Seattle Lake Union Cruise: Floating Homes & BYOB Boat Tour

4.90

(117 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

The first thing that happened was I almost dropped my coffee right into the lake while trying to snap a photo of those colorful houseboats — so yeah, graceful start. Our captain just grinned and handed me a napkin, like he’d seen it all before. The boat felt cozy even though the sky was doing that Seattle thing where it can’t decide if it wants to drizzle or not. There were only five of us onboard, counting the guide, which made it easy to hear his stories without shouting over engines or crowds.

I didn’t expect to actually smell cedar and wet earth as we drifted past Gas Works Park — something about the wind coming off the shore carried it right onto the boat. The skyline looked kind of unreal from out there, with the Space Needle poking up like some weird periscope. Our guide pointed out a church I’d never noticed from land and told us about people rowing by in these impossibly skinny boats — apparently University of Washington crews practice here, even when it’s cold enough for your breath to fog up. Someone asked about taking boats to Mariners games and he laughed, saying sometimes there’s so much traffic you’re better off walking.

We brought our own snacks (and maybe too much wine), and nobody minded as long as we kept things mellow. There was this moment when everything went quiet except for some gulls and the soft slap of water against the hull — honestly, I still think about that view back toward downtown Seattle, all silver and green. Never thought two hours could feel both quick and slow at once, you know? The captain let us linger near a cluster of floating homes just because we wanted another look. Didn’t rush us at all.