King County Water Taxi

Pacific Northwest commuting at its finest! The water taxi is a great way to get downtown and avoid traffic! They have lots of bike racks so you can bike once you get downtown!
They run a tight ship, always leaving and arriving on time! The staff is friendly and the space is clean, and there is a bathroom if you need it!

I love this water taxi.
It is Awesome !
I really recommend this one.
$ 4 with orca card for adult and $ 4.75 with cash.

Always so easy to take the water taxi from Alki to downtown. Come early, have breakfast and a cocktail at Marination, hop on the taxi, 15 minute ride to downtown. A short walk to The Market and/​or the stadiums! And the best part? Opening weekend for the water taxi, so it’s free! Who doesn’t love free? AND they previewed their new and vastly improved taxi! 15 minutes of luxury at its finest!

The water taxi is a great way to see other parts of seeing Seattle. I use it to commute and love how convenient it is. The ride is pleasant and you can enjoy the view. Its about 10 to 15 mins from west seattle to downtown.

Just recently discovered this gem of a transportation mode and it’s great! The crew was friendly and the short 10 – 15 minutes to get to west Seattle was fun!
Awesome way to see the skyline.

Great value, great fun, and killer views of Seattle! I recommend this method over driving if you want yo spend the day on Alki.

SO MUCH FUN! I know it is just a water taxi but was seriously so fun! Our little guy loved watching the water and being on the ferry! I would do this everyday if we could!

How about a cheap thrill? Get a great view of the Seattle skyline from the water (IF the weather cooperates). Nice little trip back and forth.

If you ever have the opportunity to take the water taxi to West Seattle, I strongly recommend doing it! It’s so fun yet practical! IThe views of the Seattle skyline are priceless regardless to the weather, and on a clear day you can see Mt. Rainier. The price is cheaper than a taxi or Über ride, but this is much more fun than taking a bus. Once you arrive to West Seattle, there is a free shuttle that takes you either to the admiral district or to Alki Beach.

Awesome for adding a one-​time 11PM departure from Downtown on Friday because both the Sounders and Mariners games ended later than expected. Great call!

I love this option to get over to Alki! If you have an Orca card you can use it but you can also pay cash or card. To pay with a card you have to pay at the meter machine like the machine you pay for meter parking. The cost is $ 4.75 per person one way.
I love that if it’s a cloudy/​rainy day you can just sit inside but there are limited outdoor seats when the weather is nice. Great for taking pics because the view is just beautiful! The water taxi stops at the Marination Station where you can grab a bite. :)

I had a great time on the water taxi and it is so convenient if you are downtown to cross over into the West Seattle neighborhood.
A one way fare is $ 4.75 but once you get into West Seattle there is a free shuttle you can get on to get to Alki Beach which is so useful because it is a real headache to go there and try and park on a hot summer day. Leaving downtown provides a beautiful view of the cityscape.
The other direction going into downtown is pretty too because you can see the Olympic Mountains if it is clear enough.
If you have an Orca card it will not be accepted at the automatic ticket vendors but if you go on the boat and purchase your ride there it will shave .75 cents off and if you bought the $ 9.00 all day regional pass through the Orca card that pass will get you a ride across without any additional charges.
Hooray for mass transit!

I loved taking the water taxi to Alki, there are two free shuttles that leave from the West Seattle side and drive you all over in a big circle, including a stop at Alki beach.
The view from the taxi is gorgeous and Alki is definitely worth a visit — might be the best $ 4 I spent in Seattle!

I have been on my share of ferries in Washington but had never been on the water taxi until recently. I must say that part of my motivation was knowing that it left Pier 50 downtown and ended up at Seacrest Park smack dab in front of Marination Ma Kai.
My fam was visiting from out of state and we took off for a little water trip. If you have an Orca card, you move directly to the line. If you have cash, you also move directly to the line but will pay $ 4 per person (it’s $ 3.50 per person with an Orca card). If you are paying by card, take a look around and arrive early. You will have to hit a machine to purchase your ticket on your way. If others have the same idea, your trip may be delayed.
The water taxi comes equipped with bathrooms but very little else. The trip back and forth from each dock is around 15 minutes. I know people use the water taxi to commute downtown but I’ve only been on it for a leisure ride. You can be outside in the wind if you want or inside where it’s a little less windy.
Personally, I enjoy the trip from Seacrest Park to Pier 50 more than the other way around. The Seattle skyline from that side is something I rarely see and I end up taking about 100 photos on the way back, looking for the right one.
Remember to check the schedule for frequency and last trips. Failing to do so could get you stranded. We missed a ferry but knew there were others after it and had a lovely afternoon in West Seattle.

We were visiting my cousin Gloria in West Seattle and she offered to drive us back to our downtown Seattle hotel.
But we wanted to experience the water taxi since we tried all the other forms of public transport.
She did say to sit up top and enjoy the views.
But…a seagull splattered us earlier and I wasn’t about to sit up there for more of those #$%^@ing birds to use us as target practice.
The view from the cabin was just as lovely!

I’ve taken the water taxi a small number of times as a way to kill some time with my kid while heading to Alki. It’s a pretty fun/​unique way to get from downtown (just south of the Bainbridge/​Bremerton ferries) to West Seattle.
I know several folks who live in West Seattle who actually use the combination of the free shuttle from Alki and the water taxi to commute — pretty cool.
I think the only annoying thing is that on the weekends it only runs about once an hour so you have to carefully plan your trips to avoid being stranded for a long time. I shouldn’t complain, really, we have some pretty awesome public transit by American city standards.

One of Seattle’s secret gems, the water taxi runs from downtown to West Seattle. It’s the best way across the bay. Fast and easy.
My favorite is to sit out in the open air on the second level. You get the views of the city, the tugs, the bridge, the Duwamish, and the port. You get the sound of waves, fog horns, and sea lions. And you get the feel of nautically inspired freedom.

I don’t know how long this service have been around but I am glad to finally discover it!
The 411:
–Located on Pier 50.
–A ticket cost $ 4 one-​way and kids under 5 is free if you’re heading to West Seattle.
–The ride takes about 10 – 15 minutes and the taxi runs til 7.
–There’s also another taxi that goes to Vashon Island for a dollar more.
Tips:
1). If you get motion sickness, be prepared. Since the ferry is smaller, you can feel the rockiness of the boat a tad bit more.
2). If you are a hat-​wearer, hang on to it if you’re going to be out on the deck. There was a «hat overboard» incidence on my ride back to Seattle.
3). And unfortunately, I don’t think the taxi allows pets on board. A group of people were turned down because they had two dogs with them and had already paid for the ticket too.
Overall, the experience was lovely. Plenty of seats. Great view. And the folks were nice. I went on this little adventure with my little brother and barely made it on-​time for the taxi but, they waited for us to pay for the ticket and make our way over. Thank guys!

My wife and I were in Seattle on vacation and we took the water taxi over to West Seattle because we had a groupon for a pizza place over there. We had to wait about 20 minutes for the next one to to come, but when we got on we had incredible views of Seattle. The only bad thing is that it smelled like mold or something towards the front, but the crew were very awesome.
Overall, it was a fierce and economical way to get across the way. The views were awesome. We took a walk after we got dropped off that was beautiful.

I had been meaning to hop the water taxi to West Seattle for some time, but had just not gotten around to it. Thankfully, my sister and niece visited from out of town, so I had a good excuse to take the ride.
It’s a quick trip across the bay — about 10 minutes, but along the way you get some of the most beautiful views of the city. Once you dock at Seacrect Park, there are free shuttles to West Seattle Junction, or you can get off and walk. We opted to walk about a block south to Salty’s for lunch on the patio.
West Seattle has the best views of the city, and the water taxi is by far the easiest way to get there.
Some updated to Julia’s review — the Water Taxi now departs from just south of the Colman ferry dock, at Pier 50. The outdoor deck has fixed benches and there’s ample seating. Prices are $ 3.50 (or $ 3.00 on your Orca e-​purse card)