Whenever I travel somewhere, I like to take a hop on/hop off bus ride around the city. It’s a great way to see the city at a glance and it makes it easier to pick what sights you want to see. Well, when in Fort Lauderdale you don’t hop on a bus, you head to the water and take a water taxi.
The first few days before my practicum started we stayed at the Quality Inn suites in Fort Lauderdale. We have three simple guidelines when looking for a hotel:
- A shuttle to and from the airport
- Continental breakfast
- Clean and comfy beds
That’s pretty much all that I need. I don’t plan on staying in the room for anything other than sleeping. Plus, getting a good breakfast in is a great way to start the day. The breakfast that was served at the Quality Inn was perfection!! I definitely overloaded on some gluten! What can I say? I love waffles!!
The front desk at the hotel was able to arrange for us to take a shuttle to where we would be picking up the water taxi and they would come back to get us at the end of the tour. Taking an uber would also be a great way to travel around and might be a little cheaper than the shuttle was.
Taking a Water Taxi
A water taxi is a great way to see the sights of Fort Lauderdale. We were dropped off at the dock where we would take a smaller boat before getting out to the open water and changing to a larger water taxi.
The water taxi that we took was a hop on/hop off tour that takes you along different parts of the Fort Lauderdale waterfront. Whenever I take a tour like this, I like to take it all the way around so that I can decide what places I want to stop at. The day that we were taking the tour it was pretty hot and when you are on the water you have to be careful that you don’t get sunburnt. We ended up getting off halfway through the tour near the Galleria mall so that we could get a bit to eat and some shade. I was starting to get a headache so I made a stop at Starbucks to pick up an iced coffee for a little sugar and caffeine pick me up. I don’t drink coffee these days but every once in a while i need a dose of caffeine to ward off a headache. This was just the pick me up that I needed.
As you travel along the waterfront you get the chance to see some beautiful houses and some massive boats!! It’s something fun to see and a great way to spend time on the water. Plus, if you keep your eyes peeled you can catch a glimpse of some of the lizards that are roaming around. Apparently there are manatees in the waters here but we didn’t see any. 🙁
We got back on the taxi and we took it around to the Hollywood side. If I was to take this tour again, I would definitely skip heading towards the Hollywood side of the tour. You need to switch to another taxi in order to get there. It takes 45 minutes for the taxi to get to the stop where you switch. There wasn’t much to see here so it was kind of a waste of time. We ended up getting off at the first stop to get something to eat before we had to get back on the last water taxi heading back. All the restaurants were crazy busy in Hollywood so we ended up sitting at the bar at It’s 5o’clock somewhere and had a couple of burgers and fries. We literally finished eating as the last taxi showed up.
Overall, I would definitely recommend taking a water taxi when you are visiting a waterfront area like Fort Lauderdale. Having the option to get on and off whenever you want is a great way to see everything that a city has to offer. Some places you just want to see and passing by on a water taxi or bus is all that you need. Other places you need to get off and walk around and a tour like this is a great way to help you pick and choose what sites are important for you to see.
Charlene xoxo