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America’s “Devil’s Island” didn’t operate as a prison for very long, but it can still evoke a chill.

A trip out to Angel Island, now a state park, can make for a very pleasant day of picnicking, biking, hiking, kayaking, and swimming. But in the early 1900s it was the “Ellis Island of the West,” where would-be immigrants, mostly Chinese, could be detained for months. During World War II, it served as a prisoner of war camp and later as a missile base. Treasure Island was built in 1939 for the Golden Gate International Exposition and was a US Navy base during World War II; it is now once again owned by the city and has recently become San Francisco’s newest suburb. Yerba Buena Island is a Coast Guard station and is mostly closed to visitors.

Part of Golden Gate Park’s California Academy of Sciences (see Steinhart Aquarium), the Steinhart Aquarium is a big hit with kids. The darkened corridors are filled with softly glowing tanks in which some of the weirdest creatures on the planet disport themselves. Then there’s the Touching Tidal Pool if kids want to get up close and personal with their finny friends. At Fisherman’s Wharf, UnderWater World gives an even greater undersea experience, with walk-through transparent tunnels surrounded by sea life (see Aquarium of the Bay).

This hands-on museum is aimed directly at children. Kids will be able to interact with an underwater sea tunnel, an art studio, a science lab, an engineering lab, the “Maze of Illusions,” and a media center, among other things.

The next community up from Stinson is a hippie artists’ village that time forgot. Intensely private, the citizens regularly take down all road signs indicating the way to their special place to keep visitors from finding them. Potters and other craftspeople sell their wares in the funky gallery, organic produce and vegetarianism are the rule, and 1960s idealism still predominates.

Made famous in the 1960s for its various adult entertainments, the offerings haven’t changed much. Enrico’s, at No. 504, is a great place for dinner.

If you’re in the quarter on a Saturday afternoon, don’t miss the impromptu opera that takes place here. But any time is right for this artists’ and writers’ gathering place.