Things to Do at Alameda Point
For a district still under active redevelopment, Alameda Point already has three genuinely destination-worthy attractions -- a real aircraft carrier museum, a working brewery-and-distillery district, and a decades-old monthly antiques market -- plus a growing shoreline park system still filling in. Here's what's actually here to do today.
The USS Hornet Sea, Air & Space Museum
The centerpiece attraction at Alameda Point is the USS Hornet (CV-12), a WWII aircraft carrier commissioned in 1943 that served with Task Force 58 through major Pacific battles including the Battle of the Philippine Sea, then went on to serve through the Cold War and Vietnam era before its most famous mission: serving as the primary recovery ship for the Apollo 11 splashdown in July 1969, pulling Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins from the Pacific, and again for Apollo 12 later that same year. Decommissioned in 1970 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1991, the Hornet has operated as a public museum since 1998, permanently docked at Pier 3 (707 W Hornet Avenue), with exhibits covering its naval service, WWII and Cold War-era aircraft, and its NASA connection. It's a genuinely significant historic site, not a minor local curiosity -- a real draw for visitors from across the Bay Area, not just Alameda residents.
Spirits Alley: A Walkable Brewery, Distillery, and Winery District
Along Monarch Street, a cluster of converted WWII-era Navy hangars locally nicknamed Spirits Alley houses St. George Spirits and Hangar 1 Vodka distilling operations, Building 43 Winery, Faction Brewing, and Almanac Beer Co. among other tenants, with Almanac's own taproom drawing crowds numbering in the thousands on peak summer days. It's a genuinely unusual adaptive-reuse identity -- craft beverage production happening inside the same hangars that once housed Navy aircraft -- and it's walkable and bikeable in a way that makes an afternoon of hopping between a few tasting rooms a real, practical option for a resident or a visitor, covered in more depth on this site's Dining page.
The Alameda Point Antiques Faire
Held on the first Sunday of every month from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m., the Alameda Point Antiques Faire sets up on the former base's sprawling old aircraft runways, hosting more than 800 dealer booths selling vintage and antique items at least 20 years old, with San Francisco Bay views as a backdrop. It's a well-established, decades-old regional institution -- widely described as one of Northern California's best antique markets -- and it drew enough recurring traffic that when the VA began construction on a new clinic on part of the runway area in 2022, the faire's vendor area simply relocated roughly 250 yards east rather than being displaced, a real sign of how established the event is within the district's identity.
The Developing Shoreline Park System
Alameda Point's redevelopment plan calls for preserving more than 700 acres of parks and open space, including a planned 158-acre regional shoreline park on the district's northwest portion, to be developed in phases by the East Bay Regional Park District starting with an interim Bay Trail segment. Some of that is already usable today in partial form as segments open; much of it remains a planned, multi-phase project rather than a finished amenity. A visitor or resident should treat the full shoreline park system as a genuine, real, in-progress commitment rather than an already-complete park -- worth checking current open segments directly with the East Bay Regional Park District or the City of Alameda before planning a visit around a specific trail section.
Nearby: The Rest of Alameda Island
For attractions beyond Alameda Point's own footprint, the rest of Alameda island is a short drive or bike ride away -- Robert W. Crown Memorial State Beach's roughly 2.5-mile Bay beach, the Park Street and Webster Street commercial and dining corridors, and Alameda's extensive Victorian and Edwardian architectural district, all covered on this site's broader Alameda coverage. Alameda Point's own identity is genuinely distinctive -- an aircraft carrier museum, a brewery district in old hangars, and a decades-old antiques market are not things most Bay Area neighborhoods can claim -- but a resident here should expect to combine those district-specific draws with the wider island's amenities for a full picture of what there is to do.
The Ferry Ride Itself as an Activity
Worth naming on its own: the Seaplane Lagoon Ferry Terminal's San Francisco Bay Ferry crossing is, beyond its commuting function, a genuinely scenic ride across San Francisco Bay -- passing near the Bay Bridge and offering open-water views of the San Francisco skyline that a car commute through the tubes simply doesn't provide. For a resident or a visiting family member without a specific San Francisco errand, riding the ferry round-trip for the views and the novelty of the crossing itself is a real, low-cost way to spend an afternoon, and it doubles as a practical way to preview the commute before committing to it as a daily routine.
Events and Group Visits
The USS Hornet Museum hosts special programming beyond standard self-guided tours, including overnight programs and seasonal events that draw visitors from across the Bay Area, and Spirits Alley's individual tenants periodically run their own special tastings, tours, and seasonal releases. This page did not find a comprehensive, current events calendar covering every Alameda Point attraction in one place; check the USS Hornet Museum's own site and each Spirits Alley business's individual channels directly for current event schedules rather than assuming a fixed, predictable calendar applies year-round.
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Get a Free Agent Referral →Independent research. No ads. No sponsored listings. USS Hornet service history, Apollo recovery role, National Historic Landmark designation, and museum status are drawn from the USS Hornet Sea, Air & Space Museum's own materials, the National Maritime Historical Society, and Wikipedia. Spirits Alley tenant details are drawn from Alameda Magazine's "Get to Know Alameda's Spirits Alley" and local press accounts. The Alameda Point Antiques Faire's monthly schedule, booth count, and 2022 relocation are drawn from the event's own site (alamedapointantiquesfaire.com) and Alameda Post reporting. The planned 158-acre Northwest Territories Regional Shoreline park and the 700-plus-acre citywide parks and open space commitment are drawn from the East Bay Regional Park District's own site (ebparks.org) and Alameda Point Info (alamedapointinfo.com). Robert W. Crown Memorial State Beach and the Park Street/Webster Street corridors are drawn from the East Bay Regional Park District's own site and Downtown Alameda's own materials, cross-referenced on this site's coverage of the broader island of Alameda. This page did not confirm current open-segment status for the full shoreline park system as of this research pass, and does not state a completion date as fact. Confirm current trail and park segment openings directly with the East Bay Regional Park District or the City of Alameda before planning a visit. Nothing on this page is travel or safety advice.