Two Holiday Boat Parades on Back-to-Back Saturdays Both Meet at North Palm Beach

At about 6 p.m. on Saturday, December 5, the Parker Bridge is scheduled to open, and a line of lit boats heads north up the Intracoastal behind a traveling Zambelli fireworks display. That is the start of the 32nd Annual Palm Beach Holiday Boat Parade, and it begins at North Palm Beach. Seven days later, the Boat Parade of the Greater Palm Beaches leaves Singer Island and is billed to end at North Palm Beach.

The two parades are run by different organizers, and neither one's materials mention the other. The North Palm Beach end of the Intracoastal is where they meet. For anyone with a boat at a Harbour Isles dock, the dates that shape that month come earlier, in November.

The Calendar, in Order

1. November 3: Palm Beach County voters decide a proposed $280 million parks bond. Its project list includes restoration work on Peanut Island.
2. November 15: Seasonal manatee protection zones take effect in Palm Beach County and stay in place through March 31.
3. November 19: Registration incentive deadline for the December 5 parade.
4. December 5: The 32nd Annual Palm Beach Holiday Boat Parade runs from North Palm Beach to the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse.
5. December 12: The 2nd Annual Boat Parade of the Greater Palm Beaches runs from Singer Island to North Palm Beach.
6. December: PORT 32 Palm Beach Gardens, the rebuilt marina on the old PGA Marina site, is targeting its opening.

The Water Gets Slower Before It Gets Brighter

The winter rules take effect about three weeks before the first parade. Under the state's Palm Beach County manatee protection rule, seasonal zones apply from November 15 through March 31. They include Idle Speed areas in Lake Worth and a Slow Speed zone that runs across the northern Lake Worth area, south from near Phil Foster Island toward the Port of Palm Beach turning basin. That stretch is the run south toward the Palm Beach Inlet, so a trip to the inlet that felt routine in October will take longer for the rest of the season.

A separate limit applies all year. The rule sets 25 mph in the marked Intracoastal channel from the Martin County line to the north end of the SR 707 bridge fender system, and more restrictive posted rules take priority where they apply. FWC's downloadable zone map says its configuration was accurate as of June 2014, so the rule text and the signs on the water are the better reference.

November 19 Is the Real Parade Deadline

The Marine Industries Association of Palm Beach County runs the December 5 parade. Entry is free, and the event offers more than $10,000 in cash and prizes. The parade and its toy drive benefit Toys for Tots and Little Smiles. Boats registered by November 19 are entered to win $500 and Windward VIP passes to the Palm Beach International Boat Show, and their refundable $50 deposit is waived. Every registered boat is entered in a $250 cash drawing.

Judges score three things: lights, enthusiasm and themed decor. Best of Parade wins $500, plus another $500 if the boat belongs to an MIAPBC Boater Member. Fan Favorite wins $500, and the Rookie of the Year category pays $250 to the top first-year entrant. WPTV's preview of the 2025 parade introduced the rookie category and said more than 80 decorated boats were expected. That was an estimate made before the event, not a final count.

December 5 Starts From This End of the Water

The parade begins at 6 p.m. and is expected to reach Jupiter around 8 p.m., with the finale at the Jupiter Lighthouse. Organizers publish estimated bridge openings based on past parades. They say weather, wind, tides and currents make exact times impossible to predict, and their permits allow each bridge a one-hour opening.

The schedule puts the first hour of the parade within a few miles of Harbour Isles. The Parker and PGA bridges are both expected to open within the first 15 minutes, which makes the North Palm Beach stretch the starting point, not a place to wait while the parade comes up from somewhere else.

The start also comes with the strictest anchoring rule on the route. Organizers say law enforcement will ask boats anchored in front of North Palm Beach Marina or North Palm Beach Country Club to move. For anyone watching by boat without entering, they suggest Ski Beach or anywhere between Donald Ross Road and Indiantown Road where the boat stays clear of the parade. On land, the published public viewing sites closest to the start are North Palm Beach Country Club and Waterway Cafe at PGA. Further north, the list includes Bert Winters Park and Juno Park in Juno, plus Sawfish Bay Park, Lighthouse Park, Waterway Park, the Riverwalk, Harbourside Place, Charlie and Joe's at Love Street, Square Grouper Tiki Bar, U-Tiki and Jetty's in Jupiter. People bound for the finale are asked to bring a new, unwrapped toy. WPBF will stream the parade live.

December 12 Returns to North Palm Beach

The second parade is newer, and its 2026 details are still thin. Sailfish Marina's event page lists the 2nd Annual Boat Parade of the Greater Palm Beaches for Saturday, December 12, running along the Intracoastal from Singer Island to North Palm Beach. It promises fireworks and Santa on the Grand Marshal boat, and it supports the Little Smiles holiday toy drive. As of mid-October, the page does not give a start time, an exact route or viewing locations.

The first edition, held in December 2025, shows what the route looked like last year. Treat these details as last year's plan, not this year's. The Palm Beach Post reported that the 2025 parade staged just north of the Blue Heron Bridge and set off at 6 p.m. after a six-minute fireworks display. Boats headed south toward West Palm Beach, turned north at Safe Harbor Rybovich and finished toward North Palm Beach. The Post listed viewing at Sailfish Marina, Osprey Park, Brian H. Chappell Park, Bicentennial Park, Kelsey Park and North Palm Beach. Before the event, the Post expected about 50 boats. WPBF's preview also named Peanut Island, Phil Foster Park and Lake Park Marina as places to watch. On parade day, WPBF reported that the VIP viewing party had sold out and that free viewing areas were still available.

On the Intracoastal, the two parades mirror each other. The December 5 parade starts at North Palm Beach and travels north. If the 2026 parade follows last year's route, the December 12 parade ends there after looping through the Lake Worth Lagoon. On both nights the same stretch of water fills with lit boats, and both organizers count Little Smiles among the beneficiaries.

The Fuel Stop at PGA Boulevard Could Open the Same Month

PORT 32 Palm Beach Gardens is the successor to PGA Marina at PGA Boulevard and the Intracoastal. Its homepage still says "Opening December 2026," and pre-leasing is underway.

The Palm Beach Post reported in March that crews took down the 50-year-old PGA Marina storage building in March 2025, and that the Palm Beach Gardens City Council unanimously approved the $80 million replacement in 2023. The plan includes two 83-foot-tall buildings for storage, showrooms and offices. A separate 5,000-square-foot building will house a ship's store with fueling stations that boats can pull up to directly. Indoor slips were cut slightly to 427, from 451 in the original plans, to make room for more bays for larger boats, and the marina will take vessels up to 60 feet. In the Post's account, PORT 32 CEO Austin Schell said the site "is accessible for both the Palm Beach Inlet as well as the Jupiter Inlet to the north," and called it "kind of the destination for folks that want to go cruising, dock, dine, get fuel for a day or evening outing."

In June, Southern Boating reported that a topping-out ceremony on June 4 marked structural completion of all three buildings, that the opening was still expected in December 2026, and that transient dockage would be available. The marina's pre-leasing page lists a fuel dock with Rec 90 and diesel and a full-service ship's store. It does not say whether boaters who don't lease there can use them. No grand opening date has been announced. For a Harbour Isles boater, the two open questions are whether the fuel dock is open to the public and whether the opening lands before or after the parades.

Peanut Island Comes Down to November 3

Peanut Island is open and operating normally this season. Palm Beach County's park listing shows day-use areas open from sunrise to sunset, boat slips, and 17 reserved tent sites, with the JFK bunker closed until further notice. A county agenda item from January 2025 had projected dock construction starting in early 2025 and historic-building restoration moving ahead by early 2026. Those dates have passed, and the bunker remains closed.

The next step depends on the November 3 ballot. Stet News reported in September that the proposed $280 million parks bond includes new or repurposed facilities on the island. Those include the 1936 Coast Guard station house, the boathouse and the Kennedy bunker, along with docks, pathways, underground infrastructure, lighting and shoreline protection. The outlet also noted that the county's project list could change. Neither the report nor the county has given a construction start or a reopening date for the bunker. Over at Phil Foster Park, the county lists the playground as closed until further notice while new equipment is prepared.

If you plan to enter the December 5 parade or want to work out which Saturday to host on your own dock, The Murray Group knows this stretch of the Intracoastal well and is happy to talk through the details. Schedule a Private Consultation.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.