Alcatraz Island, San Francisco: A Spooky Experience!

Author: Amber Clark
Date of Trip: February 2016

When we visit San Francisco, a trip to the infamous Alcatraz Island is inevitable. Literally speaking, it becomes quite a pleasure to enjoy the different moods of this exclusive island. By visiting this island, you are likely to learn much about the Island’s fascinating history. Not many of us know that Alcatraz Island was once upon a time a prison meant to domicile famous prisoners including the “Birdman” and Al Capone.

The island is situated on the Californian Bay and is supposedly one of the most heavily visited islands on planet earth, which makes it difficult to buy on-the-spot entry tickets. You need to buy the ferry and entry tickets well in advance in order to avoid disappointments later. Therefore, it is advisable to contact local San Francisco sightseeing tours who will offer you ticket and tour arrangements at affordable rates.

The Alcatraz tour is open for visitors during day as well as night. It is, however, more fun and spooky to tour the island at nights for obvious reasons. There are a couple of spooky episodes documented by several visitors who have been on the island before. It is worth taking their experiences into account prior to having one of your own.

Alcatraz island is one such island that is totally submerged in the pool of past; a past that involves heinous crimes and pain. A past that is so hideous that it attracts worldwide attention from the media and scientific researchers. Have you heard of paranormal researchers who study abnormal activities? Once upon a time, one such group came to island to gain newer insights on paranormal activities that, sometimes, do take place at the island. These researchers spend one night at the island to investigate their hypothesis.

Apparently, in addition to Cell number 12, 13 and 14, Cell Block D at the prison seemed to be experiencing the maximum number of ghostly and paranormal activities. There have been reliable reports of visitors feeling nauseated as soon as they enter these cells. Slamming of doors, experiencing foul smells and hallucinating dark shadows are few of the abnormal activities that you one may encounter in the cells. Citadel and Infirmary are another two most active places on the island that reports ghostly activities occasionally. Hearing screams from corners is one typical activity that takes place at Citadel. Infirmary, on the other hand, is more controversial and scary. On one of the occasional visits, a group of paranormal researchers communicated with the ghosts, asking them if there was anything they’d like to know, and the response came, “The dark is power”.

You can by now guess how spooky all of this would be at nights especially, when there aren’t many visitors around.

For all of those who have a vivid sense of interest and curiosity to explore or just feel the existing paranormal activities that occur at the island, you must not avoid visiting the island at any cost. Get in touch with local San Francisco tour companies that will fetch you attractive Alcatraz vacation packages. However, make sure that you opt for night trips as some places of the cell are visited only at nights. For example, Infirmary is visited only in night trips.

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If you are wondering that only people who are trained to feel and talk to ghosts will experience the spookiness at the island, you are wrong. There have been incidences when general tourists like you too have felt a certain level of uneasiness and discomfort on the island. A teaching assistant while on the Alcatraz SF tour, captured a creepy yet stunning image of a girl who was standing at the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. There is a visitation window there at which the teaching assistant stood to take a photo of the window. After she clicked a photo on her iPhone, she saw this image in her gallery and she saw a dark colored skin girl standing near the window. According to her, there wasn’t anyone standing there at the time she took that photo. Her partner initially thought it was her own reflection in the image. However, with closer inspection, her partner realized that the girl in the image looks different and is certainly not the photographer herself.

The teaching assistant story is just one of the stories that are out in media and to the public. As a matter of fact, there are plenty of other experiences inclusive of events and activities that have no explanation occuring at the island. For instance, on numerous occasions the noises of crying and whaling have been encountered by the guards there. Some guards are willing to share their experiences publicly, and some show a sense of apprehension in sharing personal stories. Regardless, there are enough evidences and personal experiences of visitors to convince the world that the Alcatraz Island is indeed the spookiest island of all. It is home to many unexplainable scary experiences felt by the visitors who periodically face disturbing events on the island.

Of course it is hard to convince the disbelievers who show reluctance in believing the possibility of such occurrences to take place at the island. The only advice for them would be to visit the island and feel the experiences on their own.

Visiting the Alcatraz Island undoubtedly creates a memorable experience for its visitors. Also, remember that there are day and night tours available all year around. However, fetching tickets may become a bit of an issue as the tour is always packed with tourists especially in summer seasons. So, it is advisable to contact local tour companies that include a visit to the Island, and offer reasonable Alcatraz tour prices to its clients.

Tips on getting ready before making a trip to the Alcatraz Island:

It is better to come prepared as visiting this island is no walk in the park. The purpose of visiting the island should be to make the trip enjoyable and memorable. In order to keep the trip pleasant and stress-free, you must make your bookings in advance, and not wait for the last minute. Moreover, you should also carry extra layers along as it gets very cold on the island, especially if you are planning a night tour. Your shoes too should be highly comforting as there is quite a lot of walking to be done on the island. A pair of walking shoes is just fine.

Lastly, do not visit the island on an empty stomach. Grab a meal prior to visiting the island as there is no food available there. And, carry a bottle of water along!