A guide to downtown Boynton Beach: Ocean Avenue and the marina

Downtown Boynton Beach: East Ocean Avenue's arts center, children's museum and Centennial Park, public art, and Boynton Harbor Marina's charters and dining.

Last checked Oct. 8, 2026. Facts come from the City of Boynton Beach’s Arts & Cultural Center, marina and public art pages and the other official pages linked below.

Downtown Boynton Beach runs from City Hall on East Ocean Avenue to the Boynton Harbor Marina on the Intracoastal Waterway. The city’s arts buildings, children’s museum and main event park sit together on one block of Ocean Avenue, and the city says more than 80 outdoor sculptures, murals and mosaics are concentrated between City Hall and the marina.

Who to call

Arts & Cultural Center: 561-742-6221, CulturalCenter@bbfl.us

Boynton Harbor Marina: 561-735-7955

City events (First Friday, festivals): 561-742-6024, events@bbfl.us

City Hall: 561-742-6000

East Ocean Avenue: the cultural block

Arts & Cultural Center, 125 E. Ocean Ave. The 1927 Boynton Beach High School, designed by architect William Manly King, closed after its last class graduated in 1949, was restored in 2018 and reopened in 2020 as the city’s 28,000-square-foot arts center. It has exhibition spaces, dance and visual art studios, and a second-floor event hall with a stage under a 39-foot domed ceiling (city page). Youth classes are on the city’s classes page.

Schoolhouse Children’s Museum, 129 E. Ocean Ave. Hands-on exhibits for young children in the 1913 schoolhouse; open 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Admission is $10 for children over 12 months and $8 for adults (visit page).

Kapok Park, 123 E. Ocean Ave. Gated playgrounds, opened in 2020 between the museum and the arts center, with an open lawn and EV chargers.

Centennial Park and Amphitheater, 120 E. Ocean Ave. The city’s main stage, next to City Hall. First Friday @ 5, a free evening of food trucks and live music, is held here on the first Friday of each month (city listing), and it hosts the Fall Festival, Pirate Fest and the Holiday Tree Lighting.

City Hall and the City Library, 100 E. Ocean Ave. The library is open 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday (library page).

Public art

The city counts more than 80 outdoor sculptures, murals, mosaics and other works, concentrated from City Hall to the marina, many of them interactive or moved by sun, wind and water. In alternating years Boynton Arts holds the Kinetic Art Biennial and Sculpture on Ocean Avenue, and the city publishes a walking tour of the Kinetic Biennial on its public art page.

Boynton Harbor Marina

735 Casa Loma Blvd., half a mile south of the Boynton Inlet. The city calls Boynton Beach the “Gateway to the Gulf Stream” because the current runs closer here than to any other U.S. city. From the marina you can book:

fishing and drift fishing charters, and scuba diving charters to reefs and shipwrecks;
boat, jet ski and Intracoastal cruise rentals;
parasailing (Boynton Beach Parasailing, Slip 16, 561-359-8359).

Regular hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; from Jan. 15 to July 15 the marina opens 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. It sells non-ethanol marine gas and diesel. The city keeps directories of charters and rentals on its marina page.

Marina restaurants and bars, as listed by the city:

Banana Boat, 739 E. Ocean Ave., 561-732-9400: waterfront seafood, live music, Sunday brunch.
Marina Cafe, 100 NE Sixth St., 561-424-4222: coffee, bakery and breakfast, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily.
Two Georges, 728 Casa Loma Blvd., 561-736-2717: waterfront grille with a thatch-roof bar, weekday happy hour from 3 to 6 p.m. and live music Friday through Sunday.

More in our brunch, live music and nightlife and date night guides.

Along the water

Promenade Park, 700 E. Marina Way: a brick path through a garden to an Intracoastal overlook at the east end of Boynton Beach Boulevard, with shade umbrellas and benches.
Veterans Memorial Park (Tom Kaiser, USN), 411 N. Federal Highway: monuments to the armed services.
Oceanfront Park, 6415 N. Ocean Blvd.: the city beach, across the Intracoastal on the barrier island; parking $3.50 an hour.

Park facts from the city’s Tour Our Parks guide.

Big events downtown

Event	When
First Friday @ 5	First Friday of each month, Centennial Park
Fall Festival	Oct. 17, 2026
Pirate Fest	Oct. 31 to Nov. 1, 2026
Holiday Tree Lighting	Dec. 5, 2026
Holiday Boat Parade watch party	Dec. 11, 2026, at the marina

Big events close East Ocean Avenue and nearby streets and use free shuttles from city lots; see our Halloween and Christmas parade and tree lighting pages.

What this means for you

Park once on Ocean Avenue for the museum, playgrounds, library and arts center.
The marina keeps longer hours, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, from Jan. 15 to July 15.
Check the city calendar before a first-Friday visit for the month’s First Friday @ 5 lineup.

Frequently asked questions

What is there to do in downtown Boynton Beach? East Ocean Avenue has the Arts & Cultural Center in the restored 1927 high school, the Schoolhouse Children’s Museum, Kapok Park’s playgrounds and Centennial Park’s amphitheater. The Boynton Harbor Marina, with charters and waterfront restaurants, is to the east on the Intracoastal Waterway.

What is First Friday in Boynton Beach? First Friday @ 5 is the city’s free evening of food trucks and live music at Centennial Park and Amphitheater, 120 E. Ocean Ave., on the first Friday of each month.

What are the Boynton Harbor Marina hours? 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends. From Jan. 15 to July 15 it is open 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Call 561-735-7955.

Why is Boynton Beach called the Gateway to the Gulf Stream? The city says the Gulf Stream current runs closer to Boynton Beach than to any other U.S. city, bringing game fish such as mahi-mahi, wahoo and sailfish close to shore.