Miami Beach's free water taxi: stops, hours and how to ride

Last reviewed: November 4, 2026. Sources for this page are listed in its fact sheet.

Short answer first. Yes, it's free, and yes, visitors can ride it. The City of Miami Beach runs a commuter water taxi across Biscayne Bay between Maurice Gibb Memorial Park in Sunset Harbour and the Venetian Marina and Yacht Club in downtown Miami. The crossing takes 20 minutes. The catch is the calendar: boats run Monday to Friday only in the launch phase, and the last boat leaves each side in the early evening. Build a weekday around it and it's the best free move in the city. Turn up on a Saturday and you'll wait forever.

The Miami skyline seen from a boat on Biscayne Bay, the crossing the free water taxi makes. This is a general bay photo, not the city vessel. Photo: Sami Abdullah, Pexels.

The two stops, and only two stops

Miami Beach side: Maurice Gibb Memorial Park. The dock is at 1790 Purdy Avenue, at 18 Street and Purdy Avenue, in Sunset Harbour on the west side of Miami Beach. Lincoln Road is a ten to fifteen minute walk east, and the ocean beach is about a mile further. Plan that walk or take the trolley, and don't expect to step off the boat onto sand.

Miami side: Venetian Marina and Yacht Club. The dock is at 1635 North Bayshore Drive, and the marina is also known as Sea Isle Marina. It sits in the Omni area, north of downtown proper. Bayside Marketplace and the Kaseya Center are a ten minute walk south, and the OMNI Metromover station is a short walk away.

That's the whole route. Two docks, one straight run, no stops in between. If a boat you find online lists Bayside or a string of island stops, you're looking at a paid sightseeing product. The box further down separates the two.

Hours: weekday only, hourly, then every half hour

The city schedule, checked on the City of Miami Beach water taxi page on November 4, 2026, runs like this. Boats run Monday to Friday, about every 60 minutes from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and about every 30 minutes from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. There's no weekend service during the launch phase, and the city says the service does not run on observed federal holidays unless it posts otherwise. The city page carried a closure notice for Veterans Day on Wednesday, November 11 when we checked, so look before any holiday week trip.

The timetable is easy to hold in your head. Boats leave the Miami side on the hour through the day, reach the Beach 20 minutes later, and leave the Beach on the half hour for the run back. Last departures on the published table leave Miami at 7 p.m. and Miami Beach at 7:30 p.m. An evening across the bay needs a plan B for getting home, and causeway buses and rideshare cover it. Our getting around Miami guide lays out the options.

Arrive ten minutes early. The boats hold up to 55 passengers, and a full boat at the evening peak means the next one, 30 minutes later in the busy window and an hour later midday. Build slack into any plan that ends in a dinner reservation or a show at the Arsht Center.

Connections at both ends

The water taxi works because the land side is free too. On the Beach side, the city lists the South Beach Trolley and Freebee as the connections at Maurice Gibb Memorial Park. The trolley loops through South Beach, and Freebee runs free on demand rides in parts of Mid Beach and North Beach. On the Miami side, the city points riders to Miami-Dade Transit at the OMNI station, for county buses and the Metromover, and to the Downtown and Brickell Freebee.

Put the chain together and it's strong. Metromover to OMNI, walk to the marina, boat to the Beach, trolley to the ocean. Total fare, zero dollars. The city also has the water taxi live in Google Maps transit directions, so a route between addresses near either dock shows the boat with its times. Use it on the day.

Driving to the dock works too. On the Beach side, the city lists Parking Lot 46 at the park itself and the Sunset Harbour Municipal Parking Garage at 1900 Bay Road, a few minutes on foot. Pay the garage, ride free. That's still the cheapest cross bay trip in the city.

A cross bay day that uses it well

Start downtown. Ride the Metromover to the OMNI area, walk to the Venetian Marina dock, and take a late morning boat across. You land in Sunset Harbour in time for lunch on Purdy Avenue, then ride the trolley or walk to Lincoln Road and the beach for the afternoon. Our South Beach Art Deco District guide fills the walking part, and the downtown Miami guide fills the morning. Ride back in the half hour window, beach day done, and have dinner downtown or in Brickell.

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If you want the bay with narration and a weekend schedule, that's a paid product, and the sightseeing boats run daily past the island homes.

Browse Biscayne Bay boat tours on Viator

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Free city boat or paid water taxi: do not mix them up

Two services use the words water taxi in Miami, and they share nothing but the bay. The city service on this page is free, has two stops, runs weekdays only, and is a commute that visitors can use. No narration, no drinks, no island loop.

The paid one is Water Taxi Miami, a private sightseeing company that says it has run since 2012. Its boats work a hop on and off route from Bayside Marketplace, at 401 Biscayne Boulevard, to the Miami Beach Marina in South Beach, daily, for a fare. It's a tour product, and a good one for a first afternoon. It just isn't transport, and it doesn't dock at Maurice Gibb Memorial Park. Our Millionaire's Row cruise guide covers the paid bay options in full.

When the water taxi is the wrong move

Weekends, first of all. A Saturday plan needs the causeway, by bus or rideshare, full stop. Evenings run second: after the last boat, the causeway is the way back. Holidays run third, per the city's closure practice. Luggage runs fourth: this is a commuter boat with a 55 passenger cap, not a cruise transfer, and cruise passengers belong in our MIA to PortMiami transfers guide.

One honest gap, too. The city's page at our November 4, 2026 check did not state a bicycle policy, so this page won't invent one. If riding across with a bike is the plan, check the city page on the day or ask the dock crew first.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Miami Beach water taxi really free?
Yes. There's no ticket and no booking. You show up at the dock and board, space permitting, up to 55 passengers per boat.

Does the free water taxi run on weekends?
No, not in the launch phase. Service is Monday to Friday only, and it also stops on observed federal holidays unless the city posts otherwise.

How long is the crossing?
20 minutes dock to dock, per the city. Boats leave Miami on the hour in the daytime pattern and Miami Beach on the half hour, and the evening window runs every 30 minutes.

Can I bring a bike on the free water taxi?
The city's page did not state a bicycle policy when we checked on November 4, 2026. Check the city page before you go or ask at the dock, and don't build a bike day around an unconfirmed yes.

Keep planning

The full transport picture is in the getting around Miami guide, the mainland end of the route is covered in the downtown Miami guide, the Beach end pairs with the South Beach Art Deco District guide, and the paid boats are compared in the Millionaire's Row cruise guide and the Miami boat tours guide.