OC’s most beloved waterfront holiday tradition — a 60+ year all-volunteer Huntington Harbour Boat Parade across two December evenings, followed by the narrated Cruise of Lights boat tours through the canals’ decorated displays.
The Huntington Harbour Boat Parade is Orange County’s most beloved waterfront holiday tradition — a 60-year-plus, all-volunteer parade of decorated boats through the harbour’s channels across two December evenings. The parade starts at 5:15 PM sharp on both Saturday and Sunday, runs about two and a half hours, and can be viewed for free from the many beach areas, Seabridge Park, or the Huntington Harbour Bridges.
A week or so after the parade weekend, the Cruise of Lights turns the channels into a ticketed experience: 50-minute narrated boat tours that loop the harbour’s canals lined with thousands of dazzling lights and holiday displays. Cruise tickets sell out yearly; the tour runs multiple departures per evening across a week-long window.
For families across Huntington Beach and the broader north OC coastal area, the boat parade is the December anchor that everyone shows up for and the Cruise of Lights is the close-up follow-up.
Anywhere along the Huntington Harbour channels — Seabridge Park, the Huntington Harbour Bridges, and the public beach areas around the harbour all give good views. The parade is free to watch.
At 5:15 PM sharp on both Saturday and Sunday. The parade runs about two and a half hours, finishing around 7:50 PM.
The boat parade is the free public event where decorated boats parade past spectators — you watch from land. The Cruise of Lights is a separate ticketed 50-minute narrated boat tour through the same canals’ lit decorations a week or so later — you ride a boat through the displays.
The harbour parking lots fill fast on parade weekend. Try the lots a few blocks back and walk in, or carpool/rideshare. Some street parking is available in the surrounding neighborhoods.
The parade itself is an all-volunteer event with boats entered by owners; spectators watch for free from shore. The Cruise of Lights tours later in the season are the separate ticketed boat experience.
Huntington Harbour is a man-made waterfront community in the north end of Huntington Beach — a network of five islands and interconnected channels lined with waterfront homes and two marinas, developed beginning in the 1960s. The harbour borders Sunset Beach to the north and Bolsa Chica State Beach to the south. Seabridge Park, the Huntington Harbour Bridges, and the public beach access points at Sunset Aquatic Park all give clear sight lines onto the channels, which makes the harbour as watchable as it is privately developed.
Southern California’s holiday lights and festive outings are pure magic — but nothing compares to Santa Claus himself stepping through your own front door. House of Kringle brings a real-bearded, professionally trained Santa to homes and gatherings across SoCal for an intimate live visit your family will treasure for years.
