Stockton CA (California)

Stockton is a San Joaquin River port and city in California USA (San Joaquin County) with population around 320,000 (metro around 780,000). By population, Stockton is California's 11th-largest (USA's 58th-largest). San Joaquin River (length 366 mi / 589 km) starts in Sierra Nevada (Ansel Adams Wilderness), flows through northern San Joaquin Valley (agricultural region) and empties into the Pacific Ocean via Suisun Bay (San Francisco Bay).

As cruise port, Stockton CA was included in the 2023 schedule of the USA's largest cruise company - ACL-American Cruise Lines.

Next table shows ACL's 7-night/8-day "San Francisco Bay Cruise" itinerary introduced in 2023 on the American Jazz ship.

The voyage's prices started from USD 6330 per person. Overnight port stays are scheduled in either Sacramento (days 4-5) or Napa (days 5-6).

ACL's San Francisco Bay Cruise itinerary features scenic cruising in San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay (an evening stop in Vallejo), as well as cruising on the Napa River and San Joaquin River. The San Francisco Bay cruise includes passing the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, and Treasure Island. A guided San Francisco city tour visits Ghirardelli Square and Fisherman’s Wharf. The cruisetour's signature experiences also include NASCAR-style driving (at Stockton 99 Speedway) and visiting a Napa Valley Winery (wine-tasting excursion). A guided Old Sacramento tour visits the underground city, the port, and the California State Railroad Museum.

Stockton is the state's first settlement with an originally given English name (not of Spanish or Indian origin). The town was established in the mid-19th-century (1849-founded/1850-incorporated) during the California Gold Rush 1848-55) and was originally intended as a supply point for the gold miners in the San Joaquin Valley. It was the road hub connecting to the gold settlements and also the northern terminus of Millerton Road (Stockton-Los Angeles Road).

Stockton is located close to San Francisco (road distance ~85 mi / 135 km via highway I-580 W) and to Sacramento (~50 mi / 80 km via highway I-5 N). The city's current-day economy is based on cargo shipping, agriculture, manufacturing, healthcare (CommonSpirit Health, Kaiser, Damero), higher education (UOP-University of the Pacific, San Joaquin Delta College), tourism (museums and art galleries, annual festivals).

Stockton Airport (civil-military airport) is approx 3 mi / 5 km southeast of downtown and is primarily used (~90%) for cargo shipping (by manufacturing and agricultural companies), also by the military (~3%), and for passenger shipping (~3%). Regularly scheduled flights (by Allegiant Air) link to Las Vegas (Nevada) and Phoenix (Arizona).

Port Stockton

Stockton has a deepwater port (locode USSCK, FTZ-designated/Foreign Trade Zone) and serves as a seaport for the shipping traffic between the Pacific Ocean and California's Central Valley. In 1933, Port Stockton was modernized and its Deepwater Shipping Channel (San Joaquin River was dredged/deepened) linking to the Pacific Ocean was completed. Two north-to-south running highways (Interstate/I- 5, and State Route /SR 99) pass through the city.

Port Stockton is approx 86 mi (140 km) east of San Francisco City (waterway/river distance), covers an area of approx 6,6 mi2 (17 km2 / 4200 acres), an additional ~0,28 mi2 (0,715 km2) dockside warehousing area, and 17 docks, a shipside rail track (5 mi / 8 km of rail lines). The Port can accommodate ocean-going vessels with max LOA 900 ft / 270 m, max draft 35 ft / 10 m, and max weight 60,000 tons (fully loaded).

Stockton Deepwater Shipping Channel is an artificial channel (length 41 mi / 66 km) linking Suisun Bay/San Francisco Bay with the Sacramento River. The Channel's depth (~37 ft / 11 m) allows Panamax-sized ships (able to transit the Panama Canal) to access the port/city. The Stockton Channel can handle ocean-going vessels with max LOA length 900 ft (270 m) and max weight 60,000 TNs/short tons (54000 tons) when fully loaded.

The Port has annual cargo shipping capacity of ~2,1+ million US tons.

Stockton CA cruise terminal