The hook
A musical instrument you play by waiting for the tide, built out of a torn-down cemetery at the tip of a Marina jetty.
01Why it's worth it
Twenty-five pipes of PVC and concrete run down into the bay at different heights, and as the tide pushes water in and out of them the whole thing gurgles and hums, low organ notes that shift with the swell. Two Exploratorium artists built it in 1986 from the carved granite and marble of a demolished cemetery and rubble from the 1906 earthquake, so you're sitting among old headstones listening to the ocean play them. It's subtle, and that's the whole appeal: you have to slow down and tune your ear to it, which almost nobody does.
02How to experience it
Come at high tide, when there's enough water moving to actually make sound; at low tide it's mostly silent. Go at a quiet hour, put your ear to the listening stations, and give it ten patient minutes. The Golden Gate view is a bonus.
03Skip the cliché
It's a two-minute walk from the tourist crush at the Palace of Fine Arts, and almost no one makes the trip. Do the opposite of the tour buses and come here instead.