Miami Night Skyline Cruise with Open Bar

★★★★★ 4.9 (735 traveller reviews)

On Biscayne BayAfter darkOpen bar includedBayside dock by the wheel

A shared evening cruise on Biscayne Bay from the Miami Aqua Tours dock below Bayside Marketplace, with the bar pouring champagne, wine and beer the whole way. A DJ plays, a guide points out the islands in English and Spanish, and the downtown towers are lit behind you on the way back. It is the cruise we would book for a first night in town.

Hours, prices and access verified by the Miami Night Tours team — last checked 2026-09-28.

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The bar, the bay and the lit skyline

Finding the dock inside Bayside

You board at the Miami Aqua Tours dock, at the water's edge of Bayside Marketplace, 401 Biscayne Boulevard. Walk through the mall towards the big wheel opposite Hard Rock Cafe; the wheel is the Skyviews Miami, and you cannot miss it after dark. Take the stairs down to the dock and line up in front of Landshark Bar & Grill, under the beige umbrellas. A crew member checks you in 15 minutes before departure and hands you your ticket there.

Arrive 30 minutes early. Several companies board boats from the same stretch of dock, and one of them is this operator's own shorter skyline cruise, so check the name on the boat before you step aboard. Bayside has a paid garage if you drive; the dock and the other starts are on the meeting-point map, and the mall's hours are on the visitor guide.

What the open bar pours

The fare you see buys the standard open bar: champagne, wine, beer and tinto de verano, the Spanish red wine and soda, for as long as you are sailing. The premium option adds vodka, whiskey, rum and gin, plus water and soft drinks. There is also a champagne option and a combo with a hot dog, since no food is served on board and dinner and snacks are not in any fare.

Miami Aqua Tours sets this night cruise at 21 and over on its own site, so leave the children for a daytime sailing. Bring an ID that shows your age. Photos are sold on board, and the tip for the crew is not in the fare.

A 2-hour booking, boarding included

This is the one thing to know before you plan dinner around it. You book two hours, and those two hours start at check-in, not when the lines come off. Boarding alone takes about ten minutes. Answering a review, Miami Aqua Tours put the regular sailing at 1 hour 20 minutes, with a two-hour sailing on Saturdays. So on a weekday, expect a little over an hour on the bay.

What you see in that time is a loop out from Bayside. The boat passes PortMiami and the arena on the waterfront, runs along the Venetian Causeway to Star Island and its mansions, and looks across to Miami Beach and Fisher Island. On the way back the downtown towers are lit in front of you. How the different cruises compare on time and route is on the night tour options page.

Is it dark when you sail

The operator sells this one as two hours after dark, and for most of the year that holds. The sun sets in Miami at 5:29pm in early December and at 8:16pm in late June, so the same evening slot is deep night in winter and dusk in high summer. Departure times show when you pick your date; compare them with the table.

Times are the U.S. Naval Observatory's for downtown Miami in 2026. A sailing that leaves after the "fully dark" time is night from the dock. One that leaves before it catches the last of the light over the bay and comes back in the dark. More on the seasons is in Miami weather at night.

Your evening, from the umbrellas to the bay and back

1. 30 minutes before. Through Bayside to the stairs by the wheel, and into the line.
2. 15 minutes before. Check-in at the umbrellas; the crew hands you your ticket.
3. Boarding. About ten minutes to get everyone aboard; the bar opens.
4. Out past the port. The cruise ships at PortMiami and the arena on the waterfront.
5. The islands. Along the causeway to Star Island, with Fisher Island across the water.
6. The way back. The downtown skyline lit in front of you, the DJ playing.
7. Two hours after check-in. Back at the same dock, up the stairs into Bayside.

Who this suits, and who should book something else

What $50 covers, and what it leaves out

Know before you go

• Arrive 30 minutes early. Check-in is 15 minutes before, at the umbrellas below the wheel.
• Check the boat's name. Several boats board from the same dock; this operator runs more than one.
• Bring an ID. The night open-bar cruise is 21 and over on the operator's own site.
• Eat first. No food is sold aboard except the combo option, and snacks are not in the fare.
• Stairs to the dock. The boat and dock are not wheelchair accessible; strollers are fine.
• Budget a tip. Gratuity is not in the fare, and photos are sold on board.

What travellers said back on the dock

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