Fort Lauderdale didn’t earn the title “Yachting Capital of the World” by accident. More than 165 miles of navigable waterways run through this city — the New River winding past downtown, the canal grid behind the Las Olas Isles, and the Intracoastal stretching from Port Everglades up through Coral Ridge. There are more boats tied up behind houses here than almost anywhere in the country, and every one of those hulls sits in warm, nutrient-rich water that grows barnacles, slime, and grass twelve months a year.
Aqua Pro Yacht Maintenance has been cleaning boat bottoms in South Florida since 2004. Our experienced, licensed, and insured divers come to your slip or your backyard dock — no haul-out, no travel lift, no waiting for space at a yard. Every job is documented with before-and-after photos, and you pay after the service, not before. If you keep a boat anywhere from the 17th Street Causeway to the upper New River, here’s what we do, what it costs, and why Fort Lauderdale water demands a different cleaning rhythm than most owners expect.
Hull Cleaning in Fort Lauderdale: How In-Water Service Works
In-water hull cleaning means your boat never leaves the slip. A diver works the entire wetted surface by hand using a wide-blade scraper on the hull and smaller scrapers on the props and running gear — never brushes. Brushes smear soft growth around and wear through antifouling paint far faster than a controlled scrape. Fouling only grows below the waterline, and that’s exactly where we work.
A standard Fort Lauderdale bottom cleaning includes:
- Full hull scrape from the waterline down to the keel
- Propeller cleaning and polishing to restore bite and fuel efficiency
- Running gear cleaning — shafts, struts, rudders, trim tabs, and thru-hulls
- A zinc anode condition check, with zinc replacement on the spot when they’re depleted
- Before-and-after photos sent straight to your phone
You don’t need to be at the dock — or even in Florida. Tell us where the boat is, we coordinate access with the marina or your dock, and you pay after you’ve seen the photos.
New River vs. the Ocean Side: Two Different Fouling Problems
Twenty-plus years of diving these waters has taught us that Fort Lauderdale is really two fouling zones, and your cleaning schedule should match the one your boat lives in.
Up the New River and deep in the canals, the water runs brackish — a mix of tannin-stained freshwater drainage and tidal salt. Hard barnacle growth is slower here, but soft fouling is relentless: slime, algae, and grass can coat a hull in weeks. That soft layer still robs speed, burns fuel, and holds moisture against your bottom paint — and once it matures, it gives barnacles a base to settle on.
Near the Port Everglades inlet and along the Intracoastal — Bahia Mar, Pier Sixty-Six, the 17th Street basin — the water is full-salinity ocean tide. Hard growth dominates: barnacles on running gear within weeks in summer, tube worms on trim tabs, and calcified crust on props that measurably cuts your RPM. Boats slipped near the inlet typically need cleaning every four to six weeks in the warm months.
Either way, waiting until you can see growth at the waterline means the bottom is already overdue. The cheapest cleaning is the one done on schedule.
Boat Bottom Cleaning at Every Major Fort Lauderdale Marina
Our divers are in Fort Lauderdale marinas every week. Wherever your slip is, odds are we already clean boats a few docks down:
- Bahia Mar Yachting Center — the beachside landmark and boat show home
- Pier Sixty-Six Marina — megayacht slips on the Intracoastal at 17th Street
- Las Olas Marina — steps from the beach, full ocean-side fouling conditions
- Hall of Fame Marina — on the Intracoastal between Las Olas and Bahia Mar
- 17th Street Yacht Basin — minutes from the Port Everglades inlet
- Lauderdale Marina — the longtime fixture by the 17th Street bridge
- Marina Bay Fort Lauderdale — up the New River, classic brackish-water fouling
- Port 32 Fort Lauderdale — wet slips and dry storage off the river
We cover 60+ marinas across Broward and Miami-Dade — check the full service area if yours isn’t listed here.
Canal Homes and Private Docks: We Come to You
A huge share of Fort Lauderdale boats never see a marina — they live behind the house. If your boat is tied to a private dock on the Las Olas Isles, in Rio Vista or Harbor Beach, or up one of the canal fingers off the New River, our divers come straight to your seawall. Same service, same photos, same per-foot pricing. While we’re there, we can also handle dock, seawall, and piling cleaning and boat lift cleaning — a barnacle-crusted lift cradle chews into your gelcoat every time you raise the boat onto it.
Fort Lauderdale Hull Cleaning Prices
Our pricing is flat, per foot, and published — no “call for a quote” games:
| Boat length | Price | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 20–50 ft | $4 per foot | 35-ft center console = $140 |
| 60 ft and up | $5 per foot | 80-ft motoryacht = $400 |
Zinc anode replacement is quoted separately based on what your boat needs — the diver checks them on every visit and replaces them in the water, so you never pay for a second trip. Payment happens after the job is done and you’ve seen the before-and-after photos. For anything unusual — multihulls, heavy neglect, a pre-haul-out scrape — send your boat’s length and location over WhatsApp and you’ll have a number in minutes.
Monthly Plans: Built for Snowbird Boats
A big share of Fort Lauderdale boats belong to owners who are somewhere else from May through November. The boat doesn’t know that. Growth doesn’t pause because you’re back in Michigan — six unattended summer months in a Fort Lauderdale canal is enough to turn a clean bottom into a reef.
Our monthly maintenance plans fix this: a discounted per-foot rate, auto-scheduled visits, and no calendar for you to manage. Every visit ends with before-and-after photos sent to your phone, so you can verify your boat’s condition from a thousand miles away. When you fly back in for the season, the boat runs like you left it yesterday. It’s also the cheapest way to own a bottom in this climate — regular light cleanings preserve paint far better than letting growth calcify between rescue scrapes.
Inspections, Photos, and Everything Else Below the Waterline
Fort Lauderdale is brokerage country, and a lot of our river work is transaction-driven. We perform underwater inspections for insurance and pre-purchase surveys — hull condition, running gear, thru-hulls — documented with underwater photography and video so the report shows exactly what the diver saw. If you’re buying, selling, or renewing a policy on a boat that hasn’t been hauled recently, an in-water inspection answers the question without a haul-out.
Why Fort Lauderdale Owners Choose Aqua Pro
- 20+ years in South Florida waters — cleaning hulls since 2004
- Hand scrapers, never brushes — wide-blade for the hull, small blades for props; tough on growth, easy on paint
- Every job photographed — before-and-after shots on every visit, no take-our-word-for-it
- Pay after service — you see the results first
- Licensed and insured divers working marinas and private docks across Broward and Miami-Dade
Questions about scheduling, paint types, or what a visit looks like? Our FAQs cover the details.
Book Your Fort Lauderdale Bottom Cleaning
Get on the schedule in under a minute: book online, or message us on WhatsApp for an instant per-foot quote — just send your boat’s length and where it’s slipped. Calls: (305) 978-1440 · WhatsApp: (786) 756-0304.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often should I have my boat bottom cleaned in Fort Lauderdale?
Every four to six weeks during the warm months for boats near the Port Everglades inlet and along the Intracoastal, where full-salinity water grows barnacles fast. Boats up the New River and in the brackish canals can sometimes stretch a little longer, but soft slime and grass build quickly there too. Monthly service is the safe default in South Florida year-round.
Do you clean boats at private docks on the Las Olas Isles and New River canals?
Yes. A large share of our Fort Lauderdale work happens at private docks behind homes on the Las Olas Isles, in Rio Vista and Harbor Beach, and along the New River canals. Our divers come straight to your seawall — no marina required. We can also clean your dock pilings, seawall, and boat lift on the same visit.
How much does hull cleaning cost in Fort Lauderdale?
Pricing is flat and published: $4 per foot for boats 20 to 50 feet, and $5 per foot for boats 60 feet and up. A 35-foot center console runs $140; an 80-foot motoryacht runs $400. Monthly maintenance plans are discounted and auto-scheduled, and you pay after the service once you have seen the before-and-after photos.
Do I need to be at the boat during the cleaning?
No. Most owners are not there — many are not even in Florida. Tell us the marina or dock location and our divers handle the rest. Every job is documented with before-and-after photos sent to your phone, and payment is collected after the service, so you can verify the work from anywhere.
Will scraping damage my bottom paint?
Not when it is done right. Our divers use wide-blade hand scrapers on the hull and small scrapers on props and running gear — never brushes, which wear antifouling paint away faster than a controlled scrape. Cleaning on a regular schedule actually extends paint life, because growth never gets hard enough to require aggressive removal.
Which Fort Lauderdale marinas do you service?
All the major ones: Bahia Mar Yachting Center, Pier Sixty-Six, Las Olas Marina, Hall of Fame Marina, 17th Street Yacht Basin, Lauderdale Marina, Marina Bay, and Port 32 Fort Lauderdale — plus private docks throughout the city. In total we cover more than 60 marinas across Broward and Miami-Dade.
