How much does boat detailing cost in South Florida?

What South Florida detailers charge per foot

Almost every marine detailer on this coast prices by the foot, so the first thing to know is the rate band. Florida price pages put a basic recurring washdown at about $3.50–$10 per foot; the low end is a Central Florida menu, and the Palm Beach page we checked lists $10. In Palm Beach County and Broward, a wash-and-wax runs about $8–$30 per foot and a compound-and-wax or oxidation removal about $15–$50 per foot. Ceramic coating is the widest band: $25–$35+ per foot on a Fort Lauderdale yacht-service page, up to $95 per foot in Palm Beach when decontamination and gelcoat correction are built in.

Put real lengths against those numbers. A 24-foot bay boat is roughly $192–$720 for a wash-and-wax and $360–$1,200 for compounding. A 42-foot sportfish is $336–$1,260 and $630–$2,100 for the same two services. Flat-rate packages exist too: one Broward shop lists about $1,200 for wash, wax, and interior on boats 10–30 feet and about $2,300 with two-stage gelcoat correction added. Some pages stop publishing numbers above 25–30 feet and say call for a quote.

What Zea Detailing charges

We publish our rates, which is unusual on this coast, because it saves everyone a phone call. A fresh-water wash is $10 per foot. A wash and wax is $30 per foot. Gelcoat correction is $20 per foot topsides and $15 per foot hull sides, charged per step. A ceramic coating starts at $250 per foot with the full decontamination and multi-stage correction included in that number.

On a 34-foot center console that is $340 for a wash, $1,020 for a wash and wax, and about $2,380 for a two-step correction. On a 42-foot sportfish, $420, $1,260 and $2,940. A full ceramic package starts at $8,500 on the 34 and $10,500 on the 42. Those are starting figures for boats in normal condition with reasonable access.

We sit at the top of the published Palm Beach range on every line, and we would rather you knew that before you call than after we arrive. The full rate card, with what each service includes, is on our pricing page.

Why our coating price is not the same number as everyone else's

A $70-per-foot ceramic quote and our $250 per foot are not the same product. The cheaper number is almost always the coating alone, applied over a hull that is already corrected or being called good enough. Ours includes the decontamination and the multi-stage correction underneath, however many steps the gelcoat needs.

That distinction matters more than the price does. A coating chemically bonds to whatever surface it cures on. Install one over oxidation and you have not protected the hull, you have sealed the chalk in for the life of the coating. When you compare quotes, the two questions worth asking are how many correction stages are included and what protection goes on at the end.

Why the same boat gets three different quotes

Length is only the multiplier. The variable that actually moves a quote is oxidation depth. A hull that has hazed slightly needs a single polishing pass; a hull that chalks white on your fingertip needs heavy compounding, then refining, then finishing, three passes over every square foot, sometimes wet sanding first. That is the difference between the $15 end of the compounding range and the $50 end, and it is why a neglected 34-foot center console can cost more to correct than a well-kept 50-footer.

Color is next. White gelcoat hides swirl and minor haze; navy, black, and Fighting Lady Yellow hide nothing, so dark hulls need extra refining stages to read clean under inspection light. Layout matters too: a walkaround or express with a lot of vertical surface, hardtop, tower, and cockpit coaming is more labor per foot than a flat-sided center console. Finally, access changes the job. In-slip work at a marina with pressure-wash restrictions, a lift with the hull sides exposed, or a trailer in the driveway each decide how much can be done and how fast.

What Palm Beach and Broward conditions do to the bill

What sets the bill here is the environment. Florida's summer UV index sits at 9–11+ most days and has reached 12, and the EPA classifies 8 and above as very high to extreme. That is the energy breaking down gelcoat resin into chalk. A hull left bare at Sailfish Marina or Bahia Mar oxidizes in months, not years, which is why compounding on this coast is a recurring line item rather than a one-time restoration.

Water chemistry adds its own labor. Boats that run the Loxahatchee and the Jupiter Inlet come back with a tannin-stained waterline that needs an acid hull-stain treatment (usually oxalic-based) before any polishing, and that is a separate step on the invoice. Intracoastal slips from Lighthouse Point up through North Palm Beach grow a scum line fast in summer. Dry-stacked boats at the Riviera Beach and Lantana stacks skip the waterline problem but collect forklift rash, bird droppings, and a fine dust that etches if it sits. Each of these adds a stage, and stages, not feet, are what you pay for.

What the per-foot number does and does not include

Read the fine print on any price page. A wash on one menu is a fresh-water rinse and chamois dry; on another it includes non-skid scrub, lockers, and glass. A wash-and-wax may be a spray sealant or a hand-applied paste, and those last very differently in our sun. Interior work is almost always separate, about $8–$18+ per foot for cabins on a Fort Lauderdale yacht-service page and $25–$40 per foot for a deep cabin detail in Palm Beach, and metal polishing, teak, and isinglass are add-ons everywhere.

The ceramic band is the clearest example. A $25-per-foot coating price generally means the coating alone, applied over a hull that is already corrected or being called good enough. A $95-per-foot price includes the decontamination and machine correction under it. Since a coating locks in whatever is beneath it, the second number is usually the honest one. Ask any detailer two questions: how many correction stages are included, and what protection goes on at the end. Corrected gelcoat left bare in Florida starts sliding backwards within months.

Why we publish rates but still quote the correction

Per-foot pricing is fair for predictable work. A standing washdown route, weekly for boats that fish every weekend, bi-weekly for lift-kept, monthly for dry-stacked, has the same scope every visit. That is why our wash is $10 per foot and a wash and wax is $30 per foot, published, with no phone call needed.

Correction is different, and we price it per step for that reason: $20 per foot topsides and $15 per foot hull sides, each pass. Nobody can tell from a length alone whether a hull needs one stage or three, whether a previous crew left buffer trails in the Awlgrip, or whether there is enough gelcoat for a full cut. Send photos in daylight, the length, and where she lives, and you get a firm number with the stages listed rather than a range that grows on the day.

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