Searching for a few great ideas for NYC Boat Tours you can go on this year? You’ve reached the right page. New York is a city that’s famous for several things. First, it’s full of locations that people, New York natives and visitors alike, seek out and frequent. Times Square, Central Park, and Broadway are perfect examples of these places.
If it isn’t only places that people seek out in the Big Apple, it’s also the food. You could call it a culinary hotbed, with cuisines from all over the world finding their way to your neighborhood bodega and upscale restaurants and calling them home. If you’re craving a particular cuisine, chances are you’ll find a place that has exactly what you’re looking for.
The City That Never Sleeps
It’s known as “the city that never sleeps”, and it’s earned that name. But while most people know that it’s earned that moniker because there’s always something going on, you could also see it in an entirely different context.
The city of New York never stops thriving, with things such as cultures and activities constantly growing. No matter what time of the year or time of the day, you’ll see that the different aspects of this city are very much alive.
There’s so much to love and admire about this city, but sometimes you end up missing out on a few things. You can chalk it up to how fast-paced life is nowadays, or you could also just attribute it to how big the city is.
With a city with towering skyscrapers, large parks, and a vast array of avenues mapping it out, it only makes sense that everything else seems Lilliputian in comparison. For this reason, people can sometimes forget about all the other more minor details that make New York such a wonderful city.
New York’s Waterways
As ironic as it sounds, sometimes it’s also a good idea to take a step back and see the city for what it is. Sure, it’s such a large city, but looking at it from afar and seeing all the elements that make New York New York can remind you why it’s such a special place.
While New York is 783.8 square kilometers of land, the city isn’t all roads and streets. It’s also peppered with several waterways of varying sizes. These waterways help open up an entirely new set of possibilities for you to explore the city and see it for what it is. In addition, for anyone who travels the city by land, these waterways could provide you with a different way of seeing your beloved city.
With all the waterways and bodies of water that surround and intersect New York, seeing the city from a different vantage point isn’t hard at all. As a matter of fact, there are ways to make this all possible for you. There are several ways that New York allows you to see it from the water.
If you’re a seasoned sailor or just want to rent out a boat with a captain – you can easily do so on platforms like Sailo.com – which makes it easy and simple to rent out a boat almost anywhere.
As touristy as it may sound, tours are a great way to explore the city from its waterways. Things like an educational tour that guides you around the city’s periphery, a boat trip on that you can undertake yourself by buying an inflatable dinghy for sale nearby, or a cruise that takes you through New York’s bodies of water can help you see for yourself a side of New York that you might have never noticed before.
Treading the Water: 5 NYC Boat Tours You Should Try
With all the bodies of water that surround New York, figuring out how to explore these places can get very overwhelming. The number of choices alone can leave you wondering how to begin your little nautical adventure and where you can start.
However, a little help can always go a long way. In this case, there are a few options that you can consider if you want to go exploring New York and all its waterways. So, if you’re wondering where you can go and what you can do, consider these NYC Boat Tour options!
1. An Architecture Tour
One notable characteristic about New York would be the different buildings that inhabit the city. Usually, you’d see these buildings from the view of the streets. However, there is another way you can take a good look at these beautiful pieces of architecture.
If you’re a big fan of architecture or just have a curious mind when it comes to buildings, you can take on a tour with the Classic Harbor Line that gives particular focus on New York’s architecture.
In this tour, you’ll have a guide from the American Institute of Architects helping you spot the various architectural designs that can be found in the city. From the skyline of Manhattan to the Beaux-Arts buildings and everything in between, this cruise will help you admire New York from a different view.
2. Sightseeing Around Manhattan
If you’re in New York for the first time, sightseeing is definitely a must. While most people choose to go sightseeing up close, you can also do it from afar. Think of it as getting a sort of overview of the city, where you get to see New York in its entirety.
Sightseeing around Manhattan. Photo by Sherzod Max on Unsplash.comFor example, Circle Line Sightseeing offers a cruise that circles one of New York’s more notable boroughs, Manhattan. You’ll get to see Manhattan’s famous landmarks, from the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, Yankee Stadium, and the Brooklyn Bridge, among others.
In addition, you’ll get an overview of sorts of Manhattan, seeing it in its entirety and all the parts that help make it up. By going on a tour like this, you get to see everything before diving into the heart of this part of New York.
3. Sunset Sailing
For some people, the sunset is one of the most beautiful parts of the day. Seeing it on a boat, in NY, makes it one of the most beautiful NYC Boat Tours for sure.
The sky is a mix of colors, showing the transition of the blue sky to the orange-violet hue that comes right before day hits night. So, this becomes a perfect time to see things against a very unique backdrop.
If you’re one of those who loves sunsets, you can also take a sailing tour around New York during sunset hours. Places like Tribeca Sailing offer these exact things. Touring you around New York during the sunset, you’ll get to take a good look at the city’s skyline right before it turns to night.
In addition, you’ll get to see a lot of the notable New York landmarks like the Statue of Liberty, the One World Trade Center, and maybe even take a little detour under the Brooklyn Bridge. While New York bustles 24/7, taking a good look at the city before all the lights illuminate the city can be another way to get an unforgettable view of New York.
4. A Photo Tour
New York is truly an iconic city that can be admired from many different points of view. So much so that many of these views are worth preserving or remembering. For photographers, doing such a thing would be a fantastic opportunity to help people see what they see and why they think it’s beautiful.
For those inclined to photography, taking a photo tour would be one of the best options. Throw in a different vantage point in the mix, and you’ll be able to eat your heart out. Fortunately, some cruises cater to this very purpose.
For example, the New York Media Boat can take you on a sightseeing tour around the city of New York. You’ll be able to see places like the Brooklyn Bridge and Statue of Liberty and also find lovely vantage points to take panoramic photos of the city from the water. What better way to find that picture-perfect view of the city than in its entirety from a different angle.
5. Paddling Through New York
If you love the water but don’t really like being in a large boat, you can always tread the water in something much smaller. That way, you get to go on a trip that’s more intimate and personal. For example, you can go on a smaller-scale water adventure on a kayak or paddleboard.
Groups like the Manhattan Kayak Company offer tours around New York’s waterways on a much smaller scale. Instead of going on a ship, you can opt to go on a slower-paced trip around New York.
For those that are more adventurous, this would be the perfect way to explore the city. You can ply the Hudson River on a kayak or a paddleboard, admiring the view at a more personal and leisurely pace. What’s more, you still get to see New York from a different vantage point.
New York is a large city, chock full of several beautiful sights and sounds to take in. In addition, it’s filled with character, a lot of which you can find in the different people and cultures that make it up.
However, another part that makes it the New York that people know would be all the different places and spaces found all over the city. Usually, people see this all from the streets that map out the city. While this is an excellent way to see New York, looking at things from a different perspective may make for a more memorable view.
Fortunately, there is a way to do this. While New York is a large city that you can explore on foot, you can also take a good look at the city from the waterways and bodies of water in the city.
After all, it would be a shame not to use all the different views and angles that New York allows you to see it by. While there’s nothing wrong with seeing the city on foot, you can opt to take the road less traveled by or, in this case, the waterless threaded on. Hope you’ll enjoy one, two, or all of the above NYC Boat Tours!
Karen works for a big hedge fund, she’s awesome with numbers and loves what she does, but above all – she loves traveling. Whenever she’s on the road, she tries to get into the gritty tiny details of every location she explores.
Sarah Knapp is a Brooklyn based entrepreneur whose love for the outdoors and community building led her to the October 2013 creation of OutdoorFest. She has a BA in History, is a Wilderness First Responder and a NY state hiking, camp and boating guide. Her proudest achievement to date is reading the Aeneid in Latin. 
Allison was one of our first top writers and Chief Editor but is no longer working with offMetro. Allison is a native New Yorker, who has lived in Rome, Tuscany, Melbourne, Toronto and Los Angeles. She frequently contributed travel pieces to Family Travel Forum, using her own children as guinea pigs as they travel the globe. She never missed a chance to sample local delicacies, as her love for travel goes hand-in-hand with her love for food and wine. 
Josh Laskin is a freelance travel writer and photographer based in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. When he is not at work or on the road, you can find him in the mountains snowboarding, climbing, hiking, fly fishing, mountain biking, and eating bagel bites.
Annie is a travel writer, environmentalist, and surfer based in Venice, CA. She heads up our West Coast team, keeps our grammatical errors in check, and makes sure our California writers always have a plan for their next adventure. Follow Annie’s travels @annelisemcb.
Carly Pifer is a freelance writer who has been known to follow whims inspired by romantic movie scenes or colorful street style shots to India, Japan, Tunisia and Argentina. After stints living in Seoul, Boston, Paris and Los Angeles, writing and searching for something intangible, she landed somewhat steadily in Brooklyn and has begun to find inspiration in her more immediate surroundings. 
Kate E. O’Hara is a New York based freelance writer and photographer who loves all things food—especially the people who make it and market it. Her writing aims to capture the essence of the food experience; the stories that go well beyond a plate of ingredients. In addition to her love of food, Kate is also known to have a hankering for red wine and craft beer. You can also find Kate on Instagram