5 Ideas for Pontoon Boat Fun

Pontoon boats are loved by so many boaters for their ample space and relaxed nature. Whether your desire is to have plenty of room to comfortably fish, or whether you love hosting family and friends, a pontoon boat is optimal for the occasion. Additionally, in many lake communities, pontoon boats are a great way to participate in the community and its activities.

While simply hopping on board and going out for a ride on your pontoon boat is great, we decided to offer you five ideas that might add some new twists to your pontoon boat adventures.

Pontoon Boat Poker Run

A poker run is an organized event where participating pontoon boats must visit five to seven checkpoints, drawing a playing card at each stop and the person with the best poker hand at the end of the end wins. Having the best hand and thereby winning the event is purely a matter of chance.

The event has a time limit; however, the individual participants are not timed.

Typically, poker run events feature food and drinks at each of the stops offering participants the opportunity to socialize with friends as well as to make new friends. There is typically a buy-in to participate in the event. In some events, the participant with the best poker hand simply wins the pot. However, increasingly, many pontoon poker runs are used to raise money for charity while everyone has a lot of pontoon boat fun in the process.

Pontoon Boat Progressive Dinner

Pontoon boat progressive dinners are a ton of fun. A group of pontoon boaters designates a location to tie pontoon boats together creating a dining floating barge of sorts.

Each boat offers a different course and participants move from boat to boat enjoying food, drink, and conversation. Great music always helps as well.

Pick a Theme for a Pontoon Boat Party

Boat theme parties can be a lot of fun in many different settings, but pontoon boats offer the unique opportunity to decorate, offer cleverly presented food and drinks, and plenty of room to spread out and enjoy. For instance, Independence Day, tiki, or luau are somewhat obvious options, but let your imagination run wild. Coordinate decorations, your menu, your drink selection, and maybe even costumes with the selected theme.

Fire & Ice Pontoon Boat Party

How fun would it be to host friends on your pontoon boat, grill delicious fish, vegetables, or your other favorite grill fare? Then, to top it off, serve delicious cocktails over ice. We particularly like Moscow Mules as a boat party cocktail because they are delicious, refreshing, and can be served in a copper cup as they were designed to be served in – a real serving mug while, of course, having no glass on board.

We like Allrecipes’ Moscow Mule recipe because it is simple, basic, and hits the spot. We happen to like Tito’s vodka, but use the brand of your choice. However, you do need to use ginger beer like Bundaberg, Fever Tree, Fentimans, and Barritt’s and there are many other local and niche brands on the market.

Ginger ale will not suffice as ginger beer is richer in flavor and is an upgrade that will be greatly appreciated. Moscow Mules can be served in plastic cups, but if you’re a traditionalist, pick up some copper mugs at your local housewares store.

So, let’s start talking about the fire portion of our fire & ice party. We love the Magma Marine Kettle Grill. Its rotating design allows you to determine which direction you would like the lid to open when grilling in windy conditions. You obtain perfect results through the use of the adjustable height and the variable temperature control draft door assembly.

Also, Magma’s large selection of mounting options and accessories allows you to customize your grill for your specific use.

Our blog post, “Techniques for Grilling on the Water,” offers our favorite grilled fish recipe.

Pontoon Boat Kids Nature Cruise

Kids love being out on the water, but let’s face it, their attention span is often quite a bit shorter than ours. Relaxing and floating along, while wonderful for many of us, can quickly result in restless young ones. One way to keep them engaged is a pontoon boat nature cruise.

Print out pictures of birds, animals, insects, plants, trees, and flowers native to the area you will be boating in and challenge the kids to see how many they can find. This is a great way to keep them occupied and if you also print out some information, it is a fun educational opportunity as well.

Want a closer view of the wildlife?

– Bushnell H2O Series Binoculars

Pontoon Boat Fun Park

Pontoon boats are the perfect boats to truly allow your kids to play. There are now so many options to transform your pontoon boat into a theme park that is great fun not only for kids but the entire family. Slides, extreme towables, fun floats – there is no end to the options available.

There are so many ways to have fun on pontoon boats. After you decide what your next activity is going to be, head to PartsVu to make sure you have the boating essentials, maintenance parts and products you need along with boat safety equipment, marine electronics, cleaning and care products, and more.