Terms & charter policy.

1. Booking and confirmation

   The yachts, rates and availability shown on this site are an invitation to enquire, not a binding offer. A charter exists once we have confirmed a specific boat, date and departure time in writing, and the deposit has cleared.

   A deposit of 50% holds your date. The balance is due before boarding unless your confirmation says otherwise. Until the deposit clears, the date stays open to other enquiries.

2. What the rate includes

   Captain, fuel for normal cruising in Biscayne Bay and the waters immediately around it, cleaning, ice, a cooler, and the sound system.

   Not included: food and drink, a gratuity for the crew (customary, never obligatory, and always yours to judge), water toys not listed on your yacht’s page, and dockage or extra fuel if you ask to cruise outside the agreed area.

3. How many people can come

   Every boat carries a maximum number of passengers fixed by its certification and its insurance, not by us. That number is on the yacht’s page and repeated in your confirmation, and it cannot be exceeded for any reason — a captain who is asked to will decline to leave the dock, and the charter will be treated as a no-show.

   Infants and children count towards the total. Everyone boarding must be named to us before departure.

4. Boarding and timing

   Charter time runs from the confirmed departure time to the confirmed return time, not from the moment your group arrives. Please be at the marina fifteen minutes early — finding the slip and boarding a dozen people takes longer than anyone expects.

   Time lost to a late arrival comes out of the charter, because the slot after yours belongs to somebody else. Staying out longer on the day is sometimes possible, always at the captain’s discretion, and charged at the hourly rate.

5. Weather, and the captain’s authority

   The captain commands the vessel. Whether to sail, where to go, when to turn back and when to end a charter early are the captain’s decisions alone, taken for the safety of everyone aboard, and they are not negotiable on the water.

   Rain by itself is usually not a reason to cancel — Miami rain tends to pass in twenty minutes. Lightning in the area, a small-craft advisory, sustained high wind or dangerous seas are.

   If we cancel before departure for weather, you choose: reschedule at no cost, or a full refund of everything you have paid, including the deposit.

   If a charter is cut short after departure for weather or a mechanical fault, you receive a pro-rata credit for the time not used. Once roughly half the booked time has been spent on the water, the charter is treated as delivered.

6. If you need to cancel

   INVENTED — confirm these windows before publishing. More than 7 days before departure: the deposit is refunded in full, less any processing fee the payment provider charges. Between 48 hours and 7 days: the deposit is held as credit towards another date within six months. Under 48 hours, or a no-show: the deposit is not refundable, because the date can no longer be resold.

   Moving a booked date is free once, subject to availability, if you ask more than 48 hours ahead.

7. Conduct on board

   The captain’s instructions are to be followed at once, by everyone, including instructions about where to sit, when to swim and when to wear a life jacket. Children wear life jackets as Florida law requires.

   Guests aged 21 and over may drink. The captain may stop service, or return to the dock without a refund, if drinking is making the boat unsafe. Illegal drugs are not permitted aboard under any circumstances and will end the charter immediately.

   No guest may operate the vessel. Nothing may be thrown overboard.

8. What not to bring

   • Glass bottles, unless your confirmation says otherwise.
   • Red wine, and anything else that permanently stains upholstery.
   • Confetti, glitter, silly string and loose balloons — they end up in the bay and they cannot be cleaned out of a deck.
   • Hard-soled or black-soled shoes. Bare feet or soft soles keep the deck intact.
   • Fishing gear, unless the charter was booked as a fishing trip.

9. Damage, cleaning and belongings

   You are responsible for damage caused by your group beyond ordinary wear. Cleaning is included; cleaning after sickness, a stain that will not come out, or glitter is not, and is charged at cost.

   Your belongings are yours to look after. We are not responsible for anything lost overboard, damaged by water, or left on board — though we will always look, and we will always get it back to you if we find it.

10. Safety and assumption of risk

    Boating carries risks that no amount of care removes: sea state, weather, other vessels, and moving around a deck that is not still. By boarding you accept those risks for yourself and for anyone in your care.

    Tell us before you book about anything that affects safety at sea — a heart condition, a back injury, a pregnancy, limited mobility, or a non-swimmer in the group. None of these is a reason we would refuse you; all of them change how the captain plans the day.

    Everyone aboard may be asked to sign a liability waiver before departure. Anyone who declines cannot sail, and that is treated as a cancellation on the day.

11. Limits of liability

    To the fullest extent Florida law allows, our liability arising out of a charter is limited to the amount you paid for it. We are not liable for indirect or consequential losses — a missed flight, a missed reservation, a cancelled celebration.

    Nothing on this page limits any liability that cannot lawfully be limited, including liability for gross negligence or wilful misconduct.

12. Photographs and video

    We photograph and film charters occasionally, and post them to @miami_ocean_yacht_rental. Tell the captain before departure if you would rather not appear and we will keep your group out of anything we publish; if something is already posted, message us and it comes down.

    If you send or tag us your own photographs from a charter, we may repost them with credit unless you ask us not to.

13. This website

    The photographs, text, logo and fleet descriptions on this site belong to us or are used with permission. Please do not republish them commercially without asking.

    We keep the site accurate, but rates, boats and availability change, and a page can be out of date or simply wrong. Nothing here is a guarantee of price or availability — your written confirmation is. That includes the chat assistant on the home page: it answers from our real rates and boats, but it can be wrong, and nothing it says is a booking or a binding offer until we confirm it in writing.

14. Governing law

    These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Florida, and by United States maritime law where it applies. Any dispute belongs to the state or federal courts sitting in Miami-Dade County, Florida.

    If any part of these terms turns out to be unenforceable, the rest continues to apply.

15. Talk to us first

    Almost everything on this page exists because of a rare bad day, not because we expect one. If something has gone wrong, or looks like it is about to, message (305) 555-0199 or write to hola@miamioceanyachts.com — nearly every problem is cheaper and faster to fix by talking about it.

This page is published in English and Spanish. Where the two differ, the English version governs.