Alcatraz

Besides Fort Point, Alcatraz is the San Francisco Bay's other pre-Civil War Fortress. It is designed as a fortress to protect the entrance of the San Francisco Bay from enemy ships. The next stage in Islands "The Rock" journey was a notorious federal prison, with inmates Machine Gun Kelly, Al Capone, Alvin "Creepy" Carpis and Robert Stroud. Supposedly, men on Alcatraz could hear the voices of party-goers at the San Francisco Yacht Club on quiet October evening on the bay. Alcatraz is now a part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Rangers give tours and tell stories of famous prisoners who tried to escape to the mainland. Alcatraz is a beautiful island, with green lawns, trees, and flowers, if you visit you will be rewarded with spectacular views of the San Francisco Skyline. The wildlife is also a significant attraction with Birds, Sea Lions, and if you are lucky a great white shark. Back in 2015, an amateur video was taken of a Great White devouring a seal just off Alcatraz.

Angel Island

This beautiful, rocky island is rising straight from the blue waters of the San Francisco Bay. In spring, the island is verdantly green and covered with wildflowers: wild white and purple iris bloom on the top of Mount Livermore. Angel Island is a chance to go back in time when the development and technology industries didn't dominate the region. The immigration history of Angel Island is also interesting.

Between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, millions of people — in numbers which have not been seen since — came to America in pursuit of a better, freer life.

On the east coast, most of the huddled masses were met by the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. On the west coast, between 1910 and 1940, most were met by the wooden buildings of Angel Island. These immigrants were Australians and New Zealanders, Canadians, Mexicans, Central and South Americans, Russians, and in particular, Asians.

There, during this period of great migration, they would meet with a reception quite unlike that given to European immigrants on the East Coast. The reasons for this reception, and the story of this journey, as usual, have their roots in the past.

Fifty years beforehand, around the middle of the 19th century, on the far western frontier of the continental United States, immigrants from Guangdong Province in southern China began arriving, fleeing from a land stricken by both natural and man-made disasters and a collapsing rural economy. Though initially welcomed, when the local economy took a downturn in the 1870s, economic problems were laid at the feet of this highly visible minority by organized labor, newspapers, and in short order, politicians.

The Brothers and Sisters Island

Brothers are a pair of small islands, East Brother and West Brother, located in the San Rafael Bay embayment of San Pablo Bay, roughly 1,000 feet west of Point San Pablo in Contra Costa County, California.

East Brother Lighthouse, is a beautifully restored California Victorian Lighthouse Dinner, Bed & Breakfast Inn perched atop an island in the strait that separates San Francisco and San Pablo Bays, Located 30 minutes from downtown San Francisco, CA,

Once on the island, visitors take in the spectacular views of the San Francisco skyline, Mount Tamalpais, and the Marin coastline.

East Brother Light Station has been an active lighthouse since 1873. The Inn began operations in 1979 as a means of earning money for the upkeep of the restored lighthouse and facilities.

The Sisters are two small rock islands in San Pablo Bay, located 500 meters northeast of Point San Pedro in Marin County, California.

The Sisters, along with The Brothers on the opposite side of the San Pablo Strait, were reserved initially for military purposes by order of President Andrew Johnson in 1867.

Red Rock

Red Rock Island is an uninhabited, 5.8-acre (2.3 ha) island in the San Francisco Bay located just south of the Richmond–San Rafael Bridge.

The mountain of bright red earth and rock is 500 ft (150 m) across from east to west, 750 ft. Some of the deepest water surround it in the North Bay - 60 ft (18 m) deep. It is also known as an excellent fly fishing area to catch striped bass.