Every December, the causeways between Miami and Miami Beach turn into the slowest gallery in the world. The bay between them stays wide open.
Art Basel Miami Beach opens to the public Dec. 4–6, 2026, and Miami Art Week runs from Nov. 30. The fairs are split across both sides of Biscayne Bay: Art Basel, Design Miami, Untitled and SCOPE on the beach, Art Miami, CONTEXT and NADA on the mainland. That makes the water the most useful thing in town that week. Here’s how to use it: the free water taxi, where the superyachts dock, the parties that happen on boats, and what chartering for Art Week actually involves.
The free water taxi: Miami to Miami Beach in 20 minutes
This is the biggest change for 2026. What started as an Art Week experiment is now a year-round service. The City of Miami Beach launched its permanent free water taxi on Jan. 20, 2026, and it runs between two docks:
- Maurice Gibb Memorial Park, 1790 Purdy Ave., in Sunset Harbour on the Miami Beach side
- Venetian Marina & Yacht Club, 1635 N. Bayshore Dr., on the Miami side
The crossing takes about 20 minutes. The boats are about 40 feet long and carry up to 55 passengers. It’s free, it’s on Google Maps, and bikes and scooters are allowed at the captain’s discretion.
The catch: the regular schedule is weekdays only. Boats leave about every hour from 7am to 4:30pm, then every 30 minutes until 7:30pm. There’s no regular weekend service, and it doesn’t run on federal holidays. Art Basel’s public days are a Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Art Week has always been the exception. The city ran free Art Week water taxis in 2024 with four boats, then brought back an expanded service for Art Week 2025: up to seven boats, every 10 to 15 minutes, from 10am to midnight (10pm on the Sunday), Dec. 1–7. A free shuttle connected Maurice Gibb Park to the Miami Beach Convention Center, alongside free art shuttles around South Beach, Mid-Beach and the Design District.
The city hasn’t announced the 2026 Art Week schedule yet. It did add weekend service, every 30 minutes from 10am to 11pm, for the World Cup final weekend in July. Expect an announcement in November, and we’ll update this page when it lands.
It’s popular. In its first weeks the year-round service carried about 900 riders a day, Miami Today reported, and Mayor Steven Meiner said the city had to turn passengers away at peak times. The Florida Department of Transportation covers half the operating costs, and the city has talked about adding stops along western Miami Beach and up Indian Creek.
How the water taxi fits Art Week
- Mainland side: Venetian Marina is a few blocks north of Art Miami + CONTEXT at One Herald Plaza, so the dock is a natural start for a day that begins on the mainland.
- Beach side: Maurice Gibb Memorial Park is in Sunset Harbour, a short ride from the Miami Beach Convention Center, home of Art Basel. In 2025 a free shuttle ran that last leg.
- Plan by side of the bay. Do the beach fairs one day and the mainland fairs another. Cross on the water when you have to.
Where the superyachts dock
Art Week is one of the busiest weeks of the year for Miami’s superyacht marinas. Collectors arrive by sea, brands rent boats as private showrooms, and the biggest yachts in town spend the week within sight of the fairs.
- Yacht Haven Grande Miami at Island Gardens (IGY Marinas). On Watson Island, beside the MacArthur Causeway and facing downtown. It’s the marina built for the largest superyachts in Miami. IGY has packaged Art Week before: in 2023 it offered members dockage plus helicopter transfers via HeliFlite, chauffeured cars or boats, and VIP access to Art Basel’s private views and parties.
- Miami Beach Marina (a Suntex marina). At the south end of Miami Beach, a short drive from the Convention Center and Ocean Drive.
- Venetian Marina & Yacht Club (Integra Marinas). The mainland water taxi stop, and a departure point for Art Week cruises.
Superyacht charter brokers also list One Island Park, a private marina on Watson Island, among the places boats tie up for the week.
Yachts as venues: the parties on the water
Some of Art Week’s most talked-about evenings never touch land.
- My Yacht Group runs its annual Art Week reception aboard a private superyacht moored near South Beach, Nov. 30–Dec. 7, 2026, with fine wine, caviar and cigars for collectors, artists and gallerists. It’s invitation-based: you ask to join through My Yacht Group rather than buy a ticket.
- Yacht shows inside the art week. Builders use the week to put boats in front of collectors. In 2025 Gulf Craft opened its new Majesty 120 for private tours by appointment during Art Basel Miami Beach.
- Cruises from the Venetian. The Black Art Yacht Experience (BAYE) has run an Art Week yacht party departing Venetian Marina, alongside the Contemporary Art Dealers Association. Its 2026 date isn’t out yet.
New yacht parties get announced through November. We add every one with a date and a signup link to our running list of every Miami Art Week 2026 party confirmed so far.
Chartering a yacht for Art Week
The top end of the market books early. Brokers including Edmiston market Art Basel charters as a private base for the week: somewhere to host dinners, a place to retreat between fairs, and a view of the city no hotel can match.
- Prices range enormously. At the very top, charter marketplace Yacht Charter Fleet lists the superyacht O’Ptasia at about $1.07 million a week. Day charters and smaller boats cost a fraction of that. Get quotes for your actual dates, because Art Week rates are not normal December rates.
- Many guests keep going. A Miami-to-Bahamas charter is one of the most requested December combinations, Yacht Charter Fleet notes. Art Week, then the islands.
- Book the dock with the boat. The superyacht berths closest to the action are the first to go. Ask your broker where the boat will actually sit before you sign.
Looking for a boat, a captain or a charter company for the week? ZipYacht‘s directory lists yacht charter companies, crew and marine businesses across South Florida.
Know before you go
- Check the Art Week water taxi schedule on the City of Miami Beach water taxi page before you rely on it, especially for Friday night and the weekend.
- Peak times fill. The regular service has turned passengers away at rush hour. Leave a cushion before timed entries and dinners.
- Bring layers for the evening crossing. December nights on the bay are breezy.
- Our Art Basel Miami Beach 2026 guide covers tickets, every fair and the week at a glance.
Hosting something on the water during Art Week? Tell us and we’ll add it to the parties list, free.
Sources
- City of Miami Beach: Water Taxi (schedule, stops, capacity, trip time)
- City of Miami Beach: expanded water taxi schedule for the World Cup final weekend (July 2026)
- NBC Miami: permanent free water taxi launches (Jan. 20, 2026)
- Miami Today: new water taxi service makes big splash (ridership, FDOT funding, expansion)
- Axios Miami: free water taxis return for Art Basel and Miami Today: expanded Art Week water taxi service (2025 service, 2024 fleet)
- IGY Marinas: Art Basel Miami Beach package (2023)
- My Yacht Group: Art Week Miami Beach
- YachtWay: the Majesty 120 at Art Basel Miami Beach 2025
- Black Art Yacht Experience (BAYE)
- Edmiston: Art Basel Miami yacht charters and Yacht Charter Fleet: Art Basel Miami 2026
Last updated Oct. 5, 2026. Schedules and prices are as published on that date. Confirm before you travel. Citywide.TV is independent and is not affiliated with Art Basel, the City of Miami Beach or any company named here. Illustrations marked AI-generated are not photos of the event.