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Alcatraz Web cams & LiveCams
There are several Alcatraz webcam sites scattered around the Bay that offer views of the island and Alcatraz Prison. The only webcams that are actually located on Alcatraz Island have been out of service for the last several years.
The high quality Crissy Field Webcam, which pans across the Bay and has so many great views, unfortunately is set an an angle where Alcatraz is hidden by a grove of trees. It will tell you if there’s fog near Alcatraz, but not show the island itself.
See also our pages on Webcams in Sausalito and Golden Gate Bridge Webcams.
Here’s the list:
1. The Pier 39 Alcatraz Web cam
The Pier 39 webcam is a celebrity cam for the stars of Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, who happen to be the sea lions resting on the docks at Pier 39. But if you click on “Control” and then on “Positions” it gives you a chance to choose any of several pre-set camera angles, and it will show you the best of the available live webcam shots of San Francisco Bay. The image above was taken on a clear morning in October, our least foggy time of year.
2. Rotating San Francisco Views’ Alcatraz LiveCam
This webcam rotates between different scenes in San Francisco, one of which is the “Bayfront Cam” with Alcatraz in the distance. You can’t control the rotation between images, and they show commercials when you first arrive. You can select the “Bayfront Cam” from the options at the top, but only after you first pick “Bayfront Panorama” at either the top or bottom of the screen.
Insiders Tip: On this webcam you can scroll in and out on the images using the controls at the lower edge of the screen. You can aim the camera by “grabbing” the screen. This allows you to zoom in on Alcatraz, although the focus does not adapt well when the island gets large on screen.
3. See Alcatraz from the Berkeley Hills Webcam
The webcam at the Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley has a panoramic view of San Francisco Bay, with a tiny Alcatraz right at the center, in front of the left side of the Golden Gate Bridge.
4. The Alcatraz Live Cam on the Berkeley Marina
The Cal Sailing webcam in the Berkeley marina offers this webcam view of Alcatraz, almost hidden at the left end of the Golden Gate Bridge.
