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HARBORS · SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Newport Harbor (Newport Beach): rules for vendors and boat owners

What Newport Harbor (Newport Beach) publishes for marine service providers and for boat owners, quoted from the operator's own pages and documents. Each rule shows its source and the date we last read it.

By the DockDash teamLast reviewed How we research
Aerial view of a sailboat motoring out of a marina past docked motor yachts

Photo: Eric Ward on Unsplash

Unsplash License

Illustrative photo; it may not show this harbor.

At a glance

Run by
City of Newport Beach Harbor Department (city)
Region
Southern California
Vendor permit
Marine Activities Permit (MAP), service provider: $424 initial, $95 renewal[City of Newport Beach, Harbor Department][City of Newport Beach, Harbor Department]
Liability minimum
Required; amount not published[City of Newport Beach, Harbor Department]
Rules last checked
Last verified

Rules for service providers

Before your first job here, line up:

  1. Business license: A City of Newport Beach business license number is required on the application.
  2. Insurance: general liability Required; amount not published.
  3. Marine Activities Permit (MAP), service provider: $424 initial, $95 renewal.
  4. Apply: Anyone providing “a commercial service of any kind” in Newport Harbor needs a MAP. Apply through the City's online New and Renewal MAP Application.
Permit or registration

Marine Activities Permit (MAP), service provider: $424 initial, $95 renewal

Renewal: Renewal fee listed separately; apply and renew online.

[1][2]

Fees from the Harbor Fees page (“Fees starting July 1, 2026”). The MAP page itself still shows the 2025 fees ($398 / $386). Charter and rental operators pay $1,322 initial / $511 renewal.

Last verified

Insurance

General liability: Required; amount not published

  • Upload a copy of your insurance with the application (limits not published)
[1]

Last verified

Business license

A City of Newport Beach business license number is required on the application.

[1]

Last verified

How to apply

Anyone providing “a commercial service of any kind” in Newport Harbor needs a MAP. Apply through the City's online New and Renewal MAP Application.

[1]

Last verified

Rules for boat owners

Slip fees

The City publishes guest rates only: moorings $0.76/ft/night (onshore) and $1.53/ft/night (offshore); Marina Park guest slips $96/night (40 ft) and $133/night (55 ft). Private marinas set their own slip rates.

[2]

Last verified

Living aboard

Allowed at moorings with a live-aboard permit: you must hold the mooring permit and the boat must be your principal residence. Permits last 12 months and are not transferable. Fee $469/year (+$31 waitlist fee) from July 1, 2026.

[3][2]

Last verified

Copper paint and hull cleaning

Newport Bay has a copper TMDL (Santa Ana Water Board Resolution R8-2022-0012). It names boat owners and underwater hull cleaners as responsible parties and targets 20%, 40% and 60% cuts in copper from antifouling paint at 4, 8 and 12 years after U.S. EPA approval, which we did not find. Hull-cleaner BMPs, a diver certification program and lower-leach or non-biocide paints are listed as measures to consider, not rules in force today.

[4]

Last verified

Pump-out

The City says there are 10 public pump-out stations around the harbor.

[5]

Last verified

Hiring someone to work on your boat here

Based on what the harbor requires of vendors, ask your provider for:

  • Their Marine Activities Permit (MAP), service provider (current, not expired).
  • A current certificate of insurance on file with the harbor office.
  • Their local business license number.

Marinas these rules cover

Private marinas and yacht clubs inside a public harbor can add their own vendor rules on top of the harbor's. Ask the marina office too.

What we looked for and didn't find

  • Insurance limits and additional-insured wording for the MAP.
  • Whether the 2025 draft revision of NBMC chapter 17.10 has been adopted (code site blocked).

“Not found” means it isn't in the public pages we read, not that no rule exists.

Next steps

Sources

  1. City of Newport Beach, Harbor Department. Marine Activities Permit. Accessed November 11, 2026
  2. City of Newport Beach, Harbor Department. Harbor Fees (fees starting July 1, 2026) (July 1, 2026). Accessed November 11, 2026
  3. City of Newport Beach, Harbor Department. Live Aboards. Accessed November 11, 2026
  4. Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board. Resolution R8-2022-0012, Attachment A (Newport Bay copper TMDL) (December 2, 2022). Accessed November 11, 2026
  5. City of Newport Beach, Harbor Department. Harbor Rules and Regulations. Accessed November 11, 2026