"We make sure to limit major events to the slow season months in which the launch ramp is not utilized as much." That line comes from a question-and-answer page in the Havasu Riviera Marina's own March 2026 newsletter. It sums up how the marina at the south end of Lake Havasu City plans its year.
From October through March, the six-lane ramp quiets down and the parking lots fill with truck shows, barbecue smokers, pontoon dealers and pumpkin patches. Winter is also the cheapest time to put a boat in, according to the marina's posted rates. And the two additions that would keep people on the property after the boats are out, a waterfront restaurant and a dry storage building, still have no opening date.
The calendar is built around the ramp
The marina has said plainly why the big events come in the cooler months: those are the months when fewer boats are launching. The same newsletter explains how parking works on event days. In most cases, the lot by the marina store, the south-side restroom and the south-side VIP ramp are held for Slip License Holders and Annual Pass Holders. Once the overflow lots come into use, golf carts shuttle guests between parking and the water. When an event has to close the lower lot, the marina has the promoter hire golf cart drivers, and its own staff work the VIP parking areas and the launch.
The past year shows how that plays out:
- Holiday Glow, December 2025. The marina posted a photo recap on December 18, 2025.
- Southwest Ford Truck Show and Smokin' In The Sand BBQ Competition, March 13 and 14, 2026. The BBQ day had food trucks and live music from the Scott Perry Band. Parking was free for slip holders and $10 for the public, and Tasters Choice tickets cost $2 each.
- ToonFest presented by Lippert, March 27 and 28, 2026. This all-pontoon boat show and regatta had free admission to the show and a regatta that ended with a fun run to Pirate Cove.
- Super Cat Fest West by RDP, April 2026. The newsletter calls it Havasu's largest charity fundraiser and says it has raised more than $700,000 for local charities since it started.
- Fall Festival and Pumpkin Patch, October 17, 2026. It had vendors, food trucks, a beer garden, a petting zoo and an evening Dock or Treat.
- Cirque Ma'Ceo by Cavallo Equestrian Arts. It played a weekend of shows at the marina this month.
Nearly all of it falls between mid-October and mid-April, the same stretch the marina prices as its winter season.
What a winter day costs against a summer one
The marina's rates page sets out two seasons. Summer runs April 1 through September 30, and winter runs October 1 through March 31. These are the marina's posted rates. The page has been up for several years, so a quick call to the marina at 928-962-7462 before a trip is a good idea.
| Posted rate | Summer, Apr. 1 to Sept. 30 | Winter, Oct. 1 to Mar. 31 |
|---|---|---|
| Weekday launch, Mon. to Thurs. | $20 | $15 |
| Weekend launch, Fri. to Sun. | $30 | $20 |
| Holiday and event launch | $50 | Not listed |
| Day-use parking | $20 | $10 |
| Marina store hours, daily | 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. | 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. |
A weekend launch costs $10 less in winter, and day-use parking costs half as much. Store hours are shorter on both ends, though, so the 4 p.m. close is worth planning around if you count on the store for ice or fuel-dock supplies on the way out. The store stocks food, drinks, ice, apparel, marine accessories and safety equipment. Fuel is pumped at four double-sided dispensers on the dock and one double-sided dispenser on land, in 87 regular, 91 non-ethanol and 100 octane racing fuel.
Transient slips are cheaper in winter too. A 24-foot slip is listed at $25 on a winter weekday, $150 for a week and $400 for a month.
The pass math changes with the seasons as well. The Riviera Pass costs $450 a year, runs March 1 through the last day of February, and renews automatically each March 1. It covers one primary vehicle and one watercraft, plus the passholder and up to three more adults in the same vehicle. It also includes an RFID tag for after-hours entry through the passholder lane. The rates page lists a separate Riviera Off-Season Pass at $150. Seven winter weekend launches at $20 come to $140, so the off-season pass starts paying for itself at about the eighth weekend. The Arizona State Parks and Trails annual pass is not accepted, because the marina is a privately funded concession run under contract with Lake Havasu State Park.
Changes this year at the fuel dock and the lots
The 2026 plans point toward a marina set up to handle more people, both on the busy summer docks and on crowded event weekends.
The March 2026 newsletter announced spring construction on the fuel dock: new decking designed to stay cooler and not splinter, plus carpeted Dock Armor fenders meant to spare boaters from putting out their own bumpers to refuel. It also announced a shade structure for the fuel dock later in the spring. The newsletter reported that the overflow parking lots, which take the load on event days, had already been regraded, with storm drains added to handle runoff. It also announced a Guest Service Team for weekends and busy weeks to catch boats at the fuel dock, help with refueling and drive people around the marina.
For slip holders, the newsletter announced a Slip Holder Member Account launching this season, set up as a credit line for store purchases and fuel and billed monthly, with cards for family members or authorized signers. According to the newsletter, the store added brands including Neso, Coola, FrostBuddy and Supergoop. Slip License Holders can leave trailers in the first-level overflow lot for up to seven days. Longer storage costs $50 a month in a locked area inside the Riviera Community, and staff will pick up and return trailers.
Dates already set for spring 2027
Two spring 2027 events are already on the calendar, and both are big draws in the same pattern as this year's.
- ToonFest presented by Lippert, Friday, March 19, and Saturday, March 20, 2027. Go Lake Havasu lists free admission at the marina, 2067 Havasu Riviera Parkway. Registration details are still to come.
- Southwest Ford Nationals, April 2 and 3, 2027. The organizer bills it as the first Ford truck show on the West Coast in 2027, held at the Riviera Marina.
Super Cat Fest West and Smokin' In The Sand were held here in spring 2026 but haven't announced 2027 dates yet. A 2026 Holiday Glow hasn't been posted either. The marina's news page and Go Lake Havasu's event listings are the places to watch for them.
The restaurant and dry storage are still to come
The marina's events do a lot of work because the site still has no place to stay after the event ends. The marina's own site lists boat rentals, a restaurant and bar, a banquet facility, and dry boat storage with concierge service as future improvements. The ramp, parking lots, fuel dock, store, slips and day-use beach are what operate today.
A disclosure first: Desert Land Group has been involved with the marina, and our CEO, Mychal Gorden, has spoken to the local paper about it. In December 2024, Today's News-Herald reported that the goal was to break ground on the restaurant and storage building in spring 2025 and open both by summer 2026. Both would be built within the existing project footprint. A later News-Herald story placed the dry storage near the marina entrance, with concierge service for boats kept there, and the restaurant and bar on the water near the store. Summer 2026 has come and gone, and neither building is open.
Who owns the land explains part of the delay. The marina sits on land owned by the Bureau of Land Management. Arizona State Parks and Trails holds it under a Recreation and Public Purposes Act patent. In July 2024, the BLM announced it was considering a noncompetitive commercial lease to the Arizona State Parks Board for about 17 acres. The Federal Register notice put the area at 17.39 acres and set a September 3, 2024 comment deadline. According to the BLM's release, the lease would require fair market rent and would allow additional facilities, concessions, fuel stations and a grocery store.
In the later News-Herald story, written nearly a year after the BLM announcement, an Arizona State Parks spokesperson said the agency was still working with the BLM on the language and terms of the lease. Gorden told the paper that as of June, Desert Land Group was not in the loop on the permit's status and works only with State Parks, not the BLM. As far as he knew, he said, everything was good and it was "simply a timing thing." The paper reported that it was unclear when an agreement would be reached.
One point Gorden made to the News-Herald in December 2024 is still worth repeating to anyone new to the south end. The marina and the Riviera Lake Havasu subdivision are separate operations. The subdivision is private, and the marina is public land open to every resident and visitor. That's why the ramp, the store and the event lots are as open to someone driving in from across town as to someone who lives up the hill.
If you're weighing a homesite or home near the Riviera and want to know how the marina's event calendar, its planned buildings and the land around it could shape that part of town, Desert Land Group has worked on the marina project and can walk you through what's in place and what's still planned. Get in touch.
