Sunset Cruise Seattle

A sunset cruise Seattle offers is the cheapest way to see the skyline and the mountains in one go, because the light does half the work. I compared two sunset cruises in Seattle on GetYourGuide: a 1.5-hour Argosy boat and a 2-hour tall ship. They cost $51 and $80. For the full list of 12 trips, including whale tours and meal cruises, see my guide to boat tours in Seattle.

My pick among Seattle sunset cruises, in one line: I’d book the Seattle’s Tall Ship sunset cruise at $80. It scores 4.8 from 267 reviews and runs 2 hours on the schooner Bay Lady. I’d choose the Argosy sunset cruise at $51 if the budget is tight or you want indoor seating. Prices are in US dollars from the listings, checked on 17 October 2026, and the booking links are affiliate links.

Night tour

Seattle's Tall Ship

Tall Sailboat Sunset Harbor Cruise

• ★ 4.8 (267 reviews)
• 2 hours
• Free cancellation

My pick: My sunset pick: schooner from Pier 66, $80, 2 hours, 4.8 from 267 reviews, bar on board.

from

$80

Check availabilityRead my review

Sunset Cruise Seattle WA

The table below sets the two Seattle sunset cruises next to each other. Both list a full refund when you cancel up to 24 hours before the start.

Cruise	Operator	Price	Duration	Rating	Meeting point	On board
Tall sailboat sunset harbor cruise	Seattle’s Tall Ship	$80	2 hours	4.8 (267 reviews)	Pier 66, Bell Harbor Marina	Bar, snacks, 2 restrooms
Seattle Sunset Cruise	Argosy Cruises	$51	1.5 hours	4.5 (48 reviews)	Pier 55	Indoor and outdoor seating, snacks

The $29 gap between them buys an extra 30 minutes, a sailing ship and a much larger review base, 267 reviews against 48. The Argosy cruise has minimal narration, according to its listing, so it is a quiet cruise to watch the light, not a tour with a guide.

The Argosy listing describes a relaxing cruise through Elliott Bay timed to catch the golden hour and sunset over Puget Sound, with views of the skyline, passing ferries and the Olympic Mountains. It frames the trip as a summer evening, so in winter check what time the sailings leave.

Argosy Cruises

Seattle Sunset Cruise

• ★ 4.5 (48 reviews)
• 1.5 hours
• Free cancellation

My pick: The cheaper sunset: $51, 1.5 hours, minimal narration, indoor seating, 4.5 from 48 reviews.

from

$51

Check availabilityRead my review

Sunset Times by Month

I computed sunset for the 15th of each month from the city’s coordinates with the sunrise-sunset.org service, using the America/Los_Angeles time zone, so the clock change is included.

Month	Sunset	Month	Sunset
January	4:47 PM	July	9:04 PM
February	5:34 PM	August	8:23 PM
March	7:16 PM	September	7:23 PM
April	8:00 PM	October	6:22 PM
May	8:41 PM	November	4:34 PM
June	9:10 PM	December	4:20 PM

The practical point for any sunset cruise in Seattle is that a 6:30 PM departure is a daylight trip in September and a night trip in November. Neither listing gives a fixed departure time on the page I read, so pick the slot on the booking page that starts about an hour before the sunset time for your date.

Sunset Sail Seattle

For a sunset sail in Seattle, the tall ship is the only real sailing option in my data. The listing describes the schooner Bay Lady, departing Pier 66 on the waterfront, with comfortable seats, high spacious decks and an onboard bar serving cider, beer, wine, champagne, soda and water. It says you can see the Space Needle, Smith Tower and, on clear days, Mount Rainier’s snowy peak.

Included are the cruise, the captain and crew, two restrooms, food and drinks and hotel pickup and drop-off. Check in at the ticket booth next to Anthony’s Restaurant, behind it at the Bell Harbor Marina office, and the group walks to the boat together and boards about five minutes before departure. One reviewer loved the catering. My sailing page compares the tall ship with the private Bainbridge ketch.

Seattle Sunset Sail

A Seattle sunset sail is a short outing of 1.5 to 2 hours, so the route and the pier matter more than the price. Both boats leave from the central waterfront, where Pike Place Market is about 0.5 km from the Argosy dock by my calculation, and the Space Needle is about 1.9 km away. That makes the evening easy to build around dinner in town.

If you’d rather eat on the water, the Waterways boats leave from Fishermen’s Terminal and the cruise is on the lakes, not on Elliott Bay; see the Seattle dinner cruise page. The wine pairing cruise runs 6:00 to 8:30 PM, so it is a night trip from November to January, when sunset is around 4:20 to 4:47 PM.

Seattle Evening Cruise

A sunset cruise in Seattle depends more on the weather than most trips. Cloud can hide the Olympic Mountains and Mount Rainier even when the boat sails, so the view you get on the day may be softer than the photos. Both listings say you can cancel for a full refund up to 24 hours before the start, which gives you a window to watch the forecast. Pacific Northwest evenings cool quickly once the sun is low, and the water makes the deck colder than the street, so dress for the deck. If you are celebrating, tell the crew at check-in, and keep the plan flexible because a sunset cruise departs at one set time and does not wait for late arrivals.

If the sunset times don’t fit your trip, an evening cruise in Seattle comes down to the same two boats and the lake meals. In midwinter I’d treat the Argosy cruise as an evening trip, not a sunset one, because the listing describes a summer sunset, and choose the boat with interior seating. The tall ship has a high open deck, so bring a warm layer.

Whale watching is a daytime trip, and the three Anacortes tours are about 80 miles north of Seattle, so none of them is an evening plan. The whale watching page covers them if you have a day to spare.

Argosy Sunset Cruise and Private Sunsets

People search for an Argosy sunset cruise in Seattle, and I did find one: the Argosy Seattle Sunset Cruise at $51 from Pier 55, 1.5 hours. It scores 4.5 from 48 reviews, with snippets about a beautiful, affordable evening and a helpful staff. Argosy has other cruises I compared, a 1-hour harbor cruise at $43 and a locks cruise at $56, but those are daytime tours.

For a private sunset cruise I found nothing at a sunset time. The private boat in my data is Sail Bainbridge at $445 for 2 hours, from Bainbridge Island, and it doesn’t state a sunset departure. If you want a private sunset, ask the operator which slots are available. For all other trips, my guide to every Seattle boat trip I compared lists them by price.

How I’d Choose a Sunset Cruise in Seattle

• Best experience: the Bay Lady at $80, 2 hours, 4.8 from 267 reviews.
• Best price: the Argosy sunset cruise at $51, 1.5 hours.
• Private: Sail Bainbridge at $445, with a ferry crossing, and ask about the time.
• With dinner: the Waterways wine pairing cruise at $187, 6:00 to 8:30 PM.

Whichever sunset cruise in Seattle you book, check the departure time against the table above, bring a layer and look at the forecast the day before. Both tours cancel free up to 24 hours ahead. For the full list see my guide to boat tours in Seattle or go back to the Harbour Advisor home page.