Sam Houston Boat Tour

Before I get into this review there are a few important facts to know about this tour:
1. You must register ALL people (including children) who will be aboard the ship.
2. You must bring identification at check-​in.
3. You must arrive at least 10 – 20 min. prior to embarkation because they will leave you if you are not on time.
4. This tour is completely FREE and great for children and families.
Now on to the review…
I attended this boat tour for a UYE (Unofficial Unilocal Event) organized by Mike M. If you are using GPS, the location is not hard to find. You must stop at a check point and show ID upon entering GATE 8.
Driving up to the boat’s location was interesting as new palm trees line the property to add décor. That was kinda cool but this tour is definitely not a tropical scenic one.
We arrived about 25 min. before embarkation and met Mike M. We were introduced to other Unilocalers before we left.
I noticed ALOT of trash (i.e. plastic bottles) that had emptied from the bayou into the port. I wonder if this ever gets cleaned up because it is definitely not a good look.
Upon boarding and coming back to the dock, passengers must sit inside the boat until an announcement is made that it’s OK to go outside. This well maintained boat is one level, carpeted on the inside with air conditioning and plenty of seating.
On this trip most passengers stayed outside to take in the views of the port as the Captain narrated. My family enjoyed this tour. The port is HUGE as it normally takes about 90 minutes from start to finish. I also never realized how big the financial impact of this port is on the economy… nearly $ 200 billion dollars.
Not only was I educated on this tour, I was entertained as well. This tour is great for kids and families. I will definitely be coming back!

I went on this tour today after having booked my reservation about 7 weeks ago. This tour is just that popular and it also probably has something to do with it being FREE. Making the reservation is conveniently offered online however I knew of some people who had difficulty with the reservation process and had to fall to the backup option-​the old fashioned telephone call.
My tour was scheduled to leave at 10:00 a. m and I arrived at 9:35 a.m. which was plenty early. The Unilocal directions are accurate. You first arrive at Gate 8 where the driver has to show ID to the guard to enter. Then you drive down a 300 yard palm tree lined drive to the tours’ dedicated parking lot. At the location they have a large restroom facility with vending machines. People wait near the boats entrance until about 5 minutes before departure. Then a crew member checks ID’s again to match the reservation list as you board. Kids are allowed on board without ID’s with an adult. My tour left the dock promptly at 10:00 a.m. At 10:01 as we were 40 yards away from the dock a family of 4 showed up and we left them. Moral of the story, Don’t Be Late! They will leave you!
We proceeded down the Ship Channel passing many large ships and barges along with refineries, docks and processing plants. We went under the I 610 bridge all the way to the Washburn tunnel (45 minutes) where we turned around and came back. At the turnaround everyone on board is offered a Coke Product soft drink or bottled water. There is also a water cooler on board along with restrooms. During the tour the Captain narrates points of interest along the way. This is an educational tour. Scenic wise it leaves a lot to be desired from a beauty standpoint. Kids will love this tour being so close to the big ships.
Other than as we were leaving or approaching our dock, we were allowed outside to walk around the 95 foot long boat M/​V Sam Houston built in 1958. This allowed great views and photo ops plus having the wind in your face. If the weather is not agreeable to you the indoor cabin has big tinted windows and is air conditioned and comfortable with nice seats.
Our tour arrived back early by 10 minutes of schedule. However, it can take longer than 90 minutes due to ship traffic.
While they limit the number of reservations per tour to the limit of the boat (100) it is very rare that 100 people actually take the tour. This is because reservations are usually made many weeks in advance to get a space but because they are free, people will forget or something else will come up to keep them from coming. This means your tour will most likely have fewer than 100 attending. On the Saturday of my tour, I estimated maybe 50 people were on board even though it was sold out. But remember they don’t take walk ons so be sure you have a reservation or I wouldn’t show up.
Finally remember, don’t be late!

Put me on almost any boat, and I’m a happy gal. The Sam Houston Boat Tour is a great way to spend an hour and a half cruising down the Bayou to see a different side of Houston. It takes you to the industrial side, and gives you a glimpse into the port life. Huge tankers, vessels and all kinds of manufacturing facilities lining the shores make for a pretty interesting sight seeing tour. The captain does a nice job of narrating without being overly talkative. In late February on a sunny day, it was perfect weather for a cruise. The air-​conditioned interior would make a nice respite for the rest of the year if you needed to get out of the sun. Halfway through the ride, they offer a small water or soda, which is a nice touch of a totally free excursion. The reservations do fill up quickly, so plan in advance if you can. Remember to bring a picture ID to get you into the parking lot and on the boat.

Pretty cool free activity. Even for those of you that call Houston home. I know I have driven over the bridges of the channel a million times yet to actually go down to the channel was really cool. Seeing the terminals and some of the HUGE Ships up close and hear some facts… They showed us a car transport ship for Volkswagon that held 5000 cars they said… That is one BIG SHIP lol .
Yes you do have to channel some of your inner nerd to enjoy this trip… Teenagers will probably be bored and glued to their phones but who cares? it is a free 90 minute boat ride down the ship channel.
90 minutes on a boat so bring sunscreen. The best views are outside. Though you can stay inside the boat if you wish on some cushioned benches in the air conditioning … YES AIR CONDITIONING LOL… So when your relatives come in hounding you for something to do in August when it is 105 degrees. They can stand on the bow and sweat while you stay nice and cool lol.
Website says sometimes reservations fill up months in advance. You stand a better short notice chance during week. We were able to grab two seats for a Friday with just a days notice. Boat holds 100. But only two tours a day
There are free Sodas for all at the end of the tour as well…

# To the Budget Traveler: This is a TOTALLY FREE ride. You just need to make a reservation at the Sam Houston Boat Tour website.
Finding the boat: If you follow the address to 7300 Clinton Dr. you may become a little worried that you find yourself in an industrial park. Don’t worry you are in the right place. When you get to the gate a guard will ask you to show proof of the reservation (I just had the confirmation email on my phone and that was enough). Then take the road straight with palm trees on both sides. You will find ample parking. I have attached a picture of the Sam Houston Boat when it is docked to this review, which may help you to recognize it.
PROs: It is completely free. If you love ships, ports and factories then this is the place for you. The ship is quite nice inside with a video camera showing the front of the ship if you don’t want to go outside. There is a bathroom onboard. There is a complementary soft drink at the end of the ride.
CONs: If you are not into ships and factories then you may want to stay away even though it is free. There are a lot of oil businesses in the port so it is kind of smelly. If you are looking to get a nice view of the city from the port then you are NOT going to get it. The water was quite dirty on the day that I went. A lot of plastic bottles, scrap wood, tires… oh yes … and a dead bloated cat. Maybe this was due to the storm that had passed through Houston a couple of days before, but still it was tough to focus on the tour guide’s information if I was trying to make out what was floating in the water.

I give this FREE tour 5 stars for sevral reasons one being it’s free and 2 it’s exactly what it is a tour of the Industrial Port of Houston there is usually a wait for about a month but we were able to get reservations 2 days before we actually went so I guess you just have to continuously check it other than that it was about an hour and a half long and was pretty cool considering unless you work there you won’t get that point of view they offer drinks on the tour for free and the guard at the entrance was very helpful and you really can’t get lost getting there

If you have a friend who knows something about the refining process — or the commercial history of the channel — bring her! This trip provides a visual perspective that most of us would never see, and my posse is fascinated by all this industrial stuff, being «information workers» ourselves. And maybe if the boat were teeming with school kids, the tour would have included an informational narrative that would make it really cool. But as it was, we had to work our smartphones hard to learn anything on the ride beyond «the ship on your left carries the Panamanian flag». (Right — as it says on the stern…). The ride takes you past refining ops and scrap recycling facilities that have a wild, post-​apocalyptic look (it was a grey day, which helped), and I was reminded how grateful I am to have had the career opportunities I have. So, go with the right expectations and I think it’s well worth your while. I will probably do it again with the right out-​of-​town visitors, or if I can find a personal tour guide to add some caption to the views.

The 4 of us showed up early because we were only able to land 1 reservation online but the employees were very polite and our entire party was able to go aboard. The tour took us several miles up the bayou. It is definitely insightful to get the back-​alley perspective on how industry works so hard to get us the products that make our lives so comfortable. No, things don’t magically appear on store shelves; there is a not-​so-​enchanting reality of national and international cooperation to maintain the ebb and flow of production in the import/​export business. You’ll see large ships and cranes and piles and stacks and containers all part of the timeline of industry-​in-​the-​raw. It isn’t pretty to look at and is often terribly unpleasant to smell but having a healthy dose of reality is a great way to renew one’s appreciation for how complex the system of transporting goods into and out of lives can be. The crew is dispersed around the ship and seem to enjoy answering questions and sharing information with the passengers. I’m very glad we went. If you’re looking for a harbor cruise or a party boat, this isn’t going to fill that void. This will, however, be educating.

Update:
5 stars was too high before. I went back, this time with an out of towner. The boat is in need of some renovations. The seating is subpar and the narraration was poor, and really loud when close to the speakers.
This is still a cool thing to do at least once, particularly with the children or out of town guest.
The tour is always free, just book on the website in advance.

Excellent tour! :)
We had a good time!

tour was pretty nice. It was great to see industrial part of Houston. A free service I wouldn’t have minded paying for!

It’s an OK tour, it was interesting to have a look around the port and the channel.
It wasn’t well sign-​posted, there was maybe one sign that tells you where to go and then zilch. It doesn’t look like a particularly tourist-​y area either, so when you’re down there, you wonder whether you’re supposed to be there or not.
The staff at the front gate were very friendly, though, when you get to where they tell you to go, there’s no indication of what you should do. We were advised to show up early for the tour, but once you get there, there’s no signs to tell you to wait, or what to do ahead of time. We all just ended up hovering around under the shade for a while, until you feel like the boat should be boarding and you kind of meander down to the boat hoping someone will direct you once you get there!
The tour is a 90 minute tour, the boat is a great boat and it’s air conditioned on the inside. Once you venture outside in to the sunshine (and, where you can see the sights more clearly) you suddenly lose all ability to hear the tour. I had no idea what I was looking at or what I was sailing past.
I was surprised they gave us a free soda though, very good touch, and the flag pole at the front of the boat made for some excellent photo-​ops!
I much preferred the 2 hour Galveston tour for $ 10, worth every penny!

After waiting to find an opening on a date we were in the Houston Area we finally scored a tour! I read the reviews and they were good. BUT, We were so disappointed in the tour. It had all the right things going for it… a beautiful boat, lots of crew, good organization, cold drinks, and an active port. What stunk? The air of course… but we new that. The tour was almost non-​existent. There was very little narration beyond telling where the ships hailed from and pointing out the monument marking «the spot» were Santa Anna was taking prisoner. Beyond that sooooo little info! I thought this might be an off day. It was during spring break. So I emailed the boat tour reservations and asked. I never received a reply. I do not know if this is the norm or if the regular guide was out at that time. All I can say, is that we drove up from Surfside which is one of the entry points for the Intercoastal Waterway and it is where the Port of Freeport is. You can see many similar ships coming and going and catch some fish too. Without decent narration on the tour this is a better bet. No I would not recommend this tour.

The Sam Houston Boat Tour is a free service of the Port Authority of Houston. You have to register about a month in advance to get a spot. We greatly enjoyed it and the narration of the captain so you can understand what you’re looking at as you cruise past massive ships and factories.
The inside of the boat has comfortable seating that keeps you out of the wind. Inevitably you will feel compelled to go outside and feel the polluted Houston wind on your face but hearing the ship sounds and seeing a tug boat can make it worthwhile to face the pollen and factory pollution cocktail.
Eh, its Houston.
I was really surprised to be given a free soda on the back of the boat. And I was even more surprised to see the monument where Santa Anna relinquished control of Texas to Sam Houston is located under two trees between two massive factories. as my mom said. well I guess that’s what TX thinks of Santa Anna. Yep.
If you have small boys who love Bob the Builder, the array of equipment you get to see on this tour is amazing. I have never seen so many cranes in such a short period of time.

AHOY MATES! After reading Tracey & Edgars review of the Port of Houston I was super excited to schedule a visit. Upon exiting my car at the pavilion area I could smell the excitement… er…I mean tar & petrochemicals in the air. My husband kept making snarky remarks about how with each breath he was shaving years off his life. Yeah… the smell was kinda that bad. No bother! Onward ho to our sea vessel for our maiden voyage into the deep brown abyss that is the Port of Houston. So, in my head, I was envisioning lots of action in the shipping lanes, I mean, lets face it… this port is ranked número uno in the United States in foreign waterborne tonnage (whatever that means). Hmmmm, not so much… we saw several large boats docked but nothing else was even moving in the water other than our vessel. We also saw a lot of refineries, the coast guard, lots of garbage and a gypsum mill. I’ve got to be honest, I really was expecting more. There weren’t even ships from far away lands, they were all from the good ol’ USofA. Perhaps since we went on Sunday everything was closed (?) I dunno, there really is no other explanation at the lack of action. Right when it appeared we were about to reach more interesting waters, the ship turned around and began to head back.
Despite the fact that there really wasn’t that much to see, I did enjoy my voyage. I find the gritty industrial side of Houston somewhat fascinating. The one question the boats crew did not address was exactly how toxic the water was we were sailing thru. I’m still still curious about that… The boats crew had no qualms about picture taking and served a complimentary soft drink half way thru the trip. I definitely would not bring out of town guests here (there are much cooler places to take them) but for a Houstonian such as myself it was a fun way to waste an hour of the day.

On a 2-​day layover in our fair city, I took Soap Opera Dude* to check out this free fascinating 90-​minute tour of the Ship Channel. Booking a tour requires a bit of planning since walk-​ups are not accepted and capacity is tightly controlled. You can check availability and book online by going to their website.
The Port’s gate is in a gritty industrial area just east of downtown. One can leave your top hat and evening gowns at home and just dress casually. You will have to present acceptable ID to the gate guard before proceeding down the road to the parking lot and pavilion area. The boat’s staff will check your ID again to match your name against their passenger list. Our motley holiday week crowd numbered about 80 people of all ages and walks of life. There is both indoor and outdoor viewing areas on the boat.
Once on board the M/​V Sam Houston for our 230 PM Tuesday tour, we passed a number of large anchored tankers, the Coast Guard station, various industrial plants (oil refineries, electric generating, gypsum processor, iron ore, and molasses: yes, I know, molasses?), sailed under the Sidney Sherman bridge, until we got to the turning basin to make the return. Coffee was available immediately after launch but the free soft drink was held back until we reached the turning basin.
The ship’s captain narrated the various sights but also took several pauses so it wasn’t a frenetic mish-​mash of minutiae. A very interesting point was when he pointed out that a little park on the starboard side was the site where General Sam Houston captured General Santa Anna during the historic battle of San Jacinto.** A small gray marker sits next to a tree in the park but is inaccessible via land.
The ship’s crew were visible and approachable — though they were slightly troubled by my desire to re-​enact the Titanic’s most memorable line: «Iceberg, dead ahead!» as we returned to the dock. Not so much troubled by the thought of icebergs but the fact that I wanted to say it. For all of their security processes, they don’t screen for melodramatics. Since I was with Soap Opera Dude, this bit of acting didn’t faze him one bit since he’s worked with bigger hams than me.
Plan ahead, take an interesting friend or two or even a date, and enjoy seeing one of the hidden engines of our local economy. Theatrics optional but not mandatory.
* Yes, Soap Opera Dude is a real person and lives in Hollywood. He appears in some of my Los Angeles reviews (if you care to read more).
** For those of us rusty on our Texas history, this was the climactic battle in 1836 when Texas defeated Mexico and secured our independence as a republic. Unfortunately, the republic lasted only 9 years before crushing debts compelled us to join the Union.

We had a nice enjoyable tour but mostly for the company along for the ride. The representatives aboard from the Port of Houston Authority were friendly, engaging, and open to discuss the intricacies of the their operations. It was good to finally go see something that everyone in Houston knows but rarely finds the time to visit. Staff was warm and polite as well.
Full disclosure: The event I attended was a complimentary networking trip c/​o the World Affairs Council and Marshall Memorial Fellows; it’s possible other events could differ.

This free 1.5 hour public boat tour along the Houston shipping channel gives a different perspective on Houston’s industrial port. Be prepared for a midly displeasing odor. The boat is very clean & well maintained. No photography, drinks, or food is allowed. They do provide a complimentary soft drink half way through the tour.

This boat tour was soooo fun! I loved seeing the industrial activity happening along the Houston Ship Channel: largest refinery in the nation operating, scrap being loaded onto barges, grain elevator dumping grain into a ship, container ships, HUGE ships everywhere, tug boats, various flags (many from Greece or Cyprus), ship workers waving to you from high up in their ships, huge pile of gypsum, tires lined up against docking areas, etc…
They didn’t allow photos. I was disappointed about that and slightly annoyed when I saw other people taking photos of themselves against the awe-​inspiring background with their cell phones!
They give you a free drink (soda or water) on the tour, which is pretty generous. Throughout the tour, the captain describes the sights on the microphone and you can go outside and take everything in.
If the area didn’t smell so toxic, I’d take my parents at least once a year. I came in the summertime a few years back but I’ve heard it’s less smelly in colder temperatures. It was also a little unsettling to see the birds on the shore near the water aka. toxic soup. I don’t remember if there were fish in the water but I vaguely recall seeing a man and a boy fishing somewhere.
You have to make reservations online to come. Go to their website, click the calendar day you want to come, submit your names, and print out confirmations for each person. Make sure everyone brings their Driver’s License since that’s what the friendly guards at the entrance check when you drive in. If you come on a weekday or some unpopular day, you won’t need to reserve very early in advance. Otherwise, it’s best to do so a few weeks early.
There’s a small park, restroom area, and vending machines where you wait for the tour boat to pick you up. It’s a nice boat. You can sit indoors, but we like to stand up outside and admire the scenery.
You might be able to look at the arrival /​departure schedule of the ships in that particular terminal and try to identify the ships.