Getmyboat

What Getmyboat Is and Where It Operates

Getmyboat is a booking marketplace for boat rentals, captained charters and on-the-water experiences. It does not own boats or run trips: independent boat owners and captains list their boats, renters send them inquiries, and the owner sends an offer that the renter pays for through the site. The About page says the platform has "180,000 boats in 10,000 destinations around the world," and the homepage carries a heading reading "Over 9,400 Locations Worldwide." The About page describes "our globally distributed, fully remote team" and mentions an investment and partnership with Yanmar.

The homepage's top boating destinations are mostly in the United States: Miami, San Diego, Key Largo, Lake Travis, Lake Lanier, Newport Beach, Destin, Lake Tahoe, Chicago, Marathon and Lake Norman, plus Toronto in Canada. The location index adds dozens of US lakes and states and an international list that includes Dubai, Sydney, Cape Town, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Paris, Split, Krabi, Cebu, the Bahamas, the British Virgin Islands, Costa Rica and Croatia. The Italy tours page and the homepage show listings in Italy (Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi, Capri, Syracuse, La Spezia, Cagliari), Croatia (Split, Dubrovnik, Trogir, Hvar), the French Riviera (Cannes, Antibes, Nice), Montenegro (Kotor) and Swiss lakes (Lucerne, Lugano, Thun and Interlaken). The site runs in English, Spanish, French, Japanese and Portuguese, and prices can be displayed in many currencies.

What You Can Book

Listings cover yachts, sailboats, catamarans, powerboats, pontoons, houseboats, fishing boats and charters, kayaks, canoes, paddleboards, jet skis and wakeboarding boats, along with snorkeling, diving, rafting and whale-watching trips. Search filters include group size and "captained or self-charter," so both skippered trips and self-drive rentals are on offer, depending on the owner. The About page pitches it for birthday parties, proposal sunset sails and bachelorette boats.

The Newport Beach tours page shows how varied the listings are. It shows a rating of 5 from 710 reviews for the area and lists, among others, a double-decker pontoon with a slide for 12 guests from $250 an hour, a 45 ft luxury yacht for 12 guests at $600 an hour, a 15-passenger Duffy-style boat with captain in Huntington Beach at $260 an hour, a sailing trip on Newport Harbor for 6 guests at $133 an hour, and an "80 Passenger Coast Guard Certified Yacht Charter" for 50 guests from $800 an hour. The Italy page features trips such as a private boat tour in Split for 10 guests, an Ortigia Island and sea caves trip from Syracuse for 7 guests, and a no-license 22 ft motorboat for rent from Amalfi for 6 guests, each listed with the owner's own rate. Some listings carry "Superowner" or "Instant Book" badges. The same page counts the boats available near each port, with 184 boats to rent in Sorrento, 179 in Split, 116 in Positano, 109 in Dubrovnik, 55 on Lake Como and 49 on Capri, which gives a sense of where supply is deepest in the Mediterranean.

How Booking and Payment Work

The How It Works page describes 3 steps: find a boat "with verified reviews and photos," send a booking inquiry and "chat with the owner to plan your perfect boat day," then "meet your captain on the dock." The owner replies with an offer. The FAQ says "you never need to pay cash or a partial deposit to hold a reservation"; when you accept an offer, "your credit card will be charged for the full amount of the offer at that time," and the platform "does not allow partial payments or the use of multiple credit cards for a booking." It adds that "your payment will not be transferred to the owner until the successful completion of the trip."

The service fee is stated plainly: "The service fee is 13% for USD transactions and 16% for other currencies," and it is "non-refundable except in extenuating circumstances." Getmyboat accepts only credit cards, listing Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, Union Pay, JCB, Diners Club, Apple Pay and Google Pay, and says prepaid cards are not accepted. All bookings and payments must go through the platform; the only exception is tips, and the FAQ notes that "tipping 10%-20% is customary" for charters, paid in cash or through Getmyboat Charge.

Owners may set a security allowance for damage or cleaning. The FAQ stresses that it "is never charged as part of the booking payment" and is only activated "if the boat owner makes a valid claim within 48 hours of the trip completion." Disputes go first between renter and owner; if unresolved, "Getmyboat will assess evidence submitted by both parties."

Support and Reviews

The site advertises "24/7 Live Support" with a help center, a phone number (+1 818 927 2148) and a support email, and the About page mentions "an award-winning customer service team." The service fee is described as funding payment processing, fraud prevention, "identity verification" and round-the-clock support. Getmyboat shows its own platform rating as "4.9 out of 5! 500,000+ reviews," and each listing carries reviews from past renters. The About page quotes Forbes recommending booking "an intimate short trip or blowout boat day with friends from the comfort of your phone."

What the Site Leaves Open and Who It Suits

Cancellation and refund terms are not set out on the How It Works or About pages, so they have to be checked on each offer before accepting. Those pages do not describe how owners or boats are vetted beyond identity verification and reviews, and licensing or insurance requirements for self-drive rentals are not covered there. Because each listing is a different owner, boat size, inclusions and captain style vary, and the guest count on each listing is the only group-size guide.

Getmyboat suits groups who want a private boat for a few hours, whether a pontoon on a US lake, a yacht for a party or a captained day out on the Amalfi Coast, and who are comfortable agreeing the details with an owner. The payment rules are spelled out in detail: full payment at acceptance, a published fee and money held until the trip is done. Travelers wanting a seat on a scheduled sightseeing cruise will find fewer of those here than private charters.