Free water taxis for Art Week may lead to extended use

Written by Kelly Sanchez on December 3, 2025

Miami Beach is offering free water taxi service for this year’s installment of Art Week and elected officials are voting on bringing the new transportation option to the city next month, according to Mayor Steven Meiner.

The boats are operated by the same people who run the Fort Lauderdale Water Taxi. Up to seven water taxi vessels with a capacity of about 50 people each will run every 10 to 15 minutes between Maurice Gibb Memorial Park at 1790 Purdy Ave. and Venetian Marina & Yacht Club at 1635 N Bayshore Drive to connect Miami Beach and Miami. The vessels will operate from Dec. 1 to Saturday, Dec. 6, from 10 a.m. to midnight. On Sunday, Dec. 7, they’ll operate from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

This is the second time the complimentary water taxis are being offered during an installment of Art Week Miami Beach. The city is funding the service and Mr. Meiner says its return is being publicized across the city’s platforms, including its website, social media accounts and newsletter.

“We’ve been putting it out on social media, in our city newsletter,” he said. “We have a bi-weekly newsletter that goes out, but it’s also listed on our website that we’ve been publicizing about Art Week and Art Basel… I hear a lot of our residents talking about it and being excited about it, so I think we’ve gotten the word out.

Mr. Meiner, who has spent years working on providing a free, year-round water taxi service between Miami and Miami Beach, said it’s close to becoming a reality with Fort Lauderdale Water Taxi as the operator.

“We had great success with the water taxi last Art Basel,” he said. “It was used significantly by residents and visitors, so much so that we looked to add to the service this year to accommodate the demand… We’re a vibrant city year-round, so the water taxi that we’re bringing that’s going to be starting early next year that’s going to be year-round is going to be a big win for our residents, our businesses, our tourists, and I’m looking forward to that success as well.”