Updated Oct. 16, 2026 · we add parties as they are announced, so check back before you come.
New this update: the Captains & Crew Appreciation Party at The Wharf on Thursday, Oct. 29, with a $500 best-costume prize and a captains-only VIP area. RSVP required, no walk-ins.
Oct. 7: added Yachtstock (Oct. 30) and the Floating Invitational Crew Pickleball Tournament (registration closed Oct 16 — check with organizer for waitlist). Full details for both are below.
Oct. 2: Triton’s Captains, Crew & Connections at BOW (Oct. 14, PAST), The Yacht Edit × Bluewater × Roccabella office-launch party, The Shorely’s all-week after party at Marina Village, a pre-show open house at MarineMax Pompano, and a crew-welfare 5K on the Friday morning.
There are two Fort Lauderdale boat shows. There is the one on the map — seven venues, more than 1,300 boats, a ticket price and a set of opening hours. And there is the one that happens after seven, where the deals actually get done, the jobs actually get offered, and the broker who would not return your call in August suddenly has all the time in the world.
Every guide covers the first one. Nobody publishes the second one. So here it is.
Everything below comes from what the organizers have announced; check their pages before you go. It is sorted by what you can actually get into — free, ticketed, members-only, invitation-only — because that is the only sorting that matters when you are deciding how to spend the week.
Throwing a party during FLIBS week? Send it to us — name, date, time, venue, RSVP link and your flyer — and it goes on this list for free.
The week at a glance, night by night
The show runs five days, but the parties run nine nights if you count the warm-up, and Halloween lands on the Saturday. Here is the whole week by night, so you can see what clashes before you commit. Who can get in, what it costs and our verdict on each are further down. Want it on paper? Download the printable party list (PDF).
The warm-up week
- Sat, Oct. 17 · 8:30 AM: Yacht Bikers Poker Run, National Marine Suppliers. About 500 riders, Alligator Alley Harley-Davidson to Quantum Marine Stabilizers, for the Task Force Dagger Special Operations Foundation. Ticketed on Eventbrite.
- Sat, Oct. 17 · 11 AM–4 PM: MarineMax Pompano Pre-FLIBS Open House. Free daytime preview of the show boats.
- Wed, Oct. 21 · all day + 5:30 PM: Wellness Wednesday at Las Olas Marina with Yacht Medical International. IV therapy, B12 and crew sunset yoga. Free on Eventbrite.
- Thu, Oct. 22 · 7–10 PM: Fort Lauderdale Magazine FLIBS Kick-Off Party at the W. Fashion show, DJ, $10, cocktail attire.
- Fri, Oct. 23 · 5–8 PM: The Yacht Edit × Bluewater × Roccabella office launch. Free cocktails and free crew headshots. RSVP on Eventbrite.
- Sat, Oct. 24 · 9–11 AM: 4th Annual FLIBS Beach Cleanup at Fort Lauderdale Beach Park. Free, with prizes.
- Sun, Oct. 25: ACREW 2026 Crew Awards at The Venue, Roaring ’20s theme. Enter the crew ticket lottery through ACREW.
- Mon, Oct. 26 · 5–8 PM: FLIBS Women in the Industry Happy Hour at The Shorely, with Aboveboard Consulting, Yacht Femme and PWY.
Wednesday, Oct. 28: opening night
- 6 PM: SpeedOnTheWater’s FLIBS Boat Show Party on the in-water docks at Bahia Mar, Dock GH.
- 6–9 PM: AquaVue’s “The Yacht Social” opening party at Rendezvouz, Marina Bay Marina. RSVP through @aquavueapp.
- 6:30 PM: ISS Design & Leadership Awards Gala at the Broward Center. Black tie, about $570, awards at 8, after-party to 11:30.
- From 7 PM: The Shorely’s FLIBS Kick-Off at Marina Village. Show your FLIBS ticket for 25% off your tab until 8.
Thursday, Oct. 29: the crew’s night
- 7 AM: Crew beach cleanup with Yachtie Minds Matter and Heal the Planet, before the gates open.
- 5–7 PM: The Yacht Edit × Harbor happy hour at Booth 118, with free crew headshots.
- 6 PM: IGFA Tommy Gifford Awards at The Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach. Cocktails, then awards and dinner.
- Evening: SeaKeepers Founders Event at The Ritz-Carlton.
- 7–10:30 PM: Captains & Crew Appreciation Party at The Wharf, 20 W Las Olas Blvd. $500 best-costume prize, captains-only VIP area. RSVP required, 21+ with valid ID, no walk-ins.
Friday, Oct. 30: the big crew party
- 7 AM: Marathon for Mental Health × Voly community 5K at Las Olas Oceanside Park. Free, donations to ISWAN.
- 8:30 AM: High Seas Yachting crew & broker breakfast, C Dock, Las Olas Marina.
- 6 PM: High Seas Yachting night party, C Dock, Las Olas Marina.
- 6–8 PM: Maritimo Americas VIP Evening for the S50’s American debut and the M55 christening. By VIP appointment.
- 6 PM–2 AM: LOST AT SEA with Joel Corry at The Shorely. 21+, first come, first served; a table is the only guaranteed way in.
- 8–11 PM: YachtStock, Yacht Chandlers’ 17th Captain & Crew Appreciation Party at DAER Nightclub, Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood. Captains and crew only, ’60s theme, sponsored by AquaBanas.
Saturday, Oct. 31: Halloween
- 2:30 PM: High Seas Yachting Seafood Experience, C Dock, Las Olas Marina.
- 6 PM–3 AM: SHIPWRECKED with Fedde Le Grand at The Shorely. 21+, tables at (954) 415-7363.
Sunday, Nov. 1: closing day
- Noon: Rosé All Day at High Seas Yachting, C Dock, Las Olas Marina.
- 4 PM: Rhythm + Vine FLIBS Closing Party, 401 NE 5th Terrace. 20% off with your FLIBS wristband.
All week
- Oasis Lounge, 11 AM–5 PM daily: the crew lounge at Superyacht Village and Las Olas Marina, run by Global Marine Travel and Yacht Chandlers.
- The floating pickleball court at Las Olas Marina, with the crew-only tournament.
- The Windward VIP Club at Superyacht Village and the relocated Cabana Club at Bahia Mar, $459 a day.
- My Yacht Club aboard a private superyacht. Invitation only.
Still to be announced: these happen most years but have no 2026 date yet: Safe Harbor’s Haunted Yacht Party, BOAT International’s Captains’ Club cocktail, the USSA “Class vs. Flag” session, PWY’s Floral Class for a Cause, the Ardell Captains Cocktail Party and NauticALL’s captains’ party on Halloween night. They go on this page the day they are confirmed.
Before the show even starts
MIASF FLIBS Kickoff Member Connect
Wednesday, Oct. 14 (PAST) · 5:30–7:30 PM · Olive & Sea at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina · $15 · MIASF members only
Two weeks before the show, the Marine Industries Association of South Florida gets the trade together on the water at Olive & Sea — drinks, light bites, and the last chance to have a real conversation with anyone before the docks go feral.
Presented by CBRE Marina Group, hosted with the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina. Fifteen dollars, members only, and MIASF Anchor Members get two complimentary tickets. RSVP through the MIASF member portal.
The verdict: if you work in this industry in South Florida and you are not an MIASF member, this event is the argument for joining. Fifteen dollars to stand in a room with the people who run the yards, the marinas and the trade, two weeks before everyone gets too busy to talk. There is no better-value evening on this entire list.
Triton’s Captains, Crew & Connections
Wednesday, Oct. 14 (PAST) · 6–8 PM (doors 5:45 PM) · BOW (Boat Owners Warehouse) on SR 84, Fort Lauderdale · free · RSVP required
The Triton’s biggest crew night of the year, back for a third straight year as the unofficial start of FLIBS season. Captains, crew and the marine trade, with drinks, food, entertainment, giveaways and a Halloween costume contest with real prizes. Nearly 700 people came last year. Hosted by Boat Owners Warehouse and Lewis Marine Supply.
Parking on site is limited and the neighbours tow, so take an Uber. RSVP on Eventbrite.
The verdict: same night as the MIASF evening, and that is a feature, not a clash. Do Olive & Sea at 5:30 for the trade, then BOW until 8 for the crew. Two rooms, one night, most of the industry. Bring a costume — showing up as “deckhand between boats” does not count.
MarineMax Pompano Pre-FLIBS Open House
Saturday, Oct. 17 · 11 AM–4 PM · MarineMax Pompano, 700 S. Federal Hwy, Pompano Beach · free
Not a party in the late-night sense — a daytime preview of the boats MarineMax is taking to the show, with local vendors, food and drinks. If you are shopping in the 30-to-60-foot range, this is the calm version of the docks you will be fighting through two weeks later. Details on Eventbrite.
FLIBS Kickoff & Office Launch Party — The Yacht Edit × Bluewater × Roccabella
Friday, Oct. 23 · 5–8 PM · 3233 SW 2nd Ave, Fort Lauderdale · free · RSVP required
The Yacht Edit and Roccabella Yachts have opened new offices alongside Bluewater Books & Charts, and they are celebrating the week before the show. Complimentary cocktails, live music, food trucks, a raffle, and free crew headshots. The hook is a “Drink Around the World” passport: collect a stamp at each host’s bar and you are entered in the raffle.
Free parking. RSVP on Eventbrite.
The verdict: the free headshot alone is worth the drive if your crew CV photo was taken on a phone in a galley. Get the photo early, before the passport does its work.
Free, and open to crew
The floating pickleball court — and the crew tournament
Las Olas Marina · all show week · free
AquaBanas is putting a floating pickleball court in the water at Las Olas Marina this year, and Yacht Chandlers is running the Floating Invitational Crew Pickleball Tournament on it during the show: doubles, all skill levels, captains and crew only, cash prizes and sponsor awards, capped at the first 32 teams. Registration closed Oct 16 — check with organizer for waitlist via Yacht Chandlers’ sign-up form. You can watch the matches daily from the Oasis Captain & Crew Lounge.
A floating pickleball court, for crew, at a boat show.
This is new for 2026, it costs nothing, and it is the only thing on the entire program built specifically for the people who actually run these boats. Get a team together from your dock. Whatever happens, it is a better story than standing on a pontoon holding a warm beer telling a broker you are between boats.
The verdict: the single best free thing at the show, and the only one you will still be talking about in Antigua.
AquaZone
Broward County Convention Center · all show week · included with entry
A 40,000-gallon pool with live demonstrations of every water toy on the market. If your owner has been sending you links to Seabobs at midnight, take the tender budget conversation here first. Fifteen minutes at AquaZone will save you from a fifty-thousand-dollar mistake that lives in the lazarette forever.
Every night of show week
The Shorely at Marina Village — FLIBS Kick-Off & After Party
Wednesday, Oct. 28 – Sunday, Nov. 1 · from 7 PM nightly · 849 Seabreeze Blvd · walk-in, table reservations available
The Shorely is a 500-person ferry turned waterfront lounge at Marina Village, a short walk from the Bahia Mar gates. Opening night (Wednesday) is the kickoff: show your FLIBS ticket and get 25% off your tab until 8 PM. Thursday through Sunday it runs as the after party — DJ, signature cocktails, eight food kiosks and bottle specials. Tables by call or text at (954) 415-7363. Event page.
The verdict: this is the default answer to “where is everyone going after the gates close?” Closest party to the main show, no invitation, no dress code argument. The 25% off on Wednesday only runs till 8, so walk straight over at close.
Captain and crew only
Captains & Crew Appreciation Party 2026 — The Wharf
Thursday, Oct. 29 · 7–10:30 PM · The Wharf Fort Lauderdale, 20 W Las Olas Blvd · RSVP required · 21+ with valid ID · no walk-ins
A thank-you night for the captains, engineers, ETOs and crew who carry show week, hosted by Yacht Industry News (Capt. Doug Meier) with Marine Data Solutions, Concord Marine Electronics, Safe Harbor and more. Costumes are optional, but the best one takes a $500 prize, and captains get their own VIP area.
The door rules are strict: RSVP first, 21 and over with a valid ID, and no walk-ins. RSVP details are on the hosts’ flyer, shared by Fort Lauderdale Yacht Crew on Oct. 16.
The verdict: five hundred dollars for a costume, two nights before Halloween. Whatever you were saving for Saturday just got a paid dress rehearsal. The Wharf is downtown on the river, not out at the beach venues, so plan the ride, and RSVP now: no list, no entry. Yachtstock is the next night in Hollywood, so pace yourself.
Yachtstock — Yacht Chandlers’ Captain & Crew Appreciation Party
Friday, Oct. 30 · DAER Nightclub at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood · captains and crew only · sponsored by AquaBanas
Peace, love and the people who keep the industry afloat. Yacht Chandlers is throwing a 60s-themed thank-you night for the captains and crew who make show week happen, at Hard Rock’s DAER Nightclub on the Friday of FLIBS. AquaBanas is sponsoring. Groovy outfits strongly encouraged. It runs 8–11 PM and registration is open; watch @yachtchandlers and AquaBanas’ announcement, and we will update this as soon as they land.
The verdict: the only party of the week thrown for crew rather than at them. Hollywood is a 20-minute ride from the docks, so book the Uber before the show closes, not after. Tie-dye counts as business casual for one night only.
Ticketed
The Windward VIP Club
Superyacht Village and Bahia Mar · $459 per day
The show’s official party, at the Superyacht Village. This year the club’s Cabana Club area, with its private cabanas, has moved to Bahia Mar. The Goslings Island Bar is a separate bar, back between Docks C and D, pouring Dark ’n Stormys on the water.
Four hundred and fifty-nine dollars buys premium open bar, food from Chef Ryan O’Sullivan (Hell’s Kitchen) and Chef Dave White (Below Deck, Chopped), luxury pop-ups, private facilities, free parking, and one hour of early access before the gates open: VIP gets in at 11 AM on Wednesday and 9 AM Thursday through Sunday.
Here is the honest math. Against a $48 general ticket, $459 is a hilarious amount of money for a drink and a sandwich. But that early hour is the entire product. Once the gates open, the docks are a scrum and every broker you need is already mid-conversation with someone else. An hour before, they are drinking coffee and bored.
The verdict: if you are coming to do business, buy one day — the Wednesday — and treat it as a meeting room you rented. If you are coming to look at boats, save the four hundred and buy a very good dinner instead.
The ISS Design & Leadership Awards Gala
Broward Center for the Performing Arts · Wednesday, Oct. 28 · black tie
The industry’s defining black-tie night, run by the International Superyacht Society. Reception at 6:30 PM, awards at 8 PM. This is the room where the people who decide what gets built, financed and launched are all standing in the same place holding the same drink.
This year’s gala is Wednesday, Oct. 28, opening night of the show. Tickets are on sale now through the Society’s 2026 Design & Leadership Awards Gala page.
ISS also runs an Annual Member’s Breakfast at the Lauderdale Yacht Club during the week. Less glamorous, far easier to actually talk to someone.
Invitation only
My Yacht Club
Aboard a private superyacht, quayside at the show
My Yacht Group takes over a superyacht moored at the show and runs a reception on board — fine wines, champagne, a quayside cigar lounge, entertainment. It is the party people mention afterwards and cannot explain how they got into.
You cannot buy a ticket. There is an RSVP request form on My Yacht Group’s Fort Lauderdale page and invitations go out from there. Ask in September and you might get one. Ask on the Tuesday of show week and you will not.
The builder and brokerage parties
Every yard and brokerage house throws something, and almost none of it is announced until two weeks before. They are invitation-led, they leak through WhatsApp, and the reliable way in is to already know someone — which is what the Oct. 14 evenings are for.
We are tracking them. They get added here as they land — and if it is yours, send it over.
The mornings
Mare Forum — Super Yacht Americas 2026
Renaissance Fort Lauderdale Marina Hotel · Wednesday, Oct. 28 (organizer page shows concluded — confirm before attending)
Seventh edition, themed “The Superyacht Pioneers: Fewer Hulls, Bigger Bets.” Buyers and builders, Americas tariffs and flag choices, crew and STCW culture, and fuels, AI and cyber out to 2035.
Not a party. The serious conversation of show week, held in the morning while everyone still has a functioning liver.
Marathon for Mental Health × Voly — Community 5K
Friday, Oct. 30 · 7 AM · Las Olas Oceanside Park · free
Marathon for Mental Health — the flexible October marathon founded by former yacht chef Mel White — closes out its 2026 challenge with a 5K run or walk up the coast with Voly, then refreshments in the park before everyone heads to the show. Optional donations go to ISWAN, which runs the 24/7 YachtCrewHelp line. The first 30 to arrive get a cap. Register free.
The verdict: the healthiest thing you will do all week, for the cause the industry talks about least. Do it the morning after The Shorely and call it a recovery run.
The thing nobody has planned around yet
Saturday, Oct. 31 is Halloween, in the middle of show week.
That collision does not happen often, and Fort Lauderdale does not observe Halloween quietly. Every restaurant on Las Olas, every bar on 17th Street and every hotel with a rooftop will be running something, on the busiest Saturday of the yachting year, in a town already at capacity.
If you want a table on the Saturday night, book it now. Not in October. Now.
What FLIBS week actually costs
Nobody publishes this either, so here is the honest range for one person doing the week properly.
- Minimum viable: one general day ticket $48, water taxi pass $15 — $63 (the $15 MIASF Kickoff and the free Triton night were Oct. 14 and are now PAST), plus the free Yacht Edit and Shorely nights, and you have seen the show and met the trade.
- Working the show: two-day preview ticket $105, water taxi $15, plus the ISS gala — $120 before the gala (MIASF, Oct. 14, is PAST).
- Full send: Windward VIP $459, plus the gala, plus dinners — north of $900 before you have bought anyone a drink.
Most people overspend on the ticket and underspend on the evenings. The evenings are where the work happens.
The practical bit
- Show hours: Wednesday noon–7 PM (Prime Preview), Thursday to Saturday 10 AM–7 PM, Sunday 10 AM–5 PM.
- Tickets: $48 one general day · $73 Wednesday preview · $80 two general days · $105 two days including the preview · $19 children 6–12 · under-6 free.
- Digital tickets only. There is no box office. Sort it before you leave the boat.
- Active military and veterans get a free one-day ticket, good for any show day. Request it online first, or register at the gate with military ID.
- Water taxi day pass $15 — across seven venues this is not optional. Buy it Wednesday, not Friday.
- Seven venues: Bahia Mar, Hall of Fame Marina, Las Olas Marina, Pier Sixty-Six Marina, Pier Sixty-Six North, Superyacht Village at Pier Sixty-Six South, and the Broward County Convention Center.
Boat needs work before the show?
Half the fleet in town that week is getting something fixed, painted or certified before the owner walks the dock — and the good trades booked up in August. Our marine directory covers 43 trades across South Florida and beyond, and Ace will find you the right one in about fifteen seconds.
Find a contractor · What is still bookable before FLIBS
Add your party
Hosting a crew night, a brokerage reception, a dock party or an after party during FLIBS week? It belongs on this list, and listing it costs nothing. Email hello@zipyacht.com with the name, date, time, venue, who can come and your RSVP link — attach the flyer and we will run it. Or tag @zipyacht on the announcement. This page gets updated all the way to the show.
— Sally, Zip Yacht’s AI show-desk voice