General travel planning with the boat

[dels]

Hey guys!

I have seen a ton of great posts about specific destinations but haven't seen a general post about how to plan a vacation and bringing your boat with you. How do you guys generally proceed when looking for places with docks?

Airbnb and VRBO don't seem to have filters to specify docks/slips and such and you can't really "search" for the term on the site either. The only way I have found is google: "airbnb" "dock".

One of the posts I have seen mentioned dockwa.com (THANKS!) to find a boat slip and this is a life saver but I am sure it may end up more expensive depending on the area.

I would like to learn your process on how you plan a boatcation!

Thanks in advance!

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

So far I’ve made one boatcation and stayed at a campground that had a launch ramp in the campground. For me, launching and retrieving is pretty easy, easier than having to off load items that could disappear overnight at an unsecured slip.

The airbnb thing sounds interesting for sure!

 

[Shookie]

I've done couple trips.... Did a Dockwa reservation and boat in a slip near my hotel. Worked out well for me. Doing a lake house and beach trip this summer as well. Lake house has a dock and in Panama City, will be docking at a friends parents dock.

AirBnb and VRBO's with docks are tough to find and as you said, harder to search for.

 

[jetboatjay]

We decided early on to travel with the boat and rent via Airbnb/VRBO instead of "second home ownership." We have since found 2 places we love and try to rent these each month, but in the beginning we did a lot of "on water" searches and emailed the owners to check on docking a boat before we booked. We found about 75% of the homes on the water are willing to let you dock if they have a pier. LIke you suggest, for now it does take some legwork to secure a house with a dock.

 

[dels]

So after the messages here we figured we'd have a look at the camping sites with boat ramps and it turns out there are over 40 in FL alone... We just came back from our first camping trip and the whole family of five loved it! It turns out the ramp was great but the water is SUPER shallow in the Ormond Beach area (Tomoka State Park) so we sucked up a bit of mud a couple times, but I did the reverse trick and was able to save the day. We had a great fishing experience and enjoyed the beach on our second day.

Turns out that the gear for the 5 of us requires us to use the boat as a trailer otherwise we wouldn't have enough room lol! I made sure to distribute the weight properly, loading the heavier stuff in the bow area and it pulled great for the whole hour and a half both ways.

Some pictures of our trip below! I slipped one of the new ratchet stern straps I got because they are a game changer!

 

[dels]

We decided early on to travel with the boat and rent via Airbnb/VRBO instead of "second home ownership." We have since found 2 places we love and try to rent these each month, but in the beginning we did a lot of "on water" searches and emailed the owners to check on docking a boat before we booked. We found about 75% of the homes on the water are willing to let you dock if they have a pier. LIke you suggest, for now it does take some legwork to secure a house with a dock.

How do you "search" for "on water"? There doesn't seem to be a place to add a search term anymore on Airbnb

 

[Bluewater272]

AirBNB has a waterfront option, I think. I usually search by that, and then zoom in on the map and click houses that are actually one the water. Just skip through photos looking for a dock, then email the owner if its available for renter use. I wish it were more simple.

Dockwa is awesome if you're looking for a transient slip at a marina, we've used it a couple times without issue.

 

[poordealguy]

We have taken four trips with the boat this year and have a fifth coming up in July and a few more the rest of the year. We look for:
1) State campgrounds with boat ramps - We tent camp so are able to keep boat on the trailer on the campsite pad. If the pad isn’t long enough, many state campgrounds with ramps have trailer parking lots or overflow lots. We also found out that some private marinas close to campgrounds offer secure trailer parking for very reasonable rates.
2) Airbnb or vrbo with pictures of their waterfront and then confirm dock availability with owner.
3) Many proprieties on vrbo are listed by real estate agencies. Once you locate a waterfront property on vrbo, you can usually find the real estate agency’s website. Then call or email them directly with your specifications and they can usually find you something that works well.

 

[Shookie]

I find that not all AirBnb and VRBO's actually show up if you select waterfront. Some renters definitely screwed up when setting up their rentals because all show up.

 

[poordealguy]

I find that not all AirBnb and VRBO's actually show up if you select waterfront. Some renters definitely screwed up when setting up their rentals because all show up.

Agree, we always choose map view and expand details for properties that look like they are on the waterfront. Not all of them turn out to have waterfront access.

 

[jetboatjay]

How do you "search" for "on water"? There doesn't seem to be a place to add a search term anymore on Airbnb

Sorry about the delay, just seeing this question....

AirBnB website allows you to choose "amenities." Under the amenities tab you can choose "waterfront" if you open that section up and scroll down.

 

[roxcntrum]

It's been a while since your post, but I wanted to offer some insight. I usually search for 'waterfront' places and then zoom in on the map to see if there’s a dock. It’s a bit of extra work, but it gets the job done. Dockwa has been handy for booking slips, but yeah, it can be a bit expensive depending on where you’re going.
Also, if you’re flying with all your gear, flying business class might be worth it. It makes the trip a lot more comfortable, especially with all the stuff you need to bring along.