Boat detailing, wash and wax cost in San Francisco Bay Area: published rates

Published detailing rates in San Francisco Bay Area

These are prices that businesses publish on their own websites and rate sheets. We read 3 pages from 3 Bay Area businesses. They are not DockDash prices, and your quote may differ.

Other regions: Southern California, or all of California.

How detailing is priced

Detailing covers above-the-waterline work: washes, compounding, waxing, and brightwork. Prices are usually per foot, with separate rates for a wash and for a wax or buff.

Per foot of length, per service. A wash, a wax and a compound-and-wax are usually priced separately; recurring washes are often priced per visit or per month.

What drives the cost

• Boat length and type (a flybridge or tower adds surface area).
• Condition of the gelcoat: oxidized gelcoat needs compounding before wax.
• Which surfaces are included (hull sides, decks, topsides, interior).
• Frequency: weekly or monthly wash plans usually cost less per visit.

Length overall vs waterline

Most per-foot prices are multiplied by the boat’s length overall (LOA): bow to stern, often including pulpits, swim platforms and davits. A few businesses use waterline length, which is shorter, so the same rate gives a smaller bill. Before comparing two quotes, ask each business which length it bills on and convert both to the same basis.

Many price lists also change the rate with size: a higher per-foot rate for bigger boats, or a flat minimum for small ones. Where a business published tiers, the tables below show each tier separately.

What’s usually included, and what’s extra

How to read a quote

• Ask exactly which surfaces are included.
• Ask whether the per-foot rate is for a wash, a one-step wax, or compound plus wax.
• Get the price in writing, with what is included, before work starts.

To check a price for your boat, try the service cost estimator; to line up two or three quotes on the same basis, use the quote comparison tool. What the job involves: Boat detailing, wash and wax explained.

Every published price we found

• Berkeley Marine Center Berkeley · San Francisco Bay

  • $900 flat price — Wax and buff package, up to 29 ft Includes: Labor and materials.
  • $1,300 flat price — Wax and buff package, 30–39 ft Includes: Labor and materials.
  • $1,700 flat price — Wax and buff package, 40 ft and over Includes: Labor and materials.
  • $125/hr — General Marine Technician labor (sanding, buffing, waxing, etc.)

  Yard Rates - Berkeley Marine Center, © 2026 on the page (no other date), read 2026-11-11

• Poseidon Boat Services Alameda (service area) · San Francisco Bay

  • $60–$100 flat price — Pressure washing above waterline by length: up to 25 ft $60, 25–40 ft $80, 40–50 ft $100; >50 ft quote Includes: Basic exterior pressure wash.

  Pricing — Poseidon, © 2023-2026 on the page (no other date), read 2026-11-11

• The Boat Yard at Grand Marina Alameda · San Francisco Bay

  • $95/hr — Hull waxing, per hour (prep/sanding/detailing labor listed separately at $130/hr)
  • $130/hr — Prep work, grinding, sanding, detailing labor
  • $95–$130/hr — Hull waxing $95/hr; prep work, grinding, sanding, detailing $130/hr

  Services and Rates - The Boat Yard at Grand Marina, © 2026 on the page (no other date), read 2026-11-11

Methodology and limitations

• Sources: only the business’s own website or rate sheet. No reviews, directories, forums or quotes we requested. We did not contact any business.
• Sample: 8 published prices from 3 businesses on 3 pages. This is the set we could find, not a survey or a random sample, and many businesses don’t publish prices at all.
• Dates: we read every page on 2026-11-11. 0 of the pages carry a date or fiscal year, 3 show only a copyright year, and 0 have no date. Each price below shows what its page said.
• How we summarize: prices are grouped by unit (per foot, per hour, flat, per visit, per gallon) and by kind of job, and never mixed. The range runs from the lowest published price to the highest. The median gives each business one vote (the middle of its own range), so a yard with many size tiers doesn’t outweigh a diver with one price. Where a business wrote “starting at”, we used that figure, so real bills are often higher.
• Region pages exist only where at least 3 published prices from 2 or more businesses are available.
• Your quote may differ. Condition, access, season, and what’s included all change the price. Use these figures to ask better questions, not as a price promise.