Since October, Miami Beach police have identified and removed about 140 vessels that were left to rot in the tropical heat. More sit half-submerged or anchored across the Bay, near some of the most expensive real estate in America.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people buy a boat but don\u2019t realize how much it costs for fuel, maintenance and marina fees,\u201d said Sergeant\u00a0Javier Fernandez, commander of the Miami Beach police marine unit, as he surveyed the abandoned vessels about 100 yards off Star Island aboard the department\u2019s\u00a032-foot Contender center console patrol boat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Suddenly, a sunken cabin cruiser, more than 30 feet long, came into view in the clear, shallow waters ahead, the top of its rotting wheelhouse jutting out at an odd angle. Fernandez\u2019s boat turned to port to avoid a dangerous collision.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is where they end up,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The marine graveyard is one downside of an unprecedented surge in boating since the pandemic, spurred in part by an influx of well-to-do newcomers. With wealth flooding into Miami, boats have gotten bigger, driving up costs for things like marina space and maintenance for everyone. There were roughly 1.2 million registered boats in Florida in 2024, more than any other state, and up about 20% since 2023, according to the National Marine Manufacturers Association.<\/p>\n
The abandoned vessels<\/a> ranged from sailboats, cabin cruisers and pontoon craft to center-console fishing boats, bow riders and even a 60-foot custom-rigged catamaran, according to police records reviewed by Bloomberg.\u00a0<\/p>\n Derelict vessels are a danger to other mariners and a nuisance to property owners. Occasionally, abandoned craft break free of rotting lines and crash into the bulkheads near the seaside mansions dotting the affluent islands around Biscayne Bay. Leaking fuel can pose a threat to the environment.<\/p>\n The abandoned boats are a sign that the gentrification that\u2019s taking place on land has spread to South Florida\u2019s waterways. As billionaires bought properties in Miami\u2019s most exclusive enclaves, the cost of living soared more than 36% in six years, outpacing the national inflation rate over that span of about 29%, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. That has squeezed out some of the less well-off: More people are moving away from Miami than any other major US city, according to a study by the Bank of America Institute.<\/p>\n Those same forces have\u00a0also put pressure on boaters \u2014 and some just give up.<\/p>\n The new wealth on display on the area\u2019s crowded seas exists alongside a teeming mass of middle-class mariners. In Miami-Dade County there are 73,000 boats,\u00a0including almost 5,000 that are more than 40 feet long. That doesn\u2019t include super yachts flagged elsewhere that have been spotted cruising\u00a0the channels and bays.<\/p>\n Soaring demand for marina space has left less-affluent pleasure boaters looking for moorings and crowded out businesses that serve them. The growing fleet has also made the waters more dangerous. There were 6.4 deaths per 100,000 registered boats in Florida in 2024, roughly 50% higher than the national rate, according to the most recent US Coast Guard data.\u00a0<\/p>\n Earlier this year, a man was killed when a bigger boat ran over his dinghy while he was puttering around Key Biscayne with his 14-year-old son. Eleven people were seriously injured in Miami when their boat exploded during a birthday celebration. In early June, the body of a woman\u00a0washed ashore on Hollywood Beach after being struck by a boat while snorkeling, police said.<\/p>\n Some 67% of fatalities involved boats helmed by captains with no formal training, and a third of accidents were collisions with fixed objects like channel markers, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s more congestion on the water,\u201d said George Reynaud, a spokesman for the agency in Miami, \u201cand more boats means more inexperienced boaters.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Like many corners of the US economy, boating is experiencing an affordability crisis.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to National Marine Manufacturers Association estimates, US power-boat sales fell about 10% in 2025 and aren\u2019t expected to rise much this year. In Florida,\u00a0sales slumped or were flat last year for almost every size of boat, according to the association. \u00a0<\/p>\n One exception: yachts and super yachts, said Phil Purcell, chief executive officer of the Marine Industries Association of South Florida.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can look at it the same way as the real estate market,\u201d Purcell said. The association owns the\u00a0Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show<\/a>, a mecca for yacht buyers. The five-day event in the late fall generated $800 million in sales last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBoating is a big part of the culture, everyone catches on that it\u2019s a great part of life in Florida,\u201d Purcell said.<\/p>\n Buying a vessel and keeping it seaworthy is expensive. Boats under 26 feet long\u00a0\u2014 the most popular class of boats sold in South Florida \u2014\u00a0sold for an average of $60,000 last year, while\u00a026- to 35-foot boats averaged $170,000, according to Boats Group, which owns several online sales platforms.\u00a0<\/p>\n That\u2019s only the beginning: Annual repairs, docking, fuel and insurance can come to about 10% of a boat\u2019s value. Slips in South Florida typically cost\u00a0between $25 to $55 a foot a month, but can soar to $100.\u00a0New engines can run to $30,000 or more. With Miami marine mechanics in high demand, something as simple as a tune-up can cost hundreds.<\/p>\n In part because of rising costs, Florida has grappled with a derelict-boat problem.\u00a0The state spent about $13 million to remove abandoned craft in 2024, and the Florida Legislature last year made it easier for police to remove vessels and toughened penalties for abandoning one.<\/p>\n Marinas make more money from large boats, and many\u00a0are being revamped to take in larger craft.\u00a0<\/p>\n About an hour north of Miami Beach, billionaire Joe Lewis,<\/a> who lives and works part of the year on his 323-foot yacht Aviva, bought Pier Sixty-Six, a six-decade-old fueling station, marina and hotel on the Intracoastal Waterway.\u00a0<\/p>\n Lewis\u2019s firm, Tavistock, spent $1 billion transforming the property into a resort with a five-star hotel, a condo tower with $14.5 million penthouses and a marina specializing in supersize boats. Tavistock is spending hundreds of millions more to expand the marina complex.<\/p>\n At $8 to $10 a foot a day, the Pier Sixty-Six marina caters to yachts, said Megan Lagasse, the marina director. Facing the marina are the US headquarters of super-yacht builders including Italy\u2019s Sanlorenzo and Germany\u2019s L\u00fcrssen. In plush showrooms, clients can order custom-made, 200-foot-plus boats costing roughly $1 million a foot.<\/p>\n Read Also: As Superyachts\u2019 Popularity Grows,\u00a0So Is Their Supersized Climate Impact In Miami Beach, an overhaul of the city-owned public marina, built in the 1980s, is planned. Its operator, Suntex Marinas, wants to make way for larger boats that are more in demand and to add long stretches of dockage for super yachts<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a disproportionate amount of people that can afford larger boats in southeast Florida,\u201d said Rich Carter, chief operating officer of Suntex, which runs dozens of marinas in the US.\u00a0<\/p>\n Some of the\u00a0rich are also building their own slips. On a vacant stretch of dock near Government Cut, the 52-foot-deep manmade channel that leads to Miami\u2019s port and cruise-ship terminals, financier Ken Griffin is\u00a0constructing a private marina\u00a0to park his yachts.\u00a0<\/p>\n The shift toward super yachts has roiled charter businesses that take tourists out fishing or for sunset cruises.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Miami Beach marina evicted more than 30 charter operators after residents of nearby luxury condos complained about noise. Captains who survived the purge faced restrictions on their hours.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a war against working people by rich people who bought a condo for a view of the marina, but now they complain about the marina,\u201d said Jessica Londono, the co-owner of a charter operator that has worked out of the marina for 20 years. \u201cThey are trying to put us out of business, and we were here first.\u201d<\/p>\n The marina thrived as a base for charters for decades, fed by hotel guests who would pay at least $2,000 for a half day on the water with a captain and crew. But during the pandemic, the number of charters at the marina jumped, and so did complaints about unruly, intoxicated passengers, said Keith Marks, president of the area\u2019s neighborhood association.\u00a0<\/p>\n Marks said he\u2019s got nothing against charter businesses who operate properly, but some customers were \u201cfighting, drunk, loud, screaming, after midnight, waking up people in the condo buildings, waking up everyone.\u201d\u00a0Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner said his top priority is \u201cto keep people safe and to ensure that the quality of life of our residents and tourists are upheld to the highest level.\u201d<\/p>\n Londono, standing on the docks after sending off two of her chartered yachts with groups of tourists, said the marina\u2019s shift away from charters and smaller vessels is transforming boating \u2014 long an egalitarian pursuit in Miami \u2014 into the domain of the wealthy. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe rich,\u201d\u00a0she said, \u201care really putting the squeeze on us.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a9\u00a02026\u00a0Bloomberg L.P.<\/p>\n Editorial Standards<\/a> \u00b7 Corrections<\/a> \u00b7 About gCaptain<\/a><\/p>\n This article contains reporting from Bloomberg, published under license.<\/p>\n \t\t Sign up for gCaptain\u2019s newsletter and never miss an update<\/p>\n \u2014 trusted by our 104,923 members<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By\u00a0Michael Smith Jun 27, 2026 (Bloomberg) \u2013Not far from the super yachts docked outside the island palaces of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":322034,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1269,123,125,124,133504,19385],"class_list":["post-322033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-boating","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news","tag-superyacht","tag-yachts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=322033"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322033\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/322034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=322033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=322033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=322033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/814x-1-30-800x551.jpg\")
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