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HARBORS · SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Ventura Harbor: rules for vendors and boat owners

What Ventura Harbor 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
Motor yachts moored along a concrete dock on a sunny day, with palm trees and houses across the bay

Photo: Jaymantri on Pexels

Pexels License

Illustrative photo; it may not show this harbor.

At a glance

Run by
Ventura Port District (port district)
Region
Southern California
Vendor permit
Commercial Identification (CID) card: $207 application fee (includes a 3.5% card fee)[Ventura Port District (Ventura Harbor)]
Liability minimum
$1M per occurrence[Ventura Port District (Ventura Harbor)]
Rules last checked
Last verified

Rules for service providers

Before your first job here, line up:

  1. Business license: A current City of Ventura business license.
  2. Insurance: general liability $1M per occurrence; an additional-insured endorsement naming “Ventura Port District, 1603 Anchors Way Drive, Ventura, CA 93001”.
  3. Commercial Identification (CID) card: $207 application fee (includes a 3.5% card fee).
  4. If you clean hulls: Diving in the harbor needs a written permit from the General Manager and a red-and-white diver flag or blue-and-white Alpha flag (Ordinance 44 §415).
Permit or registration

Commercial Identification (CID) card: $207 application fee (includes a 3.5% card fee)

Renewal: Expires June 30 every year

Staff: $25.88 per additional employee

[1]

Last verified

Insurance

General liability: $1M per occurrence

Additional insured: Ventura Port District, 1603 Anchors Way Drive, Ventura, CA 93001

  • Commercial general liability on an “occurrence” basis, $1,000,000 combined single limit
  • Additional insured box checked for both general liability and auto liability, with the endorsement attached
  • Workers' compensation if you have employees
  • Auto insurance for you and every employee who drives to the harbor
[1]

Last verified

Business license

A current City of Ventura business license.

[1]

Last verified

Hull cleaning and paint work
  • Diving in the harbor needs a written permit from the General Manager and a red-and-white diver flag or blue-and-white Alpha flag (Ordinance 44 §415).
  • No painting from the gunwale to the waterline while the boat is in the water (§806(b)).
[2]

Last verified

On site
  • Cardholders must check in with marina staff to get access to work.
  • Only routine maintenance outside a boat repair yard; no major repairs or alterations in the slips (§806(a)).
[1][2]

Last verified

Rules for boat owners

Living aboard

Using a boat as a residence more than 3 days in any 7-day period needs a written permit from the Harbormaster (Ordinance 44 §705). No fee is listed in the ordinance.

[2]

Last verified

Hiring someone to work on your boat here

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

  • Their Commercial Identification (CID) card (current, not expired).
  • A certificate of insurance with the additional-insured endorsement naming “Ventura Port District, 1603 Anchors Way Drive, Ventura, CA 93001”.
  • Their local business license number.
  • Whether you need to file anything (an authorization form, a tenant listing) before they arrive.

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

  • Published slip rates and pump-out details (not checked on the marinas' sites).

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

Next steps

Sources

  1. Ventura Port District (Ventura Harbor). Commercial Identification Cards. Accessed November 11, 2026
  2. Ventura Port District. Ordinance 44 (as amended by Ordinance 47) (October 2008). Accessed November 11, 2026