{"id":435926,"date":"2026-10-23T14:44:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T14:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/435926\/"},"modified":"2026-10-23T14:44:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T14:44:11","slug":"i-tried-the-airbnb-of-boat-rentals-and-found-my-new-favorite-way-to-see-miami","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/435926\/","title":{"rendered":"I tried the Airbnb of boat rentals\u2014and found my new favorite way to see Miami"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s so much of Miami you can only experience while on the water. Not unlike Italy\u2019s Amalfi Coast, where the single best angle is from the sea, looking back at the gorgeous cliffside towns, Miami\u2019s skyscraper skyline really looks its best from the bow of a boat.<\/p>\n

Now, I\u2019m also of the mind that it\u2019s better to know someone with a boat than to own your own, but being at the mercy of friends with boats is no fun when you have a day off from work and they don\u2019t. That\u2019s where Boatsetter comes in.<\/p>\n

Booking a boat in Miami took less effort than planning dinner<\/p>\n

In its simplest form, Boatsetter<\/a> is like the Airbnb of boat rentals\u2014connecting you with charters, owners and captains ready to whisk you off for a day out at sea. You book on the platform (an app, in my case) and select the type of\u00a0excursion you\u2019re interested in and where and when you want to go. Boatsetter, which merged with Getmyboat<\/a> in 2025, lets users filter by price, trip duration, number of passengers and whether or not you\u2019ll need a captain (always).<\/p>\n

\"Captain
\nPhotograph: Virginia Gil for Time OutCaptain Matthew <\/p>\n

Each boat has its own booking page that lists all the relevant info and allows you to instantly book once you\u2019ve added your payment details to your account. Rates vary, but guests are looking at an average of about $120 per person per trip, which, according to Boatsetter, is intentionally designed to make a day on the water feel more like a night out than a luxury experience. In my case, it\u00a0made a Monday of no work feel like a mini vacation.<\/p>\n

Our boat came stocked with pastries, ros\u00e9 and a very Miami lunch<\/p>\n

I met my group at Beach Boat Rental in Miami Beach, catty-corner from 1 Hotel South Beach<\/a>, for our morning cruise aboard a 37-foot luxury powerboat. Captain Matthew met us, gave us a quick waiver to sign and led us to our galleon, where a spread of True Loaf<\/a> pastries and croissants was waiting for us. He\u2019d also filled the coolers with ice and water and made room for our bottles of ros\u00e9. Talk about hospitality!<\/p>\n

\"Blurry
\nPhotograph: Virginia Gil for Time OutBlurry Buccan <\/p>\n

Our charter had also arranged for lunch on board, going above and beyond to secure sandwiches from Buccan<\/a> in Coral Gables. If you\u2019ve ever made the trek south for one or lined up for a taste, you\u2019ll know what an incredible treat it was to have a selection of Buccan\u2019s top sellers on board to feast on at lunch. I was able to coordinate our meals directly with my press contact, but anyone using Boatsetter has access to an equally impressive menu. Depending on the vessel and crew, you\u2019ll make your request at the time of booking and the team will handle the rest.<\/p>\n

\"Stiltsville
\nPhotograph: Virginia Gil for Time OutStiltsville on the horizon <\/p>\n

There was one Miami landmark I knew I wanted to see from the water<\/p>\n

I knew I wanted to check out Stiltsville the moment I booked our boat. A few of the friends I\u2019d invited to join me aren\u2019t from Miami and were mostly unfamiliar with some of the places we locals take for granted, like these historic over-water homes. Now a protected part of Biscayne National Park, the dozen or so Stiltsville homes that remain are looked after by caretakers and are truly remarkable to see up close. Captain Matthew expounded on some of this history while our crew lounged about, sipping and noshing. We stopped near the homes for a quick dip and then headed back, spending most of our four-hour ride cruising past some of our favorite Miami sights, including the Standard Spa, Miami Beach, Bayfront Park (cue the Ultra<\/a> memories!) and Brickell Key.<\/p>\n

\"Boatsetter
\nPhotograph: Virginia Gil for Time OutGoing for a quick dip in the bay <\/p>\n

The best part of renting a boat? Not having to own one.<\/p>\n

Boat days always pass too quickly, and this one was no different, but the ease of it all helped us feel like we actually relaxed. We weren\u2019t loading and unloading bags as one typically does when invited aboard a friend\u2019s boat (the unspoken rule of being invited\u2014you help out). Then there\u2019s the matter of the prep your friend likely undertook hours before you showed up: cleaning the boat, filling it with gas, procuring ice and drinks. Captain Matthew and the Boatsetter team handled all of that for us. Plus, there\u2019s no stress about showing up empty-handed\u2014it\u2019s part of the experience.<\/p>\n

\"My
\nPhotograph: Virginia Gil for Time OutMy favorite way to see Miami <\/p>\n

Would I use Boatsetter again? Here\u2019s what sold me.<\/p>\n

While there are many ways to\u00a0see Miami by boat, I found Boatsetter\u2019s convenience and competitive pricing hard to beat. You\u2019re in control of where you go and when and can decide on a whim, which is pretty much the only notice you\u2019ll get from Miami weather. On Boatsetter, bookings are instant and completed in 25 minutes or less. It\u2019s the perfect Miami plan without the need to plan very much at all.<\/p>\n

Virginia Gil was\u00a0invited by Boatsetter to use its boat rental service.\u00a0Our reviews and recommendations have been editorially independent since 1968. For more, see our\u00a0editorial guidelines<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s so much of Miami you can only experience while on the water. Not unlike Italy\u2019s Amalfi Coast,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":435927,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[2122,123,125,124,2123,106],"class_list":["post-435926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-categories-things-to-do","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news","tag-news-city-life","tag-things-to-do"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435926","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=435926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435926\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/435927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}