Fun fact: Salem Maritime is the First National Historic Site in the U.S.! If you want to get away form the crowds of the city, relaxing by this view is a good way to do it. Ship and lighthouse on the water is scenic! I recommend walking across the street to do a walking tour of some of the historical homes and shops as well. There is enough signage by these locations to get a feel for what it may have looked like hundreds of years ago.

Interesting place, very self guided. History buffs might find the lack of detail frustrating. Limited parking nearby.

Very nice area to walk around. Definitely a tourist attraction, but that’s pretty much all you can do around here.Don’t come here if you’re not ready to spend some money on useless stuff

If your interested in maritime or military history dont miss out! If not, your not missing much. The tour was really good and well run. The ship itself is a relic and deserves to be toured. Ask the active duty crew literally any question about the ship and theyll give you an answer!

Way to many people not being cautious of covid drive around never leaving are truck

Its the perfect spot to explore in Salem. I come down every couple months to park here, grab a coffee and explore the amazing Salem neighborhoods. There are many helpful people here as well, willing to point you in the right direction.

Really awesome pirate ship on display.Grounds were well kept too. Super cute beach area with wooden chairs out.

Historical, very important to our Nation. And a great view of the harbor. Take a lunch and enjoy.

A beautiful little path that for one moment places you in a little city Oasis. Plus you get to learn a little about the past. There is a present flower garden in the rear of the Hawkes house that is pleasant to sit in on a nice day.

This place is really cool.Got to walk the Derby Wharf and learn about the trades that took place there. The water is so calming and I love the boats. Didnt have a lot of time due to meetings but the area is absolutely beautiful and Id like to visit again.

We love the Salem waterfront. It is rich with history and natural beauty. Get out and walk these old streets and get in touch with old New England!For a wonderful maritime experience, take in a sail on the Fame Schooner docked at Pickering Wharf. The crew is awesome and you can help with raising the sails and even spend some time at the tiller! There are also some great seafood places on the waterfront.

Amazing historic location in the heart of Salem. Very close to the other main attractions and restaurants. This sight has amazing views all around. Walk all the way down to the wharf lighthouse and you have an amazing view of the water and docks.

Beautiful, historic waterfront serviced by the National Park Service. Check in at the visitor center for free daily tours of some of the homes in the park. Visit Custom House where Nathaniel Hawthorne once worked. Previously once of the busiest and richest seaports in America!

Beautiful place. So peaceful and relaxing. Love the history.

I loved the place! Its good for relaxing with family. Good for all age! Landscape is amazing plus the history all around makes this location a must see.

Salem is a very cool place to visit, with the occult vibe of New Orleans meshed with a northern seaport town vibe. I spent a few hours walking the city late at night, so I cannot attest to the experience of the museum, as it was closed. The little town has a lot to offer, with bars and restaurants and live entertainment going into the late hours on a Wednesday night.

Come year round and have a blast. Fall is crazy busy but a trip to experience the Halloween festival here. Historic sites every turn. Walk the town for hours and visit all the shops. Explore the history. Take a tour. Enjoy old stories and culture. Food and booze for days! Dress warm as the ocean breeze can get cool. Talk with the locals and care for the street. Pick up trash you see and help preserve this historical place.

Kids liked finding the lighthouse and reading about the history. Nice out door activity lots of walking

Enjoyed a morning walk here, was a great start to the day.

Great place with many sites to see, also across from it is a great place to walk because of the long dock. Great time for pokemon go players as well.

Nice place to go eat and relax along this light house

Wasnt open when we were visiting. However the area was vey pretty. Still enough to see in the locality to be entertained.

Nice historic houses. Worth visiting!

This place amazed and educated me at the same time. It took me back in time. The spicy scent that lingers in the customs building is a wonderful reminder of when they shipped in crates of tabacco, tea, pepper, cinnamon and other spices from exotic ports.

A fun area to visit to be able to walk around and see many many sailboats and other ships in the bay. A lot of little shops all around as well as small restaurants to visit with the family and kids. What are the nicer areas of Salem as well as a big area for the whole witch theme.

It was okay...The service and the food were great.

Monument next to an nice pier and reconstructed boat. Nice views over the bay, and a mini lighthouse on the end of the pier.

An amazing piece of American history. Do not forget to also check out the Customs House. Peaceful, serene and a good photo-op location.

Love big ships! An open field/port area with limited parking. There is the clam shack restaurant nearby, which just adds to the night time light show reflecting off of the waters. I was there during the off hours, so didnt tour the big ship or anything, but one was there with its masts low. Ocean breezes from the Atlantic. Youd just have to be there!

Nice place to take a break and enjoy the sea.

The Salem Maritime Historic Site is quite informative and interesting. I feel the maritime history is greatly overlooked because of the overwhelming attention to Salem being the Witch city. I find that people would be pleasantly surprised to come here and learn about the history of this maritime location. I was an extremely active and interesting port at the time, and the history is just as intriguing. I suggest you take a moment to check out this location, you wont be disappointed.

My my my! What a wonderful place. We visited what seems like a long time ago but the memories are so fresh. I hope it’s still as amazing as it was then. I really recommend it. Everyone we encountered was so friendly and the history of the area was astounding. I hope to go back one day for fresh memories.

Beautiful site and great information. Definitely will be back to visit

I really enjoy our maritime history. Many ships were built here. Its a pitty the Friendship isnt in port but that shouldnt stop you from walking this area and absorbing some of New Englands rich stories of trade, intrigue and piracy. Like any history not all of it is savory. We shouldnt hide it though or we wont learn from our mistakes. Salem has, over the years become a mult-cultural city that is accepting of all who come to live or visit here. So enjoy a leisurely stroll and get a feel for what has passed here. Our history.

An absolutely beautiful view that you must stop at on your salem visit if only for a few minutes. There are nice shops and tourist attractions here as well.

Informative personnel, nice to get out of the center of Salem and witches for something a little different

Salem always been a go to place its pretty nice down here

If you have kids be sure to ask about the Junior Ranger program. It’s fun and they can get a Junior Ranger badge. It’s fun here and you get to walk on an actual ship and see what it would feel and look like. I recommend dropping by the Salem visitor Center first and watching their 30 minute video that explains the history of the town. It helps explain everything.

Good place to visit.. fishing further down the road.

Historically important area, lots to do and see. Great opportunities for sea trips, great food, drinks and shopping

So much history at this spot. A short walk down the breakwater will yield wonderful views of the harbor.

A neat little place with a nautical theme. Cashier was very knowledgeable in the history of Salem and was helpful in information on the ships I could tour and things going on in the harbor the day I went. Items in the store are pricey but very cool. They have model ships and small nautical gadgets, toys for kids, rope toys for dogs and a very cool collection of different teas. The store is worth stopping in and exploring

As a National Park Passport and Annual Pass holder, this was the first time Ive ever left a park and skipped the intro movie after rude treatment by visitor center desk staff. Apparently no one has ever visited off-season, which i am guessing is most of the year. We did talk to a nice ranger while walking among the historic houses.

So happy we went to the Maritime park! The rangers were all very happy to share their knowledge of Salem’s history. If you’re thinking about visiting the House of the Seven Gables- the National Park tour, Customs House, and Friendship are an awesome way to round out your experience of Salem.Shout out to Peter the Park Ranger, our guide today, who made the 2:30 tour one of my favorite parts of visiting Salem!

This place is Amazing! Beautiful scene. A real part of American history. Great fun for the kids too! The ship is so awesome. We found shells on the beach. A must do when is salem.

I took my mom and brother to the FREE public tour. Very informative and actually pretty fun.FYITheres not a lot of places to sit on the tour. Wear comfortable shoes.

Disappointed that the museum was closed when we finally made it there. We were able to walk out to the lighthouse and read the interesting signs. It was still worth the stop even though we were unable to go into the buildings or see the ships.

Nice clean place to go have a picnic or go eat at any of the local restaurants

Great place to visit and learn

What a great day to go walking and site seeing, and a proposal.

Very beautiful. The storm the day before backed some sail boats

I literally got up at 6 every morning to go for a daily walk in this area. It was the most peaceful and educational walk Ive ever had. These areas are generally open so that you can stroll through and learn the history of the Salem Maritime area. Highly highly highly recommended!

Enjoy that entire area of Salem. Beautiful this time of year. Topped off w a flavored hot coffee while boat peeping!

Lovely historic waterfront and period homes. It is definitely worth your time in visiting Salem. The waterfront area is very nice for sight seeing, just take a stroll along the jetty up to the little sea light. There is a little house for souvenir shopping with very helpful and knowledgeable clerks. It is a complete nautical site with the opportunity to get on board to explore Friendship of Salem and the visit the historical naval repair shop that has been transported from Marblehead.

This is one of my favorite places to visit when I go back home to Salem.

It is beautiful very relaxing we ate in a very happy mexican restaurant

Stunning views and great to just spend a afternoon walking around.

Love history, lots to see

A lovely walk with history

The park rangers are engaging and friendly. The ship is being restored (its actually a replica) and the rangers will tell you what they are working on and why it is significant. One ranger was working on making a bag the day we were there and he walked us through the process and why he was doing it. Tour the ship and the building. Kids 8-12 would really enjoy the ship. Especially all of the ropes and sails because they can actually touch them since they are replicas.

Peaceful place! Loved the interpretive tours! Great job Rangers!!

A gorgeous spot in the heart of downtown Salem. Beautiful views, and a ton of maritime, industrial, and Polish history.

Had alot of fun. We did the junior ranger packet and earned the badge. All the rangers were very knowledgeable and a joy to interact with. A shining example of our National Park Service.

What a unexpected gem with a ton of history! Even though we didnt get to see the Friendship, it was still a beautiful place to learn about and walk down.

Nice walk out to the light.

Its there and the kiosk are nice. Lacking in public seating and minimum maintenance of lawn. There is so much potential here. Like artist shacks or a few flowers or shrubs. Currently the ships mast is off the boat and horizontal on the ground

Wish the ship would have been open for tours.

Hailing from the land of maritime heritage where we have Portsmouth, Plymouth, Southampton as great world renowned maritime ports to name a few I have high expectations when it comes to Maritime heritage sites. Salem though falling short of the venues Ive already mentioned offered a lovely heritage maritime site with rangers dotted around to provide insight and context to some of the sites and enjoyable albeit small site.

Pretty cool place, amazing touring exhibitions but their toilet is so dirty.

Nice. They showed us how they are repairing and maintaining the boat thats there now.

I liked the history and the ship was cool.

Great to learn about the builders and merchants. But be sure to go across the street to the Custom House for more historical nuggets of the locale.

Worth a visit on several levels, including the role of early colonial shipping and the working of the industry at this period of our history in the age of sailing

Very interesting if you are the least bit interested in the days of old. Some good information.

Good location in downtown Salem. Restaurants nearby. Expensive at $91 a night for a 26 foot boat not needing power hookup.

Its a must see if you are visiting Salem.

Beautiful, quite location with a long walkway out onto a harbor and within walking distance of House of Seven Gables and other historic sites.

Got good pictures. Sunny day. Has postings of what trade use to happen with which countries.

Nice place & location... currently ships in dock for repairs. Take a walk out to the lighthouse its all beautiful.

Just Cool to see

I love old Salem and its rich history. Its shipping ports were some of the busiest ports in the 1600s

Such a cool place to wander round. Lovely old buildings, cute little shops. Nice views out from the jetties

Had a perfect September day to finally see the old Customs House, warehouses, and the Friendship -- what there is of it. The information was fascinating, and the docent in the Customs House an able teacher.Very sad to see the derelict condition of both ship and house. The ship has been variously out for repairs over the last few years, and is still not done. Looks kind of woeful without her masts.And the paint inside the venerable old Customs House is peeling badly. Its just sad to see what is happening to historic monuments such as these due to the budget cuts to the National Park Service.

My kids remarked wow, I didnt know we had any significant landmarks near us! after I explained that it was a national historicl site. The custom house is visible right from the warf. Its a beautiful stop on a stroll through one of Americas earliest and most influential trading ports.

If you like maritime history then this is a must stop

Pretty cool to check out, parking is difficult.

Very historic!!!

One if the best around,Salem even has her very own Pirate ShipHow ultra cool is that.You gotsta go!

Enjoyed the visit. Friendship of Salem is worth the visit. Short walk to the Light Station. Wonderful views of the harbor.

Great place to see and learn about Salems port authority. The park rangers were friendly and informative. Theyre passionate about the rich history of the town and are more than willing to engage in discussion about the various sites. The best part about the entire experience was that admission was free! Definitely worth a visit the next time youre in Salem.

Oceanside park and historic maritime outdoor museum + The Custom House where Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote part of his novel The Scarlet Letter and served a surveyor during the early Victorian Era.

Fun place. Very clean and great views. Hopefully to use graphene coated magnets to make electricity from seawater in future project. (Kinetic energy of seawater ions on graphene creates electrical current)

Very nice. Would have loved to have been allowed upstairs.

Its good, 40 minute of total presentation time. Well presented and clear. If you like history you will like this.

Pretty cool place nice little walk and the boat it something different.

Nice area to stroll, free to tour a reproduction of a 1700s trading 2 masted schooner, the national forest rangers were exceedingly friendly, helpful and informative. Spent a very enjoyable 30 minute period here.

It was great had my daughter wedding there was so beautiful even l have cry .

Loved visiting, but really had to work hard to see Narbonne House due to limited hours. The best rangers work here!

Its essentially a gift shop with varying degrees of boats/ships modeled and talked about. The real attraction there is the older gentleman who sits at the help desk. He gave us directions to the must see places. There is a huge parking deck right beside it, $6 for all day.

Really cool spot to visit. Getting to walk through the shop was really awesome. Our teenagers actually enjoyed the whole thing.