A replica of the Pinta is open for tours in City of Biloxi

Christopher Columbus set sail with three ships: the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. Two out of those three ships have become replicas that you can tour.

The Pinta replica is docked in Biloxi at the Schooner Pier Complex.

A replica of one of Christopher Columbus’ famous ships, the Pinta, is now available for tours. The floating museum was created to educate the public on the caravel, a type of Portuguese ship Columbus used along with many other early explorers who sailed to discover the world.

Brandy Brown, from Clinton, MS, brought her family, along with three other families who home school their kids, to see the ship. They thought what better way to learn about history if you can go back in time yourself. “It’s like living history. So, they get to be a part of what happened in the past. Things they read about it in a book, they can actually experience it.”

When you step on the ship, you are greeted by tour guides who will help you learn about the history and show you all the displays and artifacts that are found throughout the ship. Captain Stephen Sanger said, “You can learn a lot about the voyages of Columbus, the mechanics of the ship, life on board for those 26 crew that all worked all day and slept on the main deck and the stories of our crew members that live and travel on these ships year round.”

The crew members travel to 20 ports a year. The ship has done a loop throughout the U.S. a total of seven times.

The Pinta was constructed from 2002 to 2005 in Brazil. It took 20 men 26 months to complete. “To be able to make this a generational thing. We’ve had kids grow up into adults, we’ve been traveling 30 years. So, they bring their kids and so on and so forth.”

To tour the ship, it is $8 for adults. Seniors 65 and over are $7, and students are $6. The ship will be available for tours until April 2^nd.