Slaughter Bay to Old Cemeteries: St. Augustine Ghosts by GPS
A ghost investigator narrates St. Augustine's north side through your phone, from the bayfront by the fort to two old cemeteries.
No live guide meets you at the start. Book it and VoiceMap emails you an eight-character code; enter it in the VoiceMap app, download the tour, and the voice of John "Hippie" Sanchez, billed as a tour guide and ghost investigator, walks you through St. Augustine's north side by GPS. The red start button only becomes active once you are standing at the starting point, a small wooden fishing pier in the park on the left side of the Bridge of Lions, across the street from the downtown plaza. From there the route follows the bayfront toward the fort, cuts through Fort Alley to the Old City Gates and ends at Tolomato Cemetery. VoiceMap counts 25 audio locations over about a kilometer.
You pay per person, and the whole party shares one code. Each person can keep the tour for life, use it offline, and replay it at home in virtual mode, like an audiobook.
Audio Guide to the Ghosts of St Augustine’s North SideSelf-guided GPS audio ghost walk in the VoiceMap app, from the Bridge of Lions to Tolomato Cemetery, about 60 to 80 minutes.www.viator.comFour Kinds of Ghosts Along the Bayfront
The first stretch is a primer. Walking the bayfront toward the Castillo de San Marcos, Sanchez sorts apparitions into four kinds: poltergeist, intellectual, residual and demonic. The tour's own summary is that some are evil while others just need a friend. The sorting comes back later: at the Old City Gates he stops to ask which kind Elizabeth is. Along the water the audio also points to Slaughter Bay, which the listing says was once known as the Bay of Dancing Dolphins, and parks you on a bench for a stop titled Twenty-Two Pirate Attacks.
Elizabeth, the City Gates and Two Cemeteries
The middle of the walk belongs to Elizabeth, whom the listing calls St. Augustine's most famous apparition. At the Old City Gates the audio has you stand outside the gates while Sanchez tells how she came to be buried in the Huguenot Cemetery, and why she has a dedicated police radio code. He files her as a residual haunting, the same figure in the same place, repeating without change. The north end also takes in Potter's Wax Museum, which the listing says was built on an ancient burial ground, and Casa de Suenos, a bed and breakfast the listing says is reputed to be haunted by former residents. The two cemeteries on the route are the Huguenot, a burial ground for Protestant settlers, and Tolomato, where the walk ends.
Made for After Dark, When Most Places Are Shut
Sanchez's advice is to go at night. The tour works at any time, but his tips say nighttime gives better odds of an encounter, and the later the better, with 3:00 AM as his near-perfect hour; anyone out that late should bring a partner. Expect most places along the route to be closed after dark, so every stop is heard from the outside. That includes Tolomato Cemetery, where the walk ends: at night its stories come from outside the gate. To see inside, come back on the third Saturday of the month, 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM, when the cemetery's own site says it opens with free admission. Tickets or entrance fees for museums and other attractions on the route are not included.
Phone, Headphones and a Full Battery
Everything runs on your own device. The listing asks you to bring your own smartphone and headphones, and the booking instructions say to download the tour before you set off for the start; after that, audio, maps and directions work offline. Start with a full charge, which the producer says lets you finish the tour without delays. He also asks for proper walking shoes, water, a light jacket and rain gear; in his words, Florida likes to change the weather every ten minutes. Traffic is the biggest safety issue he names. Use the crosswalks the audio sends you to.
📍 The pin on this page marks the Old City Gates, a stop partway through the audio, not the start. The walk starts at the small wooden fishing pier in the park on the left side of the Bridge of Lions, across the street from the downtown plaza; VoiceMap adds that you will see a large marker sign with the letter D in the water. It ends at Tolomato Cemetery, and VoiceMap puts the last audio point about 600 meters from the pier. Tickets are per person for ages 6 and up, a full refund applies if you cancel at least 24 hours before your scheduled departure, and the code works before and after your booked date. Pick a dark evening, stand on the pier, and press start.