The Fort Lauderdale Water Taxi

Fort Lauderdale gets called the Venice of America, and the Water Taxi is the easiest way to see why. It is a hop-on, hop-off boat that runs the Intracoastal and the New River, and a day aboard is equal parts transport and sightseeing. Buy one pass, ride all day, and let somebody else do the driving.

What the Water Taxi is

The bright yellow boats have been part of the Fort Lauderdale waterfront for decades. They work like a bus route, except the road is water and the scenery is megayachts and waterfront mansions. You buy a pass, board at any stop, ride to wherever you want to get off, wander for as long as you like, then flag the next boat and keep going. Captains and crew narrate as you cruise, calling out the big houses, the boatyards, and the stories along the banks.

The network covers a lot of ground, with routes that stitch together downtown, the beach, the marinas along 17th Street, and neighboring cities. There are more than thirty stops across the region, with about ten in Fort Lauderdale alone. From the nest you are only minutes from a stop, which makes this one of the simplest car-free days you can plan here.

How it works

The core product is an all-day pass. Buy it once and ride as often as you like between stops for the rest of the day. An all-route adult pass runs around $38, children roughly five to eleven are closer to $18, and little ones under five ride free. There is usually a cheaper evening pass for riders boarding later in the day. Prices and pass types change, so confirm the current fare when you buy.

Boats run daily, roughly from mid-morning to about 10pm, coming around on a regular cadence on the main routes. Check the current schedule, and plan the day around unhurried hops rather than tight connections. Riding the main Fort Lauderdale route all the way around without getting off takes about three hours, so figure on a relaxed loop.

You can hop between the Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, and Pompano Beach segments on an all-route pass, though the outer legs run less often and eat more of your day. Most first-timers are happiest staying on the Fort Lauderdale core, where the stops sit close together and the good stuff is dense.

The stops

The exact numbering, route labels, and any temporary closures are worth checking on the current route map. Here is the shape of the main Fort Lauderdale stops:

• Riverside Hotel and the Historic Stranahan House on the New River, right on the Riverwalk and a short walk from Las Olas.
• The Shops and Restaurants at Las Olas, which drops you into the boulevard's dining and browsing.
• 15th Street Fisheries, a longtime waterfront seafood spot on the Intracoastal.
• Pier Sixty-Six, the marina resort on 17th Street with a cluster of restaurants.
• Bahia Mar, close to the beach and more waterfront dining.
• Plus additional marina, beach, and restaurant stops, and transfer points toward the Hollywood and Pompano routes. Check the current route map for the full list and numbers.

Stops worth building a day around

The trick is to pick two or three anchor stops instead of trying to ride every dock. Here is how the strongest ones stack up.

Riverside Hotel and Stranahan House

This downtown stop puts you on the Riverwalk, the paved path that follows the New River past parks, the arts center, and the science museum. It is a short stroll to the foot of Las Olas Boulevard, and the Stranahan House next door is the oldest surviving structure in the city, a good half-hour of local history if you want it. Start here, walk the boulevard, and you have half a day before you even get back on a boat. For the full downtown-on-foot version, see our Stranahan House and Riverwalk history guide.

The Shops and Restaurants at Las Olas

This is the food-and-browse stop. Las Olas Boulevard is the walkable heart of the city, lined with restaurants, galleries, and cafes, and the Water Taxi drops you right into it. Ride over for lunch, wander the shops, then catch a later boat back. The full run-down of the boulevard is in the Las Olas Boulevard guide.

The 17th Street marinas

The stretch along 17th Street is where the yachts live, and the resort marinas there put a row of waterfront restaurants within a short walk of the dock. This is prime territory for a long, slow lunch on the water. If a waterfront table is the whole point of your day, our waterfront restaurants guide covers the best of them.

Toward Hugh Taylor Birch State Park

On a clear day it is worth reaching the beach end near Hugh Taylor Birch State Park for a walk under the maritime hammock, a patch of old Florida hemmed in by the beach and the Intracoastal. Check the current route to see how close the boat gets, and remember the park closes at sunset, so treat it as a daytime plan. More on the park itself in our Hugh Taylor Birch State Park guide.

A sample day on the water

You do not need a rigid plan, but a loose loop keeps you from burning the day waiting at docks. Here is one that works:

1. Board mid-morning at the stop nearest you and ride toward downtown, letting the narration do the sightseeing.
2. Get off at Riverside Hotel and walk the Riverwalk to the foot of Las Olas.
3. Reboard and cross to the Shops and Restaurants at Las Olas for a mid-day browse and coffee.
4. Ride down to the 17th Street marinas for a late, unhurried waterfront lunch.
5. Hop back on and let the loop carry you past the mansions and boatyards on the way home.

Total moving time on the water might be a couple of hours across the day, with the rest spent off the boat. Because a full loop runs about three hours, you can also just stay aboard for the scenic ride if your legs are tired and your only goal is to watch the waterfront slide by.

The Water Taxi and the Jungle Queen

People mix these two up, and they are different experiences. The Water Taxi is a flexible transit pass. You steer the day, get on and off, and use it to actually go places. The Jungle Queen Riverboat is a fixed, fully narrated cruise on a set schedule, more of a single sit-down show than a way to get around. Here is the quick comparison.

	Water Taxi	Jungle Queen
Format	Hop-on, hop-off pass	Set-route cruise
You control the day	Yes, get on and off anywhere	No, fixed schedule
Best for	Dining, browsing, sightseeing on your own clock	A relaxed narrated ride, start to finish
Doubles as transport	Yes	Not really

If you want to do both, they pair well across two days: the Jungle Queen for a laid-back narrated evening, the Water Taxi for a self-guided day of stops.

Reaching Hollywood and Pompano Beach

An all-route pass also lets you push south to Hollywood or north toward Pompano Beach, where the boats connect to their own waterfront stops. These outer segments run less frequently, so they are a commitment, and going all the way to Hollywood and back can swallow most of a day. If Hollywood is the real goal, it is usually faster to drive down and walk the Hollywood Beach Broadwalk, and save the Water Taxi for the Fort Lauderdale core.

Seasonal notes and closures

The Water Taxi runs year-round, but service can change around some holidays and events, so check ahead if you are visiting in late December. During the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show in the fall, the Water Taxi is one of the smartest ways to move between show sites, sometimes with show-specific options; expect the water to be busy that week.

Summer brings heat and afternoon storms, which is actually a fine time for a boat with shade and a breeze, though a passing thunderstorm can pause service briefly. Winter is the peak season, with the best weather and the most crowds. Whenever you go, the boats are open-air, so bring sun cover.

What to bring

• Sunscreen, a hat, and sunglasses. The decks are open and the sun reflects off the water.
• A light layer for the evening boats, when the breeze picks up on the Intracoastal.
• Your phone for the live boat tracker, so you can time your reboarding instead of standing at a dock.
• A little cash for tips; the crews narrate and help you on and off all day.
• Your pass on your phone, plus a note of which stop you started from so you can find your way back.

A few cautions. The schedule can shift with wind, tide, and crowds, so leave slack before anything with a hard start like a dinner reservation or a flight. Weekends and holidays fill the boats, and a full one may pass a busy stop, so do not cut it close near closing time. And the outer routes are slow; if you have only one day, keep it tight and downtown.

How it fits with getting around

The Water Taxi is a great day out, but it is too leisurely to replace a car for errands. Think of it as an activity that happens to move you between a few waterfront spots, not a way to cross town on a schedule. For the practical side of getting from A to B here, including rideshares, the beach trolley, and Brightline, see our guide to getting around Fort Lauderdale.

Back at the nest

One of the quiet perks of Turtle Nest Bungalow is how close it sits to the water. You are minutes from a Water Taxi stop, so a car-free day on the Intracoastal is an easy plan: leave the car in the driveway, ride out for a long waterfront lunch, and let the boats carry you home past the yachts. Come back to the private pool and the fire pit, fire up the griddle for dinner, and let somebody else captain for once.

When you are ready to trade the deck for the sand, the beach is close by. Our Fort Lauderdale Beach and promenade guide has the rest. Check dates and book the nest whenever your on-the-water day is calling.

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