Miami Itineraries: Day Charters and Multi-Day Routes

Miami’s position at the crossroads of Biscayne Bay, the Florida Keys and the Bahamas gives it more day-charter and multi-day options than almost any other port in the Americas. The itineraries below cover different ground and can be combined: stitch the 3-day Bahamas route to the 4-day Keys route for a comprehensive 7-day charter that spans two countries and two completely different cruising grounds without repeating a single anchorage.

Day Charter Routes from Miami

Biscayne Bay and Stiltsville: The Classic Miami Day Out

Depart your marina mid-morning and cruise south through Biscayne Bay, past the Venetian Islands and under the Rickenbacker Causeway to Key Biscayne. Round the southern tip of the island to Stiltsville – seven wooden houses standing on stilts in the open water, built between the 1930s and 1960s and now part of Biscayne National Park. Anchor in the shallow, clear water for a swim, snorkel the surrounding grass flats, and let your chef lay out lunch on the aft deck with the Miami skyline shimmering to the north. In the afternoon, cruise past Star Island and the Venetian Islands on the Intracoastal Waterway for a golden-hour tour of Miami’s most exclusive waterfront real estate. Duration: 6–8 hours.

Key Biscayne and the Reef: Snorkel and Swim

Head south to Key Biscayne for a morning anchored off Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, where the 1825 Cape Florida Lighthouse marks the tip of the island. Snorkel over the nearby shallow patch reef – brain coral, sea fans and schools of sergeant majors in just 2–4 metres of water. After lunch aboard, cruise to Half Moon Wreck, a shallow artificial reef colonised by pufferfish, lobsters and southern stingrays. Your crew provides full snorkelling kit and a briefing on the reef ecology. Return to the marina via the Intracoastal for a sunset cruise past the city. Duration: 7–8 hours.

Star Island Sunset Cruise: Skyline and Champagne

A shorter afternoon-to-evening charter that showcases Miami at its most glamorous. Depart at 4 p.m. and cruise the Intracoastal past Fisher Island, Star Island and Indian Creek. Your crew serves canapés and champagne on the flybridge as the afternoon light gilds the waterfront mansions. Anchor off South Beach for sundowners with the Art Deco skyline as your backdrop, then cruise back through the city’s illuminated waterways as night falls. Duration: 3–4 hours.

3-Day Miami Yacht Charter Itinerary: Bimini and the Gulf Stream

Day 1: Miami to Bimini

Board at Island Gardens Deep Harbour by mid-morning. Cruise east across the Gulf Stream – 48 nautical miles, roughly 2.5 hours at 20 knots. Clear Bahamas customs and anchor in Bimini’s sheltered harbour. Afternoon snorkelling at Radio Beach’s shallow reef, where nurse sharks, stingrays and juvenile sea turtles patrol the sandy bottom. Explore the island’s laid-back waterfront – the Bimini Big Game Club (where Hemingway fished in the 1930s) and the colourful fish markets along the Queen’s Highway. Dinner on the aft deck: conch salad, grilled lobster tail and a rum punch as the Bahamian sunset floods the sky.

Day 2: Bimini Sandbars and Sapona Wreck

Spend the day in Bimini’s extraordinary shallows. Morning at the sandbars north of the island – ankle-deep turquoise water stretching to the horizon, with your crew setting up floating mats, paddleboards and a cooler of cold drinks. After a chef-prepared lunch, cruise south to the Sapona wreck – a concrete ship built during World War I, run aground by a hurricane in 1926, and now standing half-submerged in just 1.5 metres of water. Snorkel around the hull, now encrusted with coral and home to parrotfish, yellowtail snapper and the occasional barracuda. Back to the anchorage for sundowners and a stargazing session on the flybridge – with no city lights, the Milky Way stretches overhead.

Day 3: Bimini to Miami via Stiltsville

Depart at sunrise for the return crossing, arriving on the Florida coast by mid-morning. Cruise into Biscayne Bay and anchor at Stiltsville for a final swim and photo stop among the iconic stilt houses. Your chef lays out a farewell brunch – smoked salmon, tropical fruit, freshly baked pastries and Cuban coffee – as you soak in the view of Miami’s skyline from the water. A leisurely cruise back to the marina, arriving by early afternoon.

4-Day Miami Yacht Charter Itinerary: The Upper and Middle Keys

Day 1: Miami to Key Largo

Depart mid-morning and cruise south through Biscayne Bay, past Elliott Key and the mangrove wilderness of Biscayne National Park. Arrive at Key Largo (30 nautical miles, roughly two hours) by early afternoon. Anchor near John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park for an afternoon of world-class snorkelling: Grecian Rocks (1.5–4.5 metres, clouds of tropical fish over brain coral and sea fans), the Christ of the Abyss statue (a 2.7-metre bronze figure resting on the reef in 7.5 metres of water), and Molasses Reef (deeper, with larger grouper and barracuda). Your chef prepares a Keys-style dinner on the aft deck – perhaps yellowtail snapper with mango salsa and key lime pie to finish.

Day 2: Key Largo to Islamorada

Cruise south-west to Islamorada (20 nautical miles, roughly an hour). Morning at Alligator Reef, where a Victorian iron-pile lighthouse (built 1873) stands in open water surrounded by vibrant coral gardens – snorkel among parrotfish, angelfish and spotted eagle rays in 2–6 metres of water. Islamorada’s laid-back Keys culture is the afternoon’s programme: browse the art galleries, pick up a cold beer at a waterside tiki bar, or try your hand at flats fishing for bonefish and tarpon with a local guide. Dinner ashore if you’re feeling adventurous – Morada Bay Beach Café serves fresh seafood with its feet in the sand – or let your chef conjure a Bahamian-inspired feast on board.

Day 3: Islamorada to Marathon

Continue along the island chain to Marathon (roughly 35 nautical miles). The cruise takes you beneath a succession of bridges, each one framing turquoise water and palm-fringed keys. Stop at the Turtle Hospital for a guided tour (founded 1986, over 2,500 sea turtles released), then cruise beneath the Seven Mile Bridge – an engineering wonder first built for Flagler’s Overseas Railroad in 1912. Anchor off Bahia Honda Key for the afternoon: a beach consistently rated among America’s finest, with powdery sand, crystalline water and shady palms. Your crew sets up paddleboards and snorkelling gear while you explore the old Bahia Honda Bridge ruins, now a hauntingly beautiful relic of the original railroad.

Day 4: Bahia Honda to Looe Key and Return

Early-morning cruise to Looe Key (roughly 10 nautical miles south-west of Bahia Honda) for a final snorkelling spectacular. This spur-and-groove reef system, in just 1.5–9 metres of water, is home to elkhorn and staghorn coral, massive brain coral heads, goliath grouper, schools of grunts, and barracuda cruising the reef edge. It is among the most pristine and vibrant sections of the entire Florida Reef Tract. After a farewell gourmet lunch on the aft deck, set course north for Miami – approximately 100 nautical miles, arriving by late evening.

Guests looking for a week-long South Florida adventure can combine the 3-day Bimini route with the 4-day Keys route for a 7-day charter spanning the Bahamas and the Florida Keys – two entirely different worlds, without repeating a single anchorage.