A mid-February show spanning Miami Beach and downtown Miami, with more than 1,000 boats and the world's largest reported attendance for the format.
An event page tells you when it happens (with how sure we are of the date), why it matters, how the week around it feels, when to arrive and leave, where people stay, how access works, and which events come before and after it on the circuit.
The Discover Boating Miami International Boat Show is built across several linked sites rather than one venue: the Miami Beach Convention Center anchors the indoor and land-based exhibits, while the Miami Yacht Collection, Sailor's Cove and the Boat Show Experience at Pride Park carry the in-water displays across Miami Beach and downtown Miami. The organizer's own figures describe more than 1,000 exhibiting brands and over 1,000 boats on display, with attendance above 100,000 and a reported regional economic impact approaching $956 million.
Ownership sits with the National Marine Manufacturers Association, the US boating industry's trade body, working with the International Yacht Brokers Association and produced under contract by Informa Markets, which also produces the Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach shows along the same coast. The show runs under NMMA's consumer-facing Discover Boating brand, which frames the event as much toward first-time and prospective boat owners as toward the established brokerage and superyacht trade.
01Why it matters
This show opens the Florida boat-show season each winter, ahead of Palm Beach in March and well before Fort Lauderdale's autumn edition, and its scale — by the organizer's own account among the largest such shows anywhere — makes it the first significant test of the year's new models and pricing for much of the US recreational marine industry. Its NMMA ownership and Discover Boating branding also give it a different character from the brokerage-heavy Fort Lauderdale show: more of the floor is aimed at converting general interest in boating into a first purchase.
02The week around it
Mid-February in Miami and Miami Beach is high season for South Florida tourism generally, and the show adds a further, marine-industry-specific layer of demand on top of that. The Miami Beach Convention Center district and the downtown waterfront sites see concentrated crowds and traffic for the five days, with water taxis and shuttle connections run by the organizer linking the dispersed venues.
03When to arrive
Thursday and Friday are the steadier days for a serious look at new models before the weekend's larger public crowds; the show's multiple sites make a single full day insufficient to see everything, so two days are the practical minimum for a thorough visit.
04Where to stay
Miami Beach, close to the Convention Center and the in-water sites nearest it, is the most convenient base; downtown Miami, near the Pride Park and Sailor's Cove sites, is the alternative for the sites on that side of the show. Both areas carry Miami's usual February tourist-season pricing independent of the show itself.
05Access and hospitality
The organizer sells single-day and multi-day tickets online, with the paid Windward VIP programme as a premium add-on; boarding a specific yacht for sale requires an appointment through its broker rather than the general ticket. Prices are set on the organizer's own ticketing platform and are not quoted here.
06Where the social activity happens
South Beach's Ocean Drive and Lincoln Road, near the Convention Center site, and Bayside and the downtown waterfront, near the Pride Park and Sailor's Cove sites, take the evening crowds drawn by the show alongside Miami's ordinary February tourist traffic.
07Getting there
08Practicalities
09History
Specific founding-year details for this show were not confirmed from the sources read for this record. Miami's boat-show tradition is long-standing within the US marine industry and the NMMA has organized a Miami show for many decades as part of its national programme of industry-owned boat shows; an editor should establish the exact founding year from NMMA's own archives before one is published.
10Who is there
Boat buyers ranging from first-time and entry-level purchasers to brokerage and superyacht clients; NMMA member manufacturers and dealers; brokers through the International Yacht Brokers Association; marine equipment suppliers; and a large general public drawn by Discover Boating's consumer-facing programming.
What else is happening
Overlap finder →Same destination, same days
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18 Feb → Feb 21, 2027Miami Beach · United States · Food & Wine Food Network South Beach Wine & Food FestivalNotable
Within reach
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12 Feb → Feb 14, 2027Palm Beach and Boca Raton · United States · Automotive Cavallino ClassicNotable
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6 Jan → Mar 28, 2027Wellington · United States · Equestrian Winter Equestrian FestivalNotable
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11 Feb → Feb 16, 2027West Palm Beach · United States · Art The Palm Beach ShowNotable
The circuit continues
Part of: International Yachting Circuit · American Winter Circuit
Dates on record
| Edition | Dates | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 2027 | ConfirmedPublished by the organizer as 10-14 February 2027, across the Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami Yacht Collection, Sailor's Cove and the Boat Show Experience at Pride Park. | |
| 2026 | CompletedReported consistently across the organizer's own consumer site and multiple yacht-industry sources as 11-15 February 2026, across five locations in Miami Beach and downtown Miami, with more than 100,000 expected attendees, 1,000-plus exhibiting brands and over 1,000 vessels on display. |
Related events
Sources
- Miami International Boat Show — official site, NMMA / Informa Markets official accessed 6 September 2026
- The Discover Boating Miami International Boat Show: 2026 Overview, National Marine Manufacturers Association official accessed 6 September 2026