Last week, Tacoma Local Minute told you about the Port of Tacoma's free public boat tours departing from Foss Waterway Seaport in September. Unfortunately, by the time many readers saw the story, the free reservations had already been snapped up.
If you missed out, don't give up on seeing Tacoma's working waterfront from the water just yet. There's another option — and this one offers a much smaller, more intimate experience.
Communities for a Healthy Bay (CHB) invites members of the public to request a spot aboard one of its South Sound Patrols, taking participants onto the water with CHB staff for a firsthand look at Commencement Bay and the surrounding waterways.
This isn't a big sightseeing boat packed with passengers. CHB aims to limit each patrol to a maximum of five guests, accompanied by one or two staff members. If your group has fewer than four people, CHB may combine you with another small group.
And this isn't simply a sightseeing cruise. Communities for a Healthy Bay uses its South Sound Patrol program as part of its work monitoring local waterways. During the experience, participants get an on-the-water look at how the organization monitors pollution, works to hold polluters accountable and protects important habitat.
There's also some flexibility in what you may see. When requesting a patrol, CHB specifically asks whether your group has particular points of interest. Examples listed on its request form include seals, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, cargo ships and Puyallup Tribal lands.
Unlike the Port's public tours, there isn't a published schedule of departure times from which you simply select a ticket. Instead, you submit a patrol request and tell CHB which weekdays work best for you. Patrols can be requested Monday through Friday, and CHB says it will try to accommodate your preferences but cannot guarantee a particular day in advance.
The request form also asks about the ages of everyone in your group, motion sickness and any accommodations participants may need. CHB says it is committed to making the experience accessible and specifically invites participants to identify mobility or other support needs.
For Tacoma residents curious about what's happening beyond the shoreline, the South Sound Patrol offers something quite different from a traditional harbor tour: a chance to get onto Commencement Bay in a very small group while learning about the environmental health of the water at the same time.
So if you were disappointed when those Port of Tacoma tour reservations disappeared, here's your second chance to get out on the water — and perhaps an even more interesting way to experience Tacoma's working waterfront.
👉 To request a South Sound Patrol with Communities for a Healthy Bay, click here.
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