Fort Lauderdale Water Taxi

Wondering what to do first when visiting Fort Lauderdale, Florida? WJ recommends seeing “Venice of America” from the water by taking the Water Taxi.

Taking the Water Taxi past Mansions along the Intracoastal Waterway in Fort Lauderdale

What Is The Water Taxi?

On the Water Taxi it’s easy to explore Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood along the Intracoastal Waterway and New River – basically it’s a hop-on/hop-off with 20 stops along the waterways. This is definitely a fun way to spend anywhere from a couple of hours to an entire day getting around – plus, it’s a very interesting way to see the canals, yachts and mansions.

Water Taxi Stop at Hilton Marina

What Did WJ See?

WJ started our day by jumping on a Water Taxi next to the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina (which was a 15-minute walk from the Hyatt Pier 66 where we were staying). We first took the Water Taxi that was heading down to Hollywood Beach – about a 40-minute narrated cruise along the Intracoastal to where we got off at the Margaritaville (Jimmy Buffet fans will get a kick out of this bar) stop.

Water Taxi stops at Margaritaville in Hollywood

Discounts on Activities:

One of the bonus features about the Water Taxi ticket is it gives riders a bunch of discounts at their “Cruise & Save Partners” – restaurants, bars, shops, attractions and more… So as we walked towards Hollywood Beach we noticed one of the partners was Hollywood Beach Trikke (327 Johnson Street, Hollywood) and picked up a Side-by-Side Duallie to cruise the beachside Broadwalk. This was an excellent way for us to easily see nearly 5 miles along the beach in a short period of time.

WAVEJourney Takes a Side by Side Duallie for a spin courtesy of Hollywood Beach Trikkes

Lunch Like a Local in Hollywood:

Next it was time for lunch, and after meeting up with some of the local police officers (they typically know the best places), they suggested we try out Nick’s Bar & Grill (1214 North Broadwalk, Hollywood) for what they consider to be the best burger in Hollywood Beach. We did as they suggested and concur that the burger was fantastic. (BTW: there isn’t a guy named Nick and never was – the owner for the past 36+ years is Bob)

Nick’s Bar & Grill at Hollywood Beach

Visit Las Olas Boulevard:

After lunch we made our way back to the Water Taxi stop at Margaritaville, and caught a boat back to the stop at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina. At this stop we changed to one of the boats on the route to The Shops at Las Olas (lots of discounts from Cruise & Save Partners in this area) where we got off and took a stroll along this busy and interesting boulevard with a multitude of boutiques, bistros, restaurants and bars.

Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale

New River Water Taxi Route:

Back onto another Water Taxi to take us along the New River route all the way up to Bokamper’s Sports Bar & Grill. Here the boat turned around and made a 15-minute stop at Shooters Waterfront (Bonus: while waiting many passengers got off the boat to partake in the Happy Hour drink specials at Flip Flops Dockside Eatery).

Water Taxi in Fort Lauderdale

Bottom Line:

Our last stop of the day took us back to the Hilton Marina, where we realized we had spent more than 8 hours exploring via the Water Taxi. It’s such a great deal to buy one day pass ticket that gives unlimited rides all day long on all the routes in Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood!

Water Taxi at the Las Olas Stop

Note: WAVEJourney were media guests of  the above businesses. Read our full disclosure statement to see that this has no effect on our articles, reviews, and/or opinions.