Boat Rental Miami

Boat rental Miami searches mostly find marinas, but through GetYourGuide I found three private boats you can book: a captained 6-seater at $320, a customizable boat from $99 and a pontoon at $299. They take two to six hours, and every one has extras on top of the headline price. I wrote this page to put those extras next to the headline, because that’s what decides which rental is cheapest. For the wider picture, see my guide to boat tours in Miami. Prices are in US dollars, checked in October 2026, and booking links are affiliate links, as I explain on my about page.

My pick for a boat rental in Miami is the Aquarius Boat Tours captained boat at $320: it holds up to 6, it starts from a marina on West Avenue in Miami Beach, and its listing includes fuel, a cooler and a Bluetooth sound system. It scores a perfect 5.0, but from only two reviews, so I treat it as promising, not proven.

Boat Rental Miami Florida

Boat rental in Miami Florida splits into three styles in my data. The first is a small captained boat for a few friends. The second is a customizable private boat that you size by hours, from two to six. The third is a pontoon, which is slow and stable, and suits a family better than a speedboat does. None of the three is a bareboat charter in the sense of a self-drive boat you take away for the day, so if that is what you want, check the pontoon listing’s no-captain option.

The customizable rental from Miami Beach Boat Rental Deal is the cheapest at $99, and it is the one I’d read most carefully. The listing names four packages by length: a 2-hour sightseeing trip, a 3-hour option with an anchor stop, a 4-hour sun-and-swim option and a 6-hour party option, and says the boat is family size and suits about 10 guests. It adds a captain fee of $50 per hour, a $20 boarding fee per person and $50 for fuel, so a two-hour trip for six comes to about $99 plus $100 plus $120 plus $50, around $370. That’s my sum from the listed fees, not a quoted total. It has no rating yet.

Night tour

Miami Beach Boat Rental Deal

Customizable Private Boat Rental by Day or Night

• 2 - 6 hours
• Free cancellation

My pick: From $99 for 2 to 6 hours, but captain, fuel and a per-person boarding fee add up; no rating yet, so read the details.

from

$99

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Boat Rental Miami Beach

Boat rental in Miami Beach is where the Aquarius boat has the edge. Its listing gives a start point at 518 West Ave in Miami Beach and lists Star Island, Palm Island, Biscayne Bay, Miami Beach and Downtown Miami as stops. That is a short hop from the beach hotels compared with the river marinas. In a straight line, Bayside Marketplace is about 2.8 miles from the Miami Beach Marina, and South Pointe Park is under a mile from that marina, so a Miami Beach departure saves the cross-bay drive.

The Aquarius trip lasts two hours and takes up to six people. The headline price covers fuel, a cooler, a Bluetooth sound system and safety equipment, and you bring your own drinks. The captain fee of $40 per hour is listed separately, which makes a two-hour trip about $400 in total by my sum. Reviews are the weak point: two five-star ratings are a good sign and not much more. If a listing with 300 reviews is worth more to you, my private boat tour page lists charters with far more feedback.

Aquarius Boat Tours

Captained Biscayne Bay Boat Rental for Up to 6

• ★ 5.0 (2 reviews)
• 2 hours
• Free cancellation

My pick: Captained, up to 6, Miami Beach departure: $320 plus the captain fee, 5.0 from 2 reviews.

from

$320

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Miami Boat Rental with Captain

A Miami boat rental with captain is the format I’d choose for a first visit. The captain handles the traffic around the port and the river, and he or she can adapt the route if the wind picks up. Two of the three listings include a captain option, and the captains are priced in different ways: $40 per hour at Aquarius, $50 per hour at the customizable boat and $45 per hour for the pontoon.

What the captain does not do is decide the route for you. The Aquarius listing invites you to ask questions and make route requests, and the customizable boat lists places to sightsee, such as the Miami River, Brickell, Key Biscayne, Bayside, the observation wheel, the Port of Miami, Millionaire mansions, Monument Island and Marine Stadium. Pick two or three of those before you go and tell the captain, because the number of stops depends on the hours you book.

Boat Rental Miami with Captain

The question I’d ask every operator about boat rental Miami with captain is what the hourly captain fee includes. The listings say the captain fee is paid separately, but they do not say whether a tip is expected on top, and the customizable rental notes that its captain fee varies by date. Dec 31 and holiday weekends are the obvious ones to ask about. Gas is the other variable: $25 per hour on the pontoon, $50 per booking on the customizable boat, and included on the Aquarius trip.

For a quick comparison, the Aquarius boat is cheapest per hour for a small group, the customizable boat is cheapest at the start but costs the most once you add a per-person boarding fee, and the pontoon is the dearest per hour once you count captain and gas. Add the numbers yourself for your group size and trip length, and use the table below as a starting point.

Miami Boat Rentals No Captain

Miami boat rentals with no captain are rare in my data: only the Upisle Rentals pontoon states that the boat can be rented with or without one. It is a Sun Tracker DLX pontoon, booked for two hours at $299, with a swim break and a water mat. Gas is $25 per hour, so a self-drive trip is about $349 by my sum, and a captain would add $45 per hour.

The meeting point is sent after you book and may change with availability, and the listing says the trip starts in a private marina in Miami, although the title names Hallandale. That vagueness is why I would ask before booking. The customizable rental also asks you to confirm a boater’s license if you were born after Jan 1, 1988. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission explains who needs a boater safety ID on its boating safety education page. I’d also ask what briefing you get before you drive.

Upisle Rentals

2-Hour Private Pontoon Boat Rental from Hallandale

• 2 hours
• Free cancellation

My pick: The only rental that says it can go without a captain: $299 for two hours, gas $25 per hour, no reviews yet.

from

$299

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Boat Rental Miami Beach with Captain

Boat rental in Miami Beach with a captain brings the Aquarius boat back into the picture, because it is the only one of the three that starts on the beach side. Its included list is the most complete for the money: fuel, cooler, Bluetooth sound, ice and safety equipment, with the captain on top at $40 per hour. It is the only one of the three that names Miami Beach as its start, which matters if your hotel is on the beach.

If you would like to spend more and have a larger group, my page on the yacht charter in Miami covers the three crewed yachts, which take up to 12 guests. If fishing is the aim, the fishing charter page has a better fit than a pleasure boat.

Compared

Rental	Operator	Price from	Duration	Captain fee	Rating	Cancellation
Captained Biscayne Bay Boat Rental (up to 6)	Aquarius Boat Tours	$320	2 hours	$40 per hour	5.0 (2)	Free up to 24 hours
Customizable Private Boat Rental	Miami Beach Boat Rental Deal	$99	2 to 6 hours	$50 per hour	No rating	Free up to 24 hours
Private Pontoon Boat Rental	Upisle Rentals	$299	2 hours	$45 per hour, optional	No rating	Free up to 24 hours

How I’d Choose a Boat Rental in Miami

If I only had one rental, I’d take the Aquarius boat for a group of up to six, because the fuel is in the price and the captain is clear about the fee. If I had a bigger group and wanted to build a longer trip, I’d read the customizable boat’s inclusions carefully and add up the boarding fees. If I wanted the option to drive myself, I’d ask the Upisle operator about the briefing first.

Whichever boat rental in Miami you choose, write down the total, the meeting point and the time, and read the cancellation line. Then compare it with the shared options on my guide to boat tours in Miami or go back to the Harbour Advisor home page.