Long Beach's Naples Boat Parade Is Canceled Over Christmas-Week Tides

Organizers say crumbling seawalls and forecast tides of up to 8.5 feet make the tradition, which dates to 1946, too risky this year.

It started as decorated barges carrying singing church choirs through the Naples canals in Long Beach. It grew to more than 100 boats and about 60,000 people lining the water.

This December the boats stay tied up. On Saturday the Naples Improvement Association canceled this year's Naples Island Holiday Boat Parade, saying forecast high tides and heavy surf would make it too unsafe for boaters and spectators, the Long Beach Post reported. The last time the parade didn't run was six years ago, when COVID hit.

Ben Fisher, who heads the association, puts much of the blame on the wall. He said the city hasn't dealt with the island's aging seawall or its weak drainage, and in a written statement he described "exposed, rusted and sharp rebar" along the canals, right where families usually sit on holiday evenings. At high tide, water already tops the wall in spots and floods sidewalks nearly two feet deep, the Post reported.

That wall has been a known problem since 2009, when a city inspection found it in significant disrepair. The repair plan has six phases; two are done. The city says finishing it would take $125 million, and it has put the rebuild on hold, pointing to falling oil revenue and doubts about federal disaster money. The wall's trouble is old enough to drive.

One option on the table is a 30-year bond. Split among every property in Naples, it comes to $5,100 apiece each year; charge only the homes on the seawall and the figure jumps to $48,000 per property.

The worry comes with a date. On NOAA's tide predictions for its Los Angeles station, the highest tide of Christmas week comes at 8:27 a.m. on Dec. 24, at about 7.3 feet. The day's biggest high tide arrives in the morning every day from Dec. 21 through Dec. 26.

The forecast the Post reported runs higher, between 7.5 and 8.5 feet, cresting around Christmas Eve. Forecasters are counting on a strong El Niño this season, with tides running half a foot to a foot and a half higher than usual. On top of that come Kelvin waves, broad, slow-moving swells of warm water expected to roll into Long Beach's south-facing shore again and again this winter.

Fisher said the city has told residents to sandbag everything, public and private. That's L.A. County's advice too. Board Chair Hilda Solis issued a local emergency proclamation on Sept. 23 ahead of the El Niño season, and county Public Works has been setting up sandbag distribution sites.

Kristina Duggan, the councilmember who represents Naples, said in a Saturday statement that she respects the association's call and wants the island's attention this winter on getting ready for the weather. She maintained the walls are stable even with high tides pressing on them, said crews would begin sealing cold joints the following week to cut seepage, and said she looks forward to the parade's "return next year."

Fisher said the call followed weeks of talk and a poll that drew 600 answers, with most respondents wanting the parade, and every other holiday event in Naples, scrapped for the year. Instead of floats, he said, the parade's budget will buy pumps, hoses, plugs and generators. Whether the canal homes still light up for Christmas, he said, is up to each owner.

Source: LAist, retrieved November 9, 2026. Other sources: content.govdelivery.com, api.tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov.