Not far from the superyachts moored outside the island palaces of Miami’s new billionaire class, small boats languish in Biscayne Bay abandoned by those who can’t afford them.
Since October, Miami Beach police have found and removed about 140 boats that rotted in the tropical heat. More boats were half-submerged or anchored across the bay, near some of the most expensive real estate in the United States.
“A lot of people buy a boat and don’t realize how much it costs in terms of fuel, maintenance and dock fees,” said Sergeant Javier Fernandez, commanding officer of the Miami Beach Police Marine Corps, as he surveyed the department’s 32-foot Contender center-controlled patrol boat about 100 yards from Star Island.
Suddenly, a sunken cabin cruiser more than 30 feet long appeared in the clear shallow water ahead, with the rotting cab top sticking out at an odd angle. Fernandez’s ship turned toward port to avoid a dangerous collision.
“That’s where they end up,” he said.
The maritime graveyard is one of the downsides of an unprecedented surge in boating since the pandemic began, driven in part by an influx of wealthy newcomers. As wealth poured into Miami, ships grew larger, raising dock space and maintenance costs for everyone. Florida will have about 1.2 million registered ships in 2024, more than any other state and up about 20% since 2023, according to the American Marine Manufacturers Association.
The abandoned vessels include sailboats, cabin cruisers, pontoon boats, center console fishing boats, bow riders and even a 60-foot custom catamaran, according to police records reviewed by Bloomberg.
Abandoned vessels pose a danger to other seafarers and are a nuisance to owners. Occasionally, derelict ships break free from their rotting ropes and crash against bulkheads near the waterfront mansions that dot the wealthy islands around Biscayne Bay. Leaking fuel can pose a threat to the environment.
These abandoned boats are a sign of the gentrification happening on land that has spread to South Florida’s waterways. As billionaires buy homes in Miami’s most exclusive enclaves, the cost of living has soared more than 36% in six years, outpacing the national inflation rate of about 29% during the same period, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That has squeezed out some less affluent people: More people are leaving Miami than any other major U.S. city, according to a study by the Bank of America Research Institute.
These forces also put pressure on boaters—some simply give up.
The new wealth displayed on the region’s crowded oceans was juxtaposed with a large population of middle-class sailors. There are 73,000 boats in Miami-Dade County, nearly 5,000 of which are over 40 feet long. This does not include superyachts flying flags elsewhere and spotted cruising the channels and bays.
The surge in demand for marina space has left less affluent boaters looking for moorings and crowding out the businesses that serve them. The growing fleet also makes the waters more dangerous. According to the latest data from the U.S. Coast Guard, Florida had 6.4 fatalities per 100,000 registered vessels in 2024, about 50% higher than the national rate.
Earlier this year, a man was killed when a larger boat ran over his dinghy while he and his 14-year-old son were hanging out in Key Biscayne. During a birthday celebration in Miami, their boat exploded, seriously injuring 11 people. In early June, a woman’s body washed up on Hollywood Beach after she was hit by a boat while snorkeling, police said.
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, about 67 percent of fatal accidents involve boats operated by captains with no formal training, and one-third of accidents involve collisions with fixed objects such as channel markers.
“More congestion on the water, and more boats means more inexperienced boaters,” said George Reno, a Miami-based spokesman for the agency.
According to estimates from the American Shipbuilding Manufacturers Association, U.S. power boat sales will decline by about 10% in 2025, and not much growth is expected this year. In Florida, sales of boats of nearly all sizes were down or flat last year, the association said.
Phil Purcell, CEO of the South Florida Marine Industries Association, said there is one exception: yachts and superyachts.
“You can look at it like the housing market,” Purcell said. The association owns Fort Lauderdale International Boat Showa mecca for yacht buyers. The five-day event late last fall generated $800 million in sales.
“Boating is a big part of the culture and everyone understands it’s a big part of life in Florida,” Purcell said.
The cost of purchasing a boat and keeping it seaworthy is high. Boats under 26 feet, the most popular type of boat sold in South Florida, sold for an average of $60,000 last year, while boats 26 to 35 feet sold for an average of $170,000, according to Boats Group, which owns several online sales platforms.
That’s just the beginning: annual maintenance, docking, fuel and insurance costs can account for roughly 10% of a boat’s value. South Florida landslide fees typically range from $25 to $55 per foot per month, but can soar to $100. New engines can cost $30,000 or more. Since Miami boat mechanics are in high demand, something as simple as a tune-up can cost hundreds of dollars.
Florida has been grappling with the problem of abandoned boats due in part to rising costs. The state will spend about $13 million in 2024 to remove abandoned boats, and last year the Florida Legislature made it easier for police to remove boats and increased penalties for derelict vessels.
About an hour north of Miami Beach, billionaire Joe Lewis, who lives and works part of the year on his 323-foot yacht Aviva, bought Pier Sixty-Six, a six-year-old gas station, marina and hotel on the Intracoastal Waterway.
Lewis’s company, Tavistock, is spending $1 billion to transform the site into a resort that includes a five-star hotel, an apartment building with a $14.5 million penthouse and a marina designed to accommodate very large ships. Tavistock is also spending hundreds of millions of dollars to expand the terminal complex.
Pier 66 services yachts at a rate of $8 to $10 per foot per day, said Marina Director Megan Lagasse. Across from the pier are the U.S. headquarters of superyacht manufacturers such as Italy’s Sanlorenzo and Germany’s Lürssen. In luxury showrooms, customers can order custom-built boats of more than 200 feet for about $1 million per foot.
In Miami Beach, there are plans to renovate a city-owned public pier built in the 1980s. Its operator, Suntex Marinas, wants to make way for larger vessels, which are in greater demand, and to add long-distance moorings for superyachts.
“There are a lot of people in Southeast Florida who can afford larger boats,” said Rich Carter, chief operating officer of Suntex, which operates dozens of marinas across the United States.
Some wealthy people are also building their own slips. Financier Ken Griffin on a vacant pier near Government Cut, a 52-foot-deep man-made channel that leads to Miami’s port and cruise terminal. Build a private dock Parking his yacht.
Miami Beach Marina evicted more than 30 charter operators after residents of nearby luxury condominiums complained about the noise. Captains who survived the purge faced restrictions on working hours.
“It’s a war on working-class people, rich people who bought a condo to have a view of the marina, but now they’re complaining about the marina,” said Jessica Londono, a partner at the charter operator who has worked at the marina for 20 years. “They’re trying to put us out of business, and we were here first.”
For decades, the marina thrived as a charter boat base, with hotel guests willing to pay at least $2,000 to spend half a day on the water with a captain and crew. But Keith Marks, president of the area’s neighborhood association, said the number of charter boats at the marina has skyrocketed during the pandemic, along with an increase in complaints about unruly and intoxicated passengers.
Marks said he has no problem with well-run charter businesses, but some patrons “are getting into fights, getting drunk, screaming after midnight, waking people in the apartment building, waking everyone up.” Miami Beach Mayor Steven Miner said his top priority is “to keep people safe and to ensure that the quality of life for our residents and visitors remains at the highest level.”
Standing on the pier after seeing off two charter yachts carrying tourists, Londoner said the pier’s shift away from charters and smaller boats is turning boating – a longstanding egalitarian pursuit in Miami – into the domain of the wealthy.
“The rich,” she said, “are really squeezing us.”
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Above: A boat in question anchored near Palm Island. (James Jackman/Bloomberg)
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