See it from the water.
Superyachts on the Intracoastal, airboats out in the sawgrass, the sandbar on a Saturday and the reef a mile off the beach. What each trip is really like, what it costs, and where to book.
Seven trips that never disappoint.
First visit or fifth, these carry a Fort Lauderdale week: the water taxi that doubles as a city tour, an airboat morning out in the Everglades, and the sandbar afternoon everyone talks about long after.
Water Taxi All Day hop-on hop-off Venice of America Boat Tour
Fort Lauderdale water taxi all-day pass with hop-on stops from 10am–10pm, live English narration, and easy access to beaches and Hollywood.
From $38 per person
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★ 4.5Crew favouriteVENICE OF AMERICA TOUR!! Best of Fort Lauderdale over 30 years!!!From $321,952 reviews
★ 4.2Books out fastEverglades: Sawgrass Park Day Time Airboat Tour & ExhibitsFrom $331,857 reviews
★ 4.5Local pickFlorida Everglades Airboat Adventure and Wildlife EncounterFrom $331,791 reviews
★ 4.5Easy winJungle Queen Riverboat 90-Minute Narrated Sightseeing Cruise in Fort LauderdaleFrom $311,753 reviews
★ 5.0On the water1-Hour Interactive Pirate Cruise (arrive 30 minutes early)From $351,483 reviews
★ 4.0Sells outAll You Can Eat BBQ Dinner and Show at Tropical Isle with Sightseeing CruiseFrom $801,158 reviews
The Everglades start half an hour west.
Trade the coast for the sawgrass: an airboat throttles out past alligators and wading birds, cuts the engine in the quiet, and has you back at the beach by lunch. This is the half-day nearly everyone books, and nobody regrets.
Which afternoon afloat is yours?
Everyone gets on a boat in Fort Lauderdale; the question is which one. Three ways to spend an afternoon afloat. Pick the one that sounds like your crew, and every option behind it is already reviewed and priced.
Just your crew
The private charter
1 hour (approx.) · from $99 · 494 reviews
Your own boat, captain and route: idle past Millionaires’ Row, nose into a quiet canal, anchor wherever the day takes you. You bring the cooler, they bring the local knowledge. The splurge that turns a trip into the story you retell.
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Anchor at the sandbar
The sandbar day
4 hours (approx.) · from $700 · 47 reviews
Point the bow at the sandbar off Lake Sylvia, drop anchor in waist-deep water, and let the afternoon go. Music, floats and a hundred other boats rafted up beside you. The most Fort Lauderdale thing you can do on a Saturday.
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Golden hour afloat
The sunset sail
2 hours (approx.) · from $55 · 902 reviews
Cast off as the light goes gold, slide down the New River past lit-up mansions, and watch the skyline switch on from the water. Two easy hours, a drink in hand, no plans required. The gentlest way to end a day here.
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The water doesn’t stop at sunset.
Golden hour on a catamaran, the skyline lighting up along the New River, the tables at the Hard Rock going all night. Fort Lauderdale after dark happens on the water and just off it. Here’s where to be when the light goes.
The reef is a mile offshore.
The third-largest reef in the world sits close enough to reach in fifteen minutes: parrotfish, turtles and the odd wreck in clear warm water. Snorkel it, or paddle the mangroves for the calmer version. Both start feet from the sand.
Where the deep water starts.
The Gulf Stream runs close to shore here, so the sailfish, mahi and grouper are a short run out. Book a shared drift boat for a couple of hours or a private charter for the serious day. The mates bait the hooks either way.
Three hundred miles of canals.
They didn’t give it the nickname for nothing: Fort Lauderdale is stitched together by water, and the old riverboats and water taxis still read it best. Glide past the mansions, under the drawbridges and along the New River, the way the city was meant to be seen: slowly, from the deck.
Where the coast takes you.
The coast changes every few miles. The Everglades to the west, the reef straight off the beach, the Keys and the Bahamas a morning south. Las Olas for the evening, the New River for the slow way through town.
Know how you want to spend it?
A dozen ways onto the water and off it. Pick the one that sounds like your kind of day, and every trip behind it is already reviewed and priced.
A morning south, a different world.
The car can stay parked. The Keys, the Bahamas and the Everglades are all a boat ride or a short hop away. Leave after breakfast, back for a late dinner.
Three days, one coastline.
You won’t run out of water in Fort Lauderdale before you run out of days. This is the order we’d give a friend flying into FLL tomorrow: easy first, big on day three.
Day 1
Get your bearings by boat
Hop the water taxi or a sightseeing cruise down the New River, past Millionaires’ Row and under the drawbridges. Half a day, the whole city, jet lag optional.
Plan day one →
Day 2
Beach, reef, sandbar
Morning on the sand, an hour on the reef with a mask and fins, then anchor at the sandbar for the afternoon. The classic Fort Lauderdale day, in that order.
Plan day two →
Day 3
West to the Everglades
Save the airboat for last: out into the sawgrass at first light, alligators and herons before the heat, back at the coast by lunch with the best photos of the trip.
Plan day three →
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