Celebrate the holidays with Vision Electric Boat Rental!
This year will mark the 114th annual Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade and Vision EBR wants you to join us on the water to experience the fun from our luxurious electric boats.
CHOOSE BETWEEN 3 TIMES SLOTS
5:00 – 9:00 pm
5:30 – 9:30 pm
6:00 – 10:00 pm
One of Southern California’s most iconic holiday events
The Christmas Boat Parade, once called “one of the top ten holiday happenings in the nation” by The New York Times, is one of Newport Beach’s oldest and most entertaining traditions. Over the course of 5 days, December 14th through 18th, each night will showcase a three hour event featuring a wide variety of yachts, boats, kayaks, canoes, and waterfront homes of all different sizes decked out with elaborate, extravagant, and playful Christmas decorations. The vessels will cruise through all of Newport Harbor, along a 14 mile course, showing off their festive holiday spirit to the on-lookers from land, and waterfront residents and businesses.
Bring your holiday party to the water!
At Vision EBR, you can rent our electric boats to cruise the harbor, witnessing the incredible holiday spirit displayed by the many beautiful waterfront homes and vessels. Our boats can be rented for up to 4 hours, which leaves enough time to find a great spot before the show, and enough time to stay through the duration and safely head back after the show. All of our boats fit up to ten people and are dog friendly, so bring some snacks, beverages, and a fun board game, and have your holiday party cruising the Newport Harbor.
Is this a family friendly event?
The Christmas Boat Parade is a great event for people of all ages. There are a multitude of participating homes and boats which exhibit their bright vibrant lights, big holiday floats, and exciting decorations.
What will the weather be like?
Generally, each year’s parade sees temperatures between 55-62 degrees. Although that isn’t too cold, we recommend bringing a sweater and/or jacket, especially for the little ones. Some of our customers will bring cozy blankets.
Are there public restrooms available once my group is on the water?
Yes. There are plenty of convenient public docking areas which provide restrooms open to the public. You will be given a map before you leave our docks. Our dock hands will point out where these public docks are located.
Take part in the festivities and decorate your boat
Get in the Christmas and holiday spirit by decorating your boat with colorful lights and your favorite ornaments!
If you want to go the extra mile and make your boat look really fun, take a look at our website’s store where we offer big beautiful balloon garlands to put on top of your boat. Get as many colors as you want to make your boat stand out!
How do I book?
Call the Vision Electric Boat Rental office to book at (949) 612-8248. We are open 8:00 am to 8:00 pm every day. We suggest booking sooner than later, as the boat parade is one of the most sought after holiday experiences in Southern California and books up fast.
How the Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade came to be
Originally called the Tournament of Lights, the parade was founded in 1907 by John Scarpa, an Italian gondolier, and Joseph Beek, a key force in the early development of Balboa Island. Initially, Scarpa’s tradition consisted of taking a group of visitors from Pasadena across the Newport Bay in a gondola decorated with Japanese lanterns. One year later, on July 4th, 1908, the first lighted boat parade took place. In addition to Scarpa’s gondola, the event showcased eight canoes, all of which were illuminated by Japanese lanterns and were operated by fellow small boat operators. During World War I, the boat parade took a five year hiatus, and In 1919, returned with the introduction of big ferry boats for the first time. Since then, the festival has grown into hundreds of vessels and homes in full decor with over 2 million people viewing each year.