Santa Cruz Harbor: rules for vendors and boat owners

Rules for service providers

Before your first job here, line up:

1. Insurance: general liability $1M per occurrence / $2M aggregate (boatyard contractors; the application form page itself lists $1M); an additional-insured endorsement naming “Santa Cruz Port District”.
2. Boatyard contractor registration (for work in the District boatyard): $250.
3. If you clean hulls: Swimming in the harbor is prohibited except while doing hull maintenance right next to one's own boat (Ordinances §217(d)).
4. Apply: Submit the boatyard contractor application with the $250 check and at least three references. The District publishes its list of registered contractors by trade.

Permit or registration

Boatyard contractor registration (for work in the District boatyard): $250

Renewal: Valid 12 months

^[1][2]

The packet is dated 2018 but is still the one the District links. No separate in-slip vendor permit was found.

Last verified November 11, 2026

Insurance

General liability: $1M per occurrence / $2M aggregate (boatyard contractors; the application form page itself lists $1M)

Additional insured: Santa Cruz Port District

• Ship repairer's legal liability $1,000,000
• Statutory workers' comp and U.S. Longshore & Harbor Workers' (USL&H) coverage, $1,000,000 employer's liability
• Commercial auto liability $1,000,000 (personal auto $300,000)
• Waiver of subrogation endorsement
• 30 days' notice of cancellation
• Insurer rated A or better by A.M. Best

^[1]

Boatyard contractors only. The application form page itself still lists general liability at $1 million.

Last verified November 11, 2026

Hull cleaning and paint work

• Swimming in the harbor is prohibited except while doing hull maintenance right next to one's own boat (Ordinances §217(d)).

^[3]

The ordinance wording is about one's own boat; ask the harbor office how it applies to hired divers.

Last verified November 11, 2026

How to apply

Submit the boatyard contractor application with the $250 check and at least three references. The District publishes its list of registered contractors by trade.

^[1][2]

Last verified November 11, 2026

Rules for boat owners

Slip fees

South Harbor: single side $16.22/ft, double side $17.86/ft (monthly; no effective date shown on the page).

^[4]

Last verified November 11, 2026

Living aboard

Subject to Harbormaster approval: $250 application fee, $146.26 per person (16+) per month, plus a utilities fee of 30% of slip rent. No pets.

^[4]

Last verified November 11, 2026

Hiring someone to work on your boat here

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

• Their Boatyard contractor registration (for work in the District boatyard) (current, not expired).
• A certificate of insurance with the additional-insured endorsement naming “Santa Cruz Port District”.

Marinas these rules cover

• Santa Cruz Harbor Marina Santa Cruz

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

• An in-slip vendor permit (slip holders' own commercial use needs Port Commission consent).
• Pump-out and copper rules.

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

Next steps

• Compare every harbor's vendor requirements
• Total the permit fees for the harbors you work
• Check your insurance against published minimums
• How to become an approved vendor at a California marina
• Starting a hull-cleaning business in California
• Boat owners: how to hire a marine contractor
• Boat owners: hull cleaning interval estimator (copper paint rules)
• All harbors