Marina Slip Cost Per Foot Calculator

Renting a spot on the water is not all there is to Marina pricing. It also includes a certain amount of protection from current and wind, a hook-up to electrical grid, and a certain amount of square footage of dock. If viewed in isolation the price per foot metric can be misleading.

Thirty dollars per foot seems like a lot, but that may include a premium floating dock and fifty amp shore power. Twenty dollars a foot seem like a steal, but you might find out slip is at least forty feet long and located in wind tunnel.

How to Calculate Marina Costs

The first thing to know about cost estimating is what’s called your “billable” length versus your actual boat length. Most boater assume they will be billed for their overall vessel length. That’s simply not how marinas work. Their billing are based off slip size, which doesn’t equal hull dimension. For example, if your long pulpit or wider beam require a larger slip, you get charged for the extra four feet, even though your boat is only thirty two feet. Your boat may be small but it could mean a big surcharge for getting into a larger berth.

Once you input your boat specs and marina minimums, the calculator do the math, sparing you from wondering if a tiny vessel might result in an oversized berth charge.

Another thing that can throw you off is beam width. Just because a thirty foot slip accommodate a narrow center console doesn’t mean it’s wide enough to park a catamaran of equal length. Typically these vessels will get either a side tie or be allocated a wider spot in the marina, which increases the cost. As shown in table below, each class of marina accounts for beam ratio. The broader your boat, the greater the amount of fairway taken up, and therefore the higher charge from the operator. It is a small detail, but one that affects your bank account every month.

The actual difference comes with shore power. Electricity costs money, while basic water access does not. A thirty amp service increases your cost somewhat. A fifty amp service (to run a big freezer or air conditioning) will increase your cost considerbly. More services in liveaboard packages will increase the cost.

So you want to consider if having that convenience is worth paying the premium dockage fee? In many cases, during the summer, the answer is yes. For long term storage when you’re not on boat, the answer is likely no.

That changes the economics with billing terms. Transient rates for a day or two encourage boaters to keep moving and thus have a higher cost per foot. A week lowers the per night average. Month-to-month/annual contracts is cheapest in terms of cost per foot but tie you to the season and location. In some cases, if you’re going from state-to-state, it may be cheaper to pay for a string of weeks different than paying a slip deposit for an annual slot that you won’t use half the year. The output of cost per foot levels the charges so you can compare these various terms.

So when you’re trying to compare marinas, consider the marina class multiplier. The cheapest marinas will be municipal basins (usually subsidized). The most expensive marinas will be resort marinas (you are paying for the view, the restaurant, the beach). The middle of the road marinas is standard protected harbors. They provide security but not the resort markup.

And here’s where you want to make your choice based on your boating pattern. If you’re leaving the boat there every weekend then the resort fees aren’t as much of an issue. But if you’re only launching it twice per month, you’re paying a premium for services you’ll hardly ever use.

But it is just the start. Don’t forget to ask about additional costs. There are launch fees, fuel dock minimums and various other special event charges that accumulate. Call the marina manager for the details of the fine print. You should of gotten an estimate on the total cost. Use it to rule out the options.

Finally, choose one that meets your physical needs as well as your budget. Then everything else becomes just tying up lines.