and so forth, but since we can only be in the water for a certain amount of time according to their rules, we opted out of freezing our asses off in the Bay, and went pub-​hopping instead. The cry of «A shot and a piss» was the order of the day – and we never did see the Fireworks.
We went across the City on land, stopping at various places like O’neill’s in North Beach, plus a few others (it gets a little fuzzy here, because we went hither and yon, drinking between and at each stop).
Eventually we ended up at the Holy Grail on Polk. My cohost DDDanny couldn’t hang, and he left early. I hung for another hour or so, but my tequila-​fueled buzz got the best of me, and I left.
I woke up the following day, a little worse for wear, but couldn’t wallow in it, because I had to finish prepping for my B-​day BBQ at the 540 Club.
No rest for Wicked/​Weary…

Quack! My friend visited this weekend, so I remember seeing these yellow tour trucks/​cars that then plop into the ocean to finish off the tour — she loved the idea so off we went! When you first board, they hand you these plastic yellow beak quacking whistles, that you use to quack at unassuming people on sidewalks in unison when your guide prompts you. So fun!
We toured from North Beach to Chinatown to Union Square to South of Market as our guide shared facts and tidbits about each neighborhood, and he was completely enjoyable along with the cheery soundtrack he would play in between stories.
Then we ker-​plopped into the water as we screamed in delight! Giving boaters and kayakers the right of way, we enjoyed the SF skyline from the waters near the Giants ballpark. What a beautiful day to enjoy the scenery! Our guide even let a good dozen of us take a turn behind the wheel in the open water (I volunteered and had a blast!).
After all was said and done as we eased back toward Fisherman’s Wharf, my friend and I were happy and satisfied after taking this tour. Thank you for the great memories and laughs! Quack quack!
Hint: If you are from the Bay Area, try asking for a «locals» discount.

Today’s installment finds your hero and his lovely wife at Beach and Leavenworth boarding a restored World War II DUKW amphibious transport vehicle.
Often referred to as ‘sitting duck’ because of its relatively slow speed and lack of armor, thousands of these tough and (for the time) advanced six-​wheel-​drive amphibious trucks were used in World War Two landings in the Pacific and North Africa, The only wheeled vehicle capable of operating on sand, the duck’s ability to bring in troops and supplies onto the beach was a critical part of the D-​Day landing at Normandy since all ports were controlled by the enemy. And now, 60 years later, its graduated to the higher calling of tourist attraction.
Quacks about the tour:
— Cost: $ 35/​person. I asked for a locals discount and they gave us 10% off.
— Time: About 90 minutes
— What you see/​do: The DUKW goes through Chinatown, North Beach, Union Square, and SOMA, heads down The Embarcadero and enters the water not too far from Distillery 209, tools around McCovey Cove behind the ball park, and comes back. Anyone interested (including little kids) is invited to drive the DUKW while in the water, of course under the watchful eye of John, amusing guide, Maritime Academy graduate, owner of the business and (I’d guess) extremely competent ship’s captain. This is a tour, so of course narration is provided.
Birds of a Feather
Bay Area Quakers provides a great forum for meeting tourists from all sorts of great countries like Germany, Russia, that England place, Alabama and even New Jersey
A question I’d like to duck: How was it?
The Lovely Wife, who is not easily seduced by machines of any kind, would say somewhat on the fowl side. Her comment was a B– bus tour combined with a not particularly meaningful cruise on the water.
I’d say it was pretty ducky. I had a blast, mostly because I liked the idea of being able to ride in a DUKW, enjoyed being on the water, and was thrilled to drive the vehicle (see picture). I also, based on a brief conversation, deeply respect John, and the work and talent that went into bringing 60+ year old machines up to modern, Coast Guard approved specs. I’d guess that most of the tourists on board felt they at least got their money’s worth.
San Francisco residents who immediately think «I’d like to ride that» when they hear «restored WWII amphibious vehicle» will share your hero’s feelings. Those who don’t will agree with TLW.