SkyStar Wheel Tickets

SkyStar Wheel tickets cost $19, and that single General Admission ticket is the only option I found, rated 4.36 from 32 reviews on GetYourGuide. The wheel is 45.7 m tall, according to Wikipedia. I would ride about an hour before sunset, so you catch the bay in daylight and then the lights.

There is one SkyStar Wheel ticket worth listing on GetYourGuide, so this page is short on purpose. Prices, ratings and inclusions come from that listing, checked October 2026, in US dollars. The link opens GetYourGuide in a new tab, and I earn a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you.

SkyStar Wheel at a Glance

The wheel stands in Fisherman’s Wharf. These are the numbers behind the SkyStar Wheel tickets on this page, each with its source.

What	Detail
Ride	Fully enclosed pod for up to six people, private to your group, per the ticket listing
Meeting point	Bay side of Jefferson Street between Mason and Powell, per the listing
Time to allow	About 10 minutes on the wheel, per a reviewer, so around 30 minutes with the queue
Accessibility	Wheelchair accessible, per the listing
Cancellation	Free up to 24 hours before

“SkyStar Wheel is a 150-foot-tall (45.7 m), 137-foot-diameter (41.8 m) traveling observation wheel located in San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf since November 13, 2023.”

A wheel has no separate high and low deck, so there is nothing to choose between. You ride one slow circuit and the view is widest at the top. The wheel travels, so its address has changed before: Wikipedia lists earlier stops in Golden Gate Park, Cincinnati, Louisville and Norfolk. I would check the official SkyStar Wheel site before you travel, in case it moves again.

SkyStar Wheel Observation Deck Tickets

If you are searching for observation deck tickets, SkyStar Wheel tickets are the waterfront alternative to a tower. The listing describes the city’s first waterfront observation wheel, and the ticket is the standard General Admission. There is no tour or pass that bundles it, so you pay for the ride and nothing else.

What it adds over a street-level walk is height and a private space: you sit in a pod with your own group and look at North Beach, Russian Hill and Telegraph Hill, then out to the bay. That is the one I would book for almost everyone.

SkyStar Wheel

San Francisco SkyStar Wheel - Fisherman’s Wharf

• ★ 4.4 (32 reviews)
• Free cancellation

My pick: My pick for everyone: $19 for a private enclosed pod, wheelchair accessible, free cancellation up to 24 hours before.

from

$19

Check availability

SkyStar Wheel Tickets and Prices

The prices of SkyStar Wheel tickets are simple, because there is one ticket at $19. It is the operator’s own ride, sold under the name SkyStar Wheel, and it is both the cheapest and the most reviewed option, since it is the only one.

Because each pod is private to your group, a family or a group of friends buying SkyStar Wheel tickets splits the cost easily. This calculator works out the total for the number of people and links to the booking page.

Skystar Wheel Reviews

On GetYourGuide the SkyStar Wheel ticket scores 4.36 from 32 reviews. That is a small sample, so I read it as a good sign and not a verdict. The comments I could see about SkyStar Wheel tickets are short and positive.

“Fun experience! It was roughly 10 minutes long and you could see everything from the wheel.”

Another reviewer called it cute and romantic, and a second liked the views but laughed at the AI altered group picture. None of them said much about queues, so I have no measured wait times to give you.

Skystar Ferris Wheel Tickets

People also search for SkyStar Ferris Wheel tickets, and the same listing covers them. Look for San Francisco SkyStar Wheel at Fisherman’s Wharf. It includes one General Admission ticket and lists nothing as excluded.

The wheel is an enclosed observation wheel and not an open-air carousel ride, which suits a cold, windy waterfront evening. Pods are sealed from the weather, and the listing says you can enjoy the ride no matter the weather.

Skystar Wheel Price

Per the listing, the price of a SkyStar Wheel ticket is $19. I did not find a separate child price or a family bundle in the data, so I will not quote one. The booking page shows the figure for your date and group.

Because cancellation is free up to 24 hours before for a full refund, you can book SkyStar Wheel tickets early without much risk. If your plans change inside that window, the refund no longer applies.

Skystar Wheel Groupon

I did not find a verified Groupon or coupon for SkyStar Wheel tickets, and I would rather say so than send you after a code that may not work. The $19 online price is the figure I can stand behind.

If you do find a discount, compare it with the $19 price of SkyStar Wheel tickets and check the terms, especially the date rules, before you pay. Free cancellation on the standard ticket is a real saving in its own right.

Skystar Wheel Hours

Before you buy SkyStar Wheel tickets, note that I could not confirm opening hours from my data: Google Maps had no listing for the wheel at its current spot. Hours at a travelling wheel can change with the season and with events, so check the official site for the date you plan.

Sunset is the useful number. It falls between about 16:51 in December and 20:33 in June, which tells you roughly when an evening slot makes sense.

Skystar Observation Wheel

As observation wheels go, the one behind these SkyStar Wheel tickets is modest. It is 150 feet (45.7 m) tall with a 137-foot (41.8 m) diameter, per Wikipedia and Wikidata. The first rides were in 2018, per Wikidata, and the wheel reached Fisherman’s Wharf on November 13, 2023.

Do not expect a skyscraper view from SkyStar Wheel tickets. The strength of an observation wheel like this is the angle: you are low enough to see boats and streets, and high enough to see across the water.

Skystar Wheel San Francisco

The wheel sits on the Barbary Coast Trail in Fisherman’s Wharf, which makes tickets for the SkyStar Wheel easy to fold into a day on the waterfront. Pier 39 is about 0.32 km (0.20 mi) away in a straight line, and the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park is 0.95 km (0.59 mi) away.

That puts the ride you get with SkyStar Wheel tickets next to the sea lions, the seafood stalls and the ferry piers. I would use the wheel as a 30-minute pause between those, not as the main event of the day.

Skystar Wheel Photos

For photos from a SkyStar Wheel ticket, the pod windows are the thing to know about. The pods are fully enclosed, so you shoot through glass, and I would keep the phone close to the window to cut reflections. I have not tested the glass myself, so treat that as a general tip.

The best light is the golden hour just before sunset. Alcatraz is the obvious subject: it lies 2.21 km (1.37 mi) from the wheel in a straight line.

Best Time to Visit the SkyStar Wheel

The clearest month in the 2025 Open-Meteo data is May, with 28 percent cloud cover, followed by January at 37 percent and October at 39. The cloudiest is July at 74 percent, then November at 67 and February at 65. Sunset ranges from about 16:51 in December to about 20:33 in June.

Month	Sunset (Los Angeles time)	Cloud cover	Sunshine a day	Rainy days
Janclearest	17:15	37%	8.1 h	2
Feb	17:49	65%	6.5 h	12
Mar	19:17	58%	9.5 h	12
Apr	19:45	51%	11.3 h	3
Mayclearest	20:13	28%	13.3 h	1
Jun	20:33	40%	12.8 h	0
Jul	20:30	74%	11.3 h	0
Aug	20:01	50%	12 h	0
Sep	19:16	48%	10.4 h	2
Octclearest	18:31	39%	8.9 h	5
Nov	16:57	67%	7.7 h	8
Dec	16:51	61%	6.6 h	9

With SkyStar Wheel tickets booked, I would arrive 45 to 60 minutes before sunset. That puts you in the pod in daylight and lets you watch the light change over the bay. Fog and cloud matter more than cold here, since the pods are enclosed.

What You Can See From the SkyStar Wheel

The listing names North Beach, Russian Hill, Telegraph Hill, Coit Tower, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Bay Bridge, Sausalito and Alcatraz. Use the calculator to see how far the horizon is from 46 m, the height Wikipedia gives.

Here are the places I would look for, with the straight-line distance from the wheel, computed from Google Maps coordinates.

Pier 39 is 0.32 km (0.20 mi) away and the Maritime Park 0.95 km (0.59 mi). Coit Tower is 0.96 km (0.60 mi) away, Alcatraz Island 2.21 km (1.37 mi) and the Ferry Building 2.28 km (1.42 mi). The Golden Gate Bridge is far: 5.85 km (3.64 mi), so expect a distant view of it.

SkyStar Wheel vs Other Observation Decks in San Francisco

The wheel is not the only high view nearby. Coit Tower is the other one on this site, and a few free viewpoints sit close. Distances are straight-line from the wheel. I have not checked admission prices, so confirm them on each official site.

Viewpoint	Google rating	Reviews	Distance from the wheel
SkyStar Wheel	n/a	n/a	the wheel itself, $19 ride
Coit Tower	4.6	16,087	0.96 km (0.60 mi), open 10 AM to 5 PM per Google Maps
Telegraph Hill Viewpoint	4.8	10	0.99 km (0.61 mi), open 24 hours per Google Maps
Transamerica Viewpoint of City	4.9	22	1.20 km (0.75 mi), open 24 hours per Google Maps
Bay Bridge Lookout	4.8	38	2.78 km (1.73 mi), open 24 hours per Google Maps

I would choose SkyStar Wheel tickets for a private pod on the water and Coit Tower for a hilltop view over the city, since they are within a 15-minute walk of each other.

How I’d Choose

• Cheapest: the $19 SkyStar Wheel ticket, since it is the only one.
• Sunset: the same ticket for a slot 45 to 60 minutes before sunset.
• Families: the $19 ticket, because the pod is enclosed, private and wheelchair accessible. Check the child price at checkout.
• First visit: the standard ticket, rated 4.36 from 32 reviews, paired with a walk to Pier 39.
• Combo with a tour: I found none for this wheel, so I would pair it with a separate waterfront walk.