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First there was the Holy Moses Water Taxi. Then there’s The eLCee2 Water Taxi, which still operates on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Next, starting on July 21, the Cleveland Water Taxi’s Harbor Hopper plans to offer daily schedules and intends to serve many more waterfront destinations in the future than its predecessors.
The Cleveland Water Taxi’s Harbor Hopper boat is painted yellow like an old Yellow Cab. But from a distance, it looks more like a waterborne school bus. It seats roughly as many people, too — about 50 passengers on benches or in table seating.
That’s not the only difference for the Cleveland Water Taxi, says owner Brittany Orlando who also owns CLE Tiki Barge. Both boats are operated out of the same location — a dock at 1180 Main Ave., on the Flats West Bank.
“I wanted to fill the void of the service that’s needed here in Cleveland,” she said in a video posted by the Greater Cleveland Partnership on its Instagram account. “So in collaboration with Flats Forward, we were able to learn the water taxi systems in other cities and bring it to Cleveland.”
Orlando not only brought the water taxi knowledge from other cities. She literally brought a water taxi from another city, namely Tampa. That city’s Pirate Water Taxi was willing to part with one of its six boats and let it go to Cleveland.
The Harbor Hopper will do more than the Cleveland Metroparks’ eLCee2 Water Taxi, which operates for free in traveling back and forth across the Cuyahoga River, linking the Flats East and West banks on a limited schedule. It also offers group travel and charters.
But the Cleveland Water Taxi will come at a price, ranging from a one-hop stop of $10 up to a season pass, good from July 21 to Dec. 31 at $199. Yes, the water taxi plans to the end of the year since all of the waterfront bars and restaurants it will connect operate year-round.
“Not only will we be going from the West Bank to the East Bank, but we have partnerships with bars and restaurants all along the river and as well as the harbor,” Orlando said. “So this is a bigger option to kind of spread yourself around Cleveland.”
Its farthest upriver destination at this point will be the BrewDog Cleveland Outpost, 1956 Carter Rd., on Scranton Peninsula which is seeing more than 600 apartments open for lease this year.
And, for now, the farthest downriver destination will be its dock off Main Avenue, near the new Shooters Yacht Club. In between, the Collision Bend Brewing Co. and the Flats East Bank boardwalk are intermediate stops.
Ultimately, however, Orlando said she wants to add a couple of lakefront destinations, such as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at North Coast Harbor plus the Port of Cleveland, to pick up guests from arriving cruise ships.
“I’m excited for connecting people coming and traveling to Cleveland for conventions, people coming into town on cruise ships, people that live and work and play here,” Orlando added. “We have partnerships with the aquarium and Lady Caroline. (We’re) just providing a reliable alternative resource for transportation.”
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