Statue of Liberty Cruise: Every Boat That Passes the Statue

The Only Boat That Lands on Liberty Island

Statue City Cruises is the only authorized ticket seller and ferry for Liberty Island and Ellis Island, according to the National Park Service. Its ferries leave from Castle Clinton in Battery Park in Manhattan and from Liberty State Park in Jersey City. Every ticket includes the Statue of Liberty Museum and the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration.

There are three ticket types: General Admission, Pedestal and Crown. The crown climb is 162 steps from the statue's feet and there is no elevator. The time printed on your ticket is the time to join the security queue, which the Park Service says can take an hour or more at peak.

What the Catalog Cruises Actually do

Every cruise compared on this site passes the statue and does not land. The National Park Service warns that third-party sellers may sell tickets for boats that do not land on the islands, so read the listing before you buy. A passing cruise is not a lesser product.

You see the statue from the water, often from a purpose-built photo stop, and you are back at the pier in 80 minutes to 2.5 hours. The landing ferry takes far longer once you add the security line, both islands and their museums.

The Statue Itself, from Any of These Boats

The statue was dedicated on October 28, 1886. It stands 151 feet 1 inch to the torch and 305 feet 1 inch from ground to torch. Bartholdi designed it, Eiffel built the iron framework and Richard Morris Hunt designed the 89-foot pedestal.

The copper skin is 0.094 inches thick and was reddish-brown before it turned green. The statue arrived from France in 214 crates and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984. Liberty Island covers 14.717 acres and sits 1.6 miles southwest of the Battery, and Fort Wood, an 11-point star built from 1806 to 1811, forms the statue's base.

The Full List

Prices are per person as printed on each card and each name links to the full tour page. The Chelsea Piers small boat is in the table because it stops for skyline photos near the major attractions, but its listing does not name the statue. None of these boats lands on Liberty Island.

The Cheapest Ways Past the Statue

The Starship Landmark 90 Minute Sightseeing Cruise is the cheapest at $26 per person, marked down from $35 on its listing. It runs 90 minutes from Pier 78 at Hudson River Park with a live guide and a snack bar, passing Hudson Yards, Little Island, Ellis Island and the statue before returning under the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges. The NY Waterway Must-See Essentials Cruise is close behind at $29.75 for 80 minutes, leaving from Pier 78 with a stop in front of the statue and a free bus to the pier.

For comparison, the 90-Minute Statue of Liberty and Skyline Cruise at Pier 83 costs $34 and lists a live tour guide or audio guide. The 2-hour New York Golden Hour Cruise from Pier 79 costs $38 and also passes the statue. Sunset options cost more, and those belong to the NYC sunset cruise guide.

The Longest Cruise That Passes the Statue

Two cruises run 2.5 hours, the longest on the list. The Circle Line Ultimate Sightseeing Cruise costs $39 per person and laps Manhattan with a live guide, passing the High Line, Ellis Island, the statue, the Brooklyn Bridge and the George Washington Bridge in one loop from Pier 83. The Brooklyn Sail sailboat tour costs $95 for up to six guests from Brooklyn Bridge Park, sailing past the Brooklyn Bridge, the statue and the Manhattan skyline with the option to bring your own food and drink.

If you want a longer day on the water with architecture narration, the New York Architecture Yacht Cruise laps Manhattan but does not list the statue on its route, so it sits outside this list.

The Free View from the Water

The Staten Island Ferry is free, has been fare-free since 1997 and runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The 5.2-mile crossing takes about 25 minutes and the route crosses Upper New York Bay with the statue off to the side. Boarding is at the Whitehall Terminal at 4 South Street, served by South Ferry and Bowling Green stations.

It carries no cars and sells hot dogs, coffee and beer on board. The route, terminals and rules are covered in full on the Staten Island Ferry page.

The Figures Behind the Green Silhouette

The Statue of Liberty was dedicated on October 28, 1886. Frederic Auguste Bartholdi designed it, Gustave Eiffel built the iron framework inside, and Richard Morris Hunt designed the pedestal, which is 89 feet tall and was finished on April 22, 1886. The statue itself measures 151 feet 1 inch to the torch, and 305 feet 1 inch from ground to torch.

The copper skin is only 0.094 inches (2.4 mm) thick. It was reddish brown before it turned green, and the statue was shipped from France in 214 crates on June 17, 1885. The torch you see from a boat is a 1984 replacement, and it has been closed to the public since 1916. UNESCO listed the statue as a World Heritage Site in 1984.

The statue stands on Fort Wood, an 11-point star built from 1806 to 1811, and the island was called Bedloe's Island from 1667 until Congress made Liberty Island official in 1956. The island covers 14.717 acres and sits 1.6 miles southwest of the Battery.

Ellis Island Beside It

Most harbor cruises pass Ellis Island right after the statue, so you see both on one run. Ellis Island opened on January 1, 1892, and its first immigrant was 17-year-old Annie Moore from Ireland. It processed about 12 million immigrants between 1892 and 1954.

The island covers 27.5 acres, of which only 4.68 acres are the natural island, and a 1998 Supreme Court ruling gave New Jersey most of the landfill while New York kept the original part. A fire destroyed the wooden buildings in 1897, the new station opened on December 17, 1900, and the island closed on November 12, 1954 before joining the Statue of Liberty National Monument in 1965. A cruise past both islands makes a good warm-up for the full story on the Circle Line Full Manhattan Boat Tour, and the free ferry option is covered in the Staten Island Ferry guide.

What a Cruise Passes That the Ferry Terminal Does Not

A landing ferry takes you to the statue, but a cruise shows you the statue in its setting. From the harbor you see Ellis Island's main building reopened as a museum on September 10, 1990, and the skyline behind it, including One World Trade Center. The 90-minute Circle Line 90-Minute Statue of Liberty Cruise at $34 per person covers Lower Manhattan, the statue, Ellis Island and three East River bridges in 1.5 hours.

Cheaper still, the 80-Minute NYC Skyline Cruise at $29.75 stops in front of the statue from Pier 78. No cruise in the comparison lands on Liberty Island, because only the official ferry does.

Side of the Boat

The guides do not say which side of a boat is best for the Statue of Liberty. What the cruise listings do tell you is where the boats stop. Circle Line's landmark and sunset sailings include a Statue of Liberty photo stop, and the captain of the Chelsea Piers Small Boat Tour stops at chosen vantage points for skyline photos.

Light and Time of Day

NYC Water Cruises says golden hour gives the skyline golden tones reflected on the water, which is why evening cruises photograph well. Sunset times move a lot through the year in New York, so check the sunset time for your date before picking a sailing. The New York Sunset and Skyline Lights Cruise at $45 runs 2 hours from golden hour into the lit skyline, and sunset options in general are compared in the NYC sunset cruise guide.

Weather and Comfort

Sailo advises it can be a few degrees colder on the water and to bring a windbreaker or sweater for sunset. For footwear, closed-toe shoes with non-marking soles are recommended on boats. If the weather turns, Classic Harbor Line yachts have indoor seating and outdoor decks so you can shoot from outside and warm up inside between passes.