Boat rental software for hours, charters and weather days
Pontoons, ski boats and jet skis by the hour, half day or full day. Sunset cruises sold by the seat. A lake that closes when a storm rolls in, and boats held back until they’re refuelled. Built for WooCommerce and Magento 2.
Rent boats by the hour or the day, sell charters by the seat, and close the lake when the weather turns.
- By the hour or the day
- Charters sold by the seat
- Weather closures
A marina runs on departure times, not calendar days
Generic booking plugins sell a day or an appointment. A dock sells hours on the water from set departure times, sells charters by the seat, and shuts when the weather says so.
Hours, not days
A jet ski goes out for an hour, a pontoon for a half or a full day, and the price has to follow the times chosen.
Departures from the dock
Boats leave on the hour within your dock hours, and captained cruises leave at one fixed time and sell seat by seat.
The weather decides
A storm closes the lake, and the day has to come off sale with a reason customers can see.
Refuel and clean between trips
A boat back at 1 pm needs fuel, a rinse and a check before the next group can take it out.
Licences, ages and waivers
The ski boat’s driver needs a boater card, the jet ski’s must be old enough to drive, and everyone signs before they board.
Extras and deposits
Tubes, fishing gear and coolers go out with the boat, and a fuel and damage deposit is held until it’s checked back in.
By the hour, the half day or the full day
| Trip | Price | Works out |
|---|---|---|
| 2 hours | $190.00 | $95.00 / hour |
| 4 hours | $320.00 | $80.00 / hour |
| 8 hours | $560.00 | $70.00 / hour |
Each boat carries its own rates for 1, 2, 4 or 8 hours, and the engine picks the right one from the departure and return times the customer chooses. Kayaks and paddleboards can run by the hour and the day on the same product.
The calendar keeps to your dock hours: a trip can’t leave before you open or come back after you close, departures fall on the hour or on the interval you set, and each boat type shows how many are still free.
Captained cruises sold by the seat
A captained charter is a product with fixed departure times and its seats as stock. The demo’s sunset cruise leaves at 6:30 pm with up to 12 guests at $65 a person: each booking takes the seats it needs, and the departure shows as full when the last one goes.
Fishing charters, lessons and guided paddles work the same way, and they sit in the same cart as a boat or a paddleboard for the rest of the day.
Every boat checked in and refuelled before it goes out again
Track each boat by its hull number, with a check-out and check-in record for every trip, and keep paddleboards and life jackets on simple quantities. A turnaround buffer after each trip, in hours, keeps a boat off sale while it’s refuelled and cleaned.
When a storm closes the lake, mark the day closed with the reason. It comes off sale on the calendar and customers can see why. Bookings already taken can be moved to new dates from the order, and a reminder by email, SMS or WhatsApp goes out before each trip.
Extras, waivers, boater cards and deposits in one checkout
Tubes, skis, fishing gear and coolers go on the same order as the boat, as priced or free options Pro or as stock of their own, counted per trip.
- Tube
- Wakeboard
- Water skis
- Fishing gear
- Cooler with ice
- Dry bag
- Extra life jackets
Fuel and damage deposits
Hold a deposit per boat at checkout, through your own payment gateway, and release it after the boat is checked back in. Or keep the card as a secure token and charge it only if something is damaged or late.
Waivers signed before boarding
Every renter signs your waiver and rental terms during checkout. A PDF with their signature is attached to the order and emailed, so nobody signs paper on the dock.
Boater card, age and guests
Ask for the driver’s boater card as an upload, their date of birth and the number of guests, and make them required on the boats that need them. Uploads are kept out of the public uploads folder and purged on a schedule. About custom fields and ID checks.
Pro included in Rentals & Bookings Pro, or sold on its own. Everything else here comes with Regular.
Start from a store that already looks like a marina
Six sample boats and boards and a captained sunset cruise with real rates, a Book your boat search in your words (Date, Departure, Return by, Boat type), a homepage built from WordPress blocks, and colours and fonts for Astra or a block theme. On the live demo it runs as Harbor & Helm.
Free with the Rentals & Bookings Lite plugin 1.0.11 or newer, which imports everything except the date search on the homepage. Regular and Pro 1.0.74 or newer add the search widget.
Free with the Lite plugin 1.0.11 or newer. Regular and Pro add the homepage date search.
Run it on WooCommerce or Magento 2
The same rental engine on both. We sell both, so the choice is yours.
WooCommerce boat rental plugin
The right fit for most marinas, lake and beach docks, and watersports centres. If your site already runs WordPress, it becomes a boat booking system without rebuilding the storefront.
- Hourly, half-day and full-day rates with departures on the hour
- Captained charters at fixed times, sold by the seat
- One serial per hull, with a refuel-and-clean buffer
- Weather closures as closed days, with the reason shown
- Waiver, boater card upload and a damage deposit at checkout Pro
- Paddleboard season passes through the Subscriptions plugin Pro
Magento 2 boat rental extension
For marina groups with several docks, and resorts that sell boats beside rooms and activities, on Adobe Commerce or Magento Open Source.
- Multi-source inventory per dock or marina
- Customer-group pricing for hotels and tour operators
- Request for Quote for private charters and company days (sold separately)
- The same hourly rates, serials, buffers, deposits and signed waivers (Pro)
- Multi-store and multi-language for operators on several lakes or coasts
Not sure which platform fits? Our Magento versus WooCommerce comparison sets out the trade-offs, and boats are one of the trades in our rental software by industry overview.
From dock to first booking in six steps
Step 1: A product per boat type
Pontoons, ski boats, jet skis, fishing boats, kayaks and paddleboards, each with its own stock.
Step 2: One serial per hull
Boats by hull number, with a record of every trip. Paddleboards and life jackets can stay on quantities.
Step 3: The calendar with departure times
Departures on the hour within your dock hours, with a return-by time.
Step 4: Rates and the turnaround
2-hour, half-day and full-day prices, and a refuel-and-clean buffer after each trip.
Step 5: Charters by the seat
Fixed departure times, with the seats as the stock that sells out.
Step 6: Waiver, boater card and deposit
Required at checkout. Check the boat back in to close the trip and release the deposit.
Who this suits
- Lake and beach boat rental docks
- Marinas renting pontoons, ski boats and fishing boats
- Jet ski and personal watercraft hire
- Kayak, canoe and paddleboard outfitters
- Captained sunset cruises and fishing charters
- Resorts, campgrounds and hotels with boats for guests
Boat rental software FAQs
Can I rent boats by the hour and by the half or full day?
Yes. Each boat carries its own rates, and the engine picks the right one from the departure and return times. On the demo the pontoon is $190 for 2 hours, $320 for 4 and $560 for 8.
Can customers book a seat on a captained cruise?
Yes. A charter is a product with fixed departure times and its seats as stock, so the demo’s 6:30 pm sunset cruise sells up to 12 seats at $65 a person and then shows as full.
What happens when the weather closes the lake?
Mark the day closed with a reason. It comes off sale on the calendar and customers see why. You can move bookings already taken to new dates from the order, or refund them.
Can I keep a boat off sale while it’s refuelled and cleaned?
Yes. Set a turnaround buffer after each trip, in hours, on the boat. The calendar takes that time off sale by itself.
Can the driver upload a boater card and sign a waiver at checkout?
Yes. The Custom Fields plugin takes the boater card upload and the driver’s details, and the Contract Signing plugin takes the signature and files the PDF with the order. Both come with Pro.
Can I take a fuel or damage deposit?
Yes, with the Security Deposits plugin in Pro. Charge the deposit with the booking and refund it after check-in, or store the card as a secure token and charge it only if something goes wrong.
Can I send a reminder before the trip?
Yes. Pick-up and return reminders go out by email, and by SMS through Twilio or WhatsApp, with Rentals & Bookings Regular.
Is there a monthly fee or a commission on bookings?
No. It installs on your own WooCommerce or Magento 2 site on a one-time licence, and your bookings and customer data stay in your own database. See our self-hosted, open-source rental software overview.
See it running before you buy
Pick a boat and a departure time on the live demo and watch the calendar count down what’s free, or try the free live rental software demo to follow an order through the admin. We can also set up your boats, departures and waiver with a custom build.