You Can Float Down Melbourne’s Yarra River With 1800 People This Summer

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The Yarra River Inflatable Regatta is back for another year of floating fun on Melbourne’s mightiest river.

Returning on February 11, the Inflatable Regatta sees a horde of floating dinghies making their way down the city’s infamous river – but this year they’ve taken things up a notch. To avoid people missing out, the Regatta have doubled their boat numbers, now offering 999 one- and two-person inflatable rafts to keen punters. With the new boat additions, it officially makes the Regatta the biggest inflatable boating event in the Southern Hemisphere.

The festivities kick off at Hawthorn Rowing Club, where punters will travel two kilometres down-river, experiencing an entirely different side of the Yarra. Of course, if you’re not the boating type, there are plenty of lookouts along the river where you can go observe the spectacle and join in on the fun. And by fun we mean spending a lazy afternoon paddling, soaking up the rays and enjoying tunes from a floating live music stage set up somewhere along the course. Fuuuuuun.

Tickets are $60 for a single boat and $110 for a double, and include all the essentials: your approved floating vessel (which you can keep if you want), a set of oars, life jackets, sunscreen, bottled water, a bailer (to get water out of the boat if it gets in), a small waterproof bag to hold your valuables, and a bag for rubbish, if you have any or see any floating in the river. The first boat launches at 9.30am.