Skip to content
InspectMyYacht
Yachts and waterfront in Palm Beach / West Palm Beach, Florida

Palm Beach & West Palm Beach, Florida

Yacht Survey, Haul-Out & Due Diligence in Palm Beach

Palm Beach is a large-yacht market with an unusual structure: the viewing and brokerage centre of gravity sits on the West Palm Beach waterfront, while much of the practical haul-out capacity is a short run north around Riviera Beach and the Port of Palm Beach.

Lake Worth Inlet gives this market genuinely convenient ocean access for sea trials — an advantage over markets where a trial begins with a bridge queue. The trade-off is that lift capacity is split between one very large shipyard and several smaller, more specialised yards.

Buying a Yacht in Palm Beach: What This Page Covers

The Palm Beach market runs from the Port of Palm Beach and Riviera Beach in the north down through West Palm Beach, and its capability is unusually lopsided. Very large yacht service is concentrated at a small number of West Palm Beach and Riviera Beach facilities, while general-access haul-out capacity for the 40–100 ft range clusters near the Lake Worth Inlet.

That inlet is the market's practical advantage. Compared with Miami or Stuart, a yacht lying in Riviera Beach can reach open water quickly and without a bridge-timing exercise, which makes a same-day sea trial and out-of-water inspection realistic. It is also why the area attracts refit work well above the size the local marina dockage figures would suggest.

The complication here is source quality. Several of the largest capability figures in this market appear in trade press and industry directories rather than on the yards' own current pages, and at least one marina operator publishes contradictory maximum-length figures on its own site. This page labels third-party sourcing explicitly, and where a single operator contradicts itself we publish nothing and tell you to confirm with the facility. Lifting equipment that is not haul-out equipment — cranes and slip-side four-post lifts — is also kept out of the lift tables, because neither substitutes for a travelift when a hull needs to come out on stands.

Buyer snapshot

Palm Beach Yacht Survey — Quick Facts

Only figures with defensible sourcing appear here. Each value states what it measures, links to the exact page it came from, and carries its own verification date.

Largest published hoist capacity

660 tons

Maximum hoist weight published by Safe Harbor Rybovich for its own lifting equipment in West Palm Beach.

660 tonsSourceVerified Aug 22, 2026

Dockage LOA range

80–450 ft

Wet and transient slip LOA range published by Safe Harbor Rybovich. A dockage figure, not a lift limit.

80–450 ftSourceVerified Aug 22, 2026

Maximum draft alongside

25 ft

Published maximum draft at Safe Harbor Rybovich — relevant for staging a deep-draft yacht for survey or trial.

25 ftSourceVerified Aug 22, 2026

Published survey rate

$26–$30 per foot

Pre-purchase rate published by one Florida surveyor, with an $850 minimum. One company's published price, not a Palm Beach average.

$26–$30 per footSourceVerified Aug 22, 2026

Lake Worth Inlet

Federal channel

The Port of Palm Beach's federal navigation channel, subject to periodic USACE maintenance dredging. Direct ocean access for sea trials.

Federal channelSourceVerified Aug 22, 2026

Riviera Beach marina depth

7 ft at MLW

Average depth at mean low tide published by the municipal marina operator — a real constraint for deeper-draft yachts berthing there.

7 ft at MLWSourceVerified Aug 22, 2026

Planning a Survey in Palm Beach?

Tell us the yacht, its size and where it is lying, and we'll map the survey, haul-out and sea-trial sequence.

Plan My Due Diligence

Cost

Yacht Survey Cost in Palm Beach

Two separate classes of evidence. A published price from one local provider is not the same thing as national industry guidance, so InspectMyYacht never blends them into a single local 'average'.

Published price from one local provider

Published Survey Fees — Florida Provider

Marshall Marine SurveyingFlorida coverage including the Treasure Coast and southeast Florida

Pre-purchase survey
$26–$30 per foot ($850 minimum)SourceVerified Aug 22, 2026
Insurance survey
$22–$26 per foot ($750 minimum)SourceVerified Aug 22, 2026
Appraisal
from $750SourceVerified Aug 22, 2026
Consulting
$175 per hour (2 hour minimum)SourceVerified Aug 22, 2026
Oil analysis
$75 per sampleSourceVerified Aug 22, 2026

These are one company's published rates, and the published rate band applies to particular vessel types and ages. Palm Beach surveyors more commonly quote per vessel than publish a tariff — InspectMyYacht found no Palm Beach-headquartered surveyor publishing verifiable numbers, and does not fabricate one.

United States — industry guidance

U.S. Industry Pricing Guidance

Geographic scope: United States / general industry guidance

Pre-purchase survey guidance

approximately $20–$40 per footIndustry sourceThird-partyVerified Aug 22, 2026

General United States industry guidance, not a local rate, local average or quotation. Larger, older or more complex vessels commonly cost more.

What Does a Yacht Survey Cost in Florida?

Published provider pricing varies substantially with vessel size, age, construction, complexity, engine count, number of systems, agreed scope, haul-out, sea trial and travel. The figures below are each provider’s own published rate — presented as examples, never blended into a single “Palm Beach average”.

Published provider rate

Sun Coast Marine Surveying

Published Florida pre-purchase rate — one company, not a market average

Pre-purchase survey
$40–$60 per footSourceVerified Aug 22, 2026

The company states the rate depends on vessel size. Treat it as one provider's published upper-tier pricing, not a Florida norm.

Published provider rate

CalypsoSea Marine Surveyors

Published rate for vessels up to 50 ft — one company, not a market average

Vessels 50 ft and under
$24–$32 per footSourceVerified Aug 22, 2026
Minimum fee
$450 minimumSourceVerified Aug 22, 2026

A minimum fee matters on smaller vessels: below roughly 15–18 ft the per-foot rate stops governing the invoice.

Published provider rate

Wilson Yacht Survey

Published rate basis — figures quoted per vessel

Rate basis
Quote required

The company publishes how it prices — vessel length plus agreed scope — but no per-foot figure is published on that page, so InspectMyYacht publishes none.

Current published provider rates show a wide range, commonly starting in the mid-$20s per foot and reaching $40–$60 per foot depending on provider, vessel and scope. That range is deliberately not compressed into an average, because no defensible city-level average exists.

Haul-Out Cost in Palm Beach

InspectMyYacht does not publish a local haul-out price range for this market. Yards quote short-haul survey lifts against the specific vessel — LOA, beam, draft, displacement, underwater gear and lay-day requirements — and published rate cards are rarely available. Any per-foot figure quoted without those inputs is guesswork, so we ask the yard directly on your behalf.

Sea Trial Cost

No verified local hourly rate for captain or technical sea-trial support has been published for this market. Sea-trial support is arranged per vessel, and quoted once the engines, systems and trial duration are known.

Request Yacht Due Diligence Help

Related reading: what a yacht survey costs, what a survey actually includes and pre-purchase yacht survey scope.

Haul-out infrastructure

Yacht Haul-Out Facilities in Palm Beach

Lift capacity in this market ranges from a 660-ton hoist and a floating dry dock at the top end down to a compact DIY-friendly yard. Lift specifications, dockage limits and general facility capabilities are kept strictly apart below.

Safe Harbor Rybovich

4200 N Flagler Dr, West Palm Beach, FL 33407

The dominant large-yacht refit and haul-out address in the market, on the West Palm Beach side of the Intracoastal. It is both a shipyard and a substantial marina, which is precisely why the two datasets below must not be read as one.

Haul-Out Equipment

Yard hoist (maximum published capacity)

The yard publishes a maximum hoist weight rather than per-unit lift specifications. LOA and beam limits per lift are not published.

Capacity
660 tonsSourceVerified Aug 22, 2026
Max LOA
Confirm with yard
Max Beam
Confirm with yard
Floating dry dock

Third-party directory figure. A dry dock, not a travelift — a different operation and a different quotation to a short survey haul.

Capacity
3000 tonsIndustry sourceThird-partyVerified Aug 22, 2026
Max LOA
Confirm with yard
Max Beam
Confirm with yard
Secondary lift (Riviera Beach site)

Reported by the local trade association directory for the operator's second site. Confirm which site your haul is scheduled at.

Capacity
495 tonsIndustry sourceThird-partyVerified Aug 22, 2026
Max LOA
Confirm with yard
Max Beam
Confirm with yard

Dockage — Safe Harbor Rybovich

Maximum LOA
80–450 ft ftSourceVerified Aug 22, 2026
Maximum beam
Unrestricted (as published) ftSourceVerified Aug 22, 2026
Air-draft limit
Unrestricted (as published) ftSourceVerified Aug 22, 2026

Dockage limits. They are not haul-out limits.

Facility Capabilities

Maximum draft alongside
25 ftSourceVerified Aug 22, 2026
Crane — maximum boom length
160 ftSourceVerified Aug 22, 2026
Crane — maximum weight
80 tonsSourceVerified Aug 22, 2026
Vessel condition inspections
Listed serviceSourceVerified Aug 22, 2026

Facility and service information. These are not lift limits or dockage limits.

  • Paintwork
  • Fibreglass and composites
  • Metalworks and welding
  • Engine and propulsion
  • Electrical and electronics
  • Hydraulics
  • Rigging
  • Refrigeration and HVAC

The 80–450 ft figure is a dockage range. It describes what can berth here, and says nothing about what the hoist can lift.

The crane figures are crane figures. They are not haul-out capacity and should never be read as a lift limit.

Viking Yacht Service Center, Riviera Beach

Riviera Beach, Florida — Intracoastal opposite Peanut Island

A brand-dedicated service facility with substantial travelift capacity close to Lake Worth Inlet. Its brand focus matters commercially: it is not a general-access yard for any hull that turns up.

Haul-Out Equipment

Marine Travelift 150CII (north yard)

Capacity reported in metric tons by trade press. LOA and beam limits not published.

Capacity
150 tonsIndustry sourceThird-partyVerified Aug 22, 2026
Max LOA
Confirm with yard
Max Beam
Confirm with yard
Marine Travelift (south yard)

Existing lift reported alongside the newer unit.

Capacity
150 tonsIndustry sourceThird-partyVerified Aug 22, 2026
Max LOA
Confirm with yard
Max Beam
Confirm with yard

Facility Capabilities

Site area
3.2 acresIndustry sourceThird-partyVerified Aug 22, 2026
Brand focus
Viking-brand powerboatsIndustry sourceThird-partyVerified Aug 22, 2026

Facility and service information. These are not lift limits or dockage limits.

  • Warranty and factory service
  • Mechanical
  • Systems
  • Close to inlet

Because the facility is described as dedicated to one builder's boats, confirm access eligibility before you plan a survey haul here for another brand.

Cracker Boy Boat Works, Riviera Beach

1124 Avenue C, Riviera Beach, FL 33404

A working DIY-and-full-service yard near the Port of Palm Beach — the practical option at the smaller end of this market, and the kind of yard where a straightforward short survey haul is routine.

Haul-Out Equipment

Marine Travelift 75BFMII

The lift model was reported by trade press on installation, but no capacity, LOA or beam figures have been published. The model designation alone is not a verified tonnage, so none is stated.

Capacity
Confirm with yard
Max LOA
Confirm with yard
Max Beam
Confirm with yard

Facility Capabilities

Owner / DIY work permitted
StatedSourceVerified Aug 22, 2026
Second location
Fort PierceSourceVerified Aug 22, 2026

Facility and service information. These are not lift limits or dockage limits.

  • Short hauls
  • Bottom work
  • DIY yard access
  • Full-service option

We deliberately show no tonnage for this lift. Inferring capacity from a manufacturer's model number is exactly the kind of assumption that puts a yacht in the wrong sling.

Safe Harbor North Palm Beach

1037 Marina Drive, North Palm Beach, FL 33408

Included here for a specific reason: it holds significant lifting equipment that is not haul-out capability. The distinction matters when a broker tells a buyer the marina 'has lifts'.

Dockage — Safe Harbor North Palm Beach

Maximum LOA
80 ft ftIndustry sourceThird-partyVerified Aug 22, 2026
Slips
107Industry sourceThird-partyVerified Aug 22, 2026

Dockage limits. They are not haul-out limits.

Facility Capabilities

Four-post slip lifts (24,000 lb)
8 unitsIndustry sourceThird-partyVerified Aug 22, 2026
Four-post slip lifts (32,000 lb)
10 unitsIndustry sourceThird-partyVerified Aug 22, 2026
Harbour type
Sheltered keyhole harbourSourceVerified Aug 22, 2026

Facility and service information. These are not lift limits or dockage limits.

  • Floating docks
  • Sheltered berthing
  • Slip-side boat lifts

Four-post slip lifts hold a boat at its berth. They are not travelifts and do not put a yacht ashore on stands for an out-of-water survey inspection.

Market notes

This market splits cleanly: very large capability concentrated at one West Palm Beach shipyard, and smaller general-access capacity clustered in Riviera Beach near the inlet.

Two facilities in the area publish lifting equipment that is not haul-out equipment — cranes and slip-side four-post lifts. Neither replaces a travelift for an out-of-water survey.

Some capacity figures here come from trade press and directories rather than the yards' own sites. They are labelled third-party, and should be confirmed with the yard before a haul is booked.

Compatibility

Before Booking a Survey Haul

Travelift tonnage alone does not determine whether a yacht can be hauled. Give the yard the vessel's actual geometry and lifting characteristics before you book a slot.
  • LOA
  • Beam
  • Draft
  • Displacement
  • Approximate lifting weight
  • Hull type
  • Number of shafts
  • Propeller arrangement
  • Stabilizers
  • Underwater appendages
  • Known lifting points

A yacht weighing less than a lift's published tonnage may still be incompatible because of beam, sling position, underwater gear, yard geometry or lift configuration. Confirm suitability with the specific facility, for the specific vessel. See our haul-out guide.

Scope

What Should a Pre-Purchase Yacht Survey Cover?

Depending on the vessel and the scope agreed with your surveyor, an inspection may address the following areas.
  • Hull
  • Deck
  • Superstructure
  • Structural condition
  • Machinery spaces
  • Propulsion
  • Fuel systems
  • Electrical systems
  • Generators
  • Freshwater systems
  • Steering
  • Electronics
  • Navigation systems
  • Safety and fire systems
  • Bilges and pumps
  • Through-hulls and seacocks
  • Visible corrosion
  • Stabilizers
  • HVAC
  • Running gear

Not every surveyor includes every item. Scope is agreed in advance and varies with vessel type, size, age and accessibility.

Sea trial

Palm Beach Yacht Sea Trial Checklist

A sea trial is the one opportunity to observe machinery and systems under load before closing.
  • Engine start and idle
  • Acceleration
  • Cruise RPM
  • Operating temperature
  • Oil pressure
  • Exhaust behaviour
  • Steering
  • Transmissions
  • Vibration
  • Trim systems
  • Stabilizers
  • Thrusters
  • Generators under load
  • Navigation equipment
  • Autopilot
  • Alarms
  • Charging systems
  • HVAC under load

A general marine survey is not automatically a substitute for a dedicated engine survey.

Specialists

When Additional Specialists May Be Needed

Where a general survey identifies a concern — or where the vessel's value makes the risk material — buyers commonly add specialist inspections.
  • Engine technician
  • Engine diagnostic scan
  • Oil analysis
  • Coolant analysis
  • Generator inspection
  • Electrical specialist
  • Rigging specialist
  • Corrosion specialist
  • Thermal imaging
  • Composite specialist
  • Ultrasonic testing where appropriate

InspectMyYacht coordinates and plans these inspections with independent professionals. We do not perform surveying or engineering services ourselves.

Dockage

Major Palm Beach Marinas for Yacht Viewings & Sea Trials

These are marina and dockage records. They are not haul-out yards, and their vessel-accommodation figures are never presented as lift capacities.

Palm Harbor Marina, West Palm Beach

Downtown West Palm Beach dockage on the Flagler Drive waterfront, at the centre of brokerage viewing activity and the boat show footprint.

Slips
Over 200SourceVerified Aug 22, 2026
Maximum LOA
300 ftSourceVerified Aug 22, 2026
Maximum draft
Not publicly specified
  • Brokerage viewings
  • Downtown location
  • Boat show proximity

Dockage record. These figures describe berthing capability only.

Sailfish Marina, Palm Beach Shores

A transient marina immediately inside Lake Worth Inlet — the shortest run to open water in this market, and therefore a practical sea-trial departure point.

Slips
74Industry sourceThird-partyVerified Aug 22, 2026
Maximum LOA
180 ftIndustry sourceThird-partyVerified Aug 22, 2026
Approach depth
8 ftIndustry sourceThird-partyVerified Aug 22, 2026
Dockside depth
13 ftIndustry sourceThird-partyVerified Aug 22, 2026
  • Inlet proximity
  • Sea-trial departure
  • Transient dockage

The 8 ft approach depth is this marina's own approach, not a Lake Worth Inlet channel depth. The two are unrelated figures.

Riviera Beach City Marina / Marina Village

A rebuilt municipal marina beside the Port of Palm Beach, close to the Riviera Beach yard cluster.

Slips
164SourceVerified Aug 22, 2026
Maximum LOA
Confirm with facility
Average depth at MLW
7 ftSourceVerified Aug 22, 2026
  • Near haul-out yards
  • Inlet proximity
  • Municipal marina

The operator's own FAQ and amenities pages state different maximum LOA figures (250 ft and 200 ft) and different slip counts. Where an operator contradicts itself, InspectMyYacht publishes no definitive figure — confirm directly.

Geography

Where Yacht Purchase Activity Clusters in Palm Beach

Two functionally different kinds of area: places where yachts are marketed and viewed, and places where they are lifted and worked on.

Where yachts are viewed

Flagler Drive, West Palm Beach

Downtown dockage opposite Palm Beach island, the boat show site and the densest concentration of brokerage viewing activity in the market.

Where yachts are lifted

North Flagler shipyard corridor

The Rybovich address and its surrounding large-yacht refit cluster — where big-vessel haul-outs and paint work happen.

Where yachts are lifted

Riviera Beach waterfront

Avenue C and Blue Heron Boulevard yards near the Port of Palm Beach, favoured for haul-outs because of how close the inlet is.

Sea-trial staging

Palm Beach Shores / Peanut Island

Transient dockage minutes from Lake Worth Inlet, giving the shortest transit to open water for a trial.

Where yachts are viewed

North Palm Beach / Old Port Cove

An upscale marina cluster north of the main downtown corridor, a secondary viewing and berthing hub.

Logistics

Palm Beach Yacht Movement & Access Constraints

Practical local factors that affect getting a yacht from its berth to a lift and out for a sea trial.

Lake Worth Inlet

USACE federal channelSourceVerified Aug 22, 2026

The Port of Palm Beach's federal navigation channel and this market's ocean access. It is subject to periodic maintenance dredging — the port announced a $5.9 million project described as its largest in twenty years. InspectMyYacht publishes no controlling-depth figure because none could be confirmed on an official source in this pass.

Channel maintenance dredging

$5.9m project announcedSourceVerified Aug 22, 2026

Dredging campaigns can affect movements and berth access. If your survey and haul-out sit inside an announced works window, check the schedule before committing to dates.

ICW bridge openings

Scheduled openings, weekday restrictionsIndustry sourceThird-partyVerified Aug 22, 2026

The Flagler Memorial (SR A1A) bascule bridge opens on a published schedule with weekday restrictions, under federal drawbridge regulation for this stretch of the Intracoastal. Individual clearance figures are not published here because no official numeric clearance was confirmed.

Drawbridge regulation

33 CFR 117.261SourceVerified Aug 22, 2026

Openings on this stretch of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway are set by federal regulation, not by local arrangement. Build the schedule around the regulation rather than hoping for an unscheduled opening.

Workflow

Yacht Purchase Due Diligence in Palm Beach

An eight-step sequence from listing review to the decision made before closing.
  1. 1

    Review yacht and listing

    Specification, history, equipment and asking price.

  2. 2

    Collect documents and maintenance history

    Service records, invoices, engine hours and prior survey reports where available.

  3. 3

    Select an independent marine surveyor

    Experience with the vessel type and size, and no commercial interest in the sale.

  4. 4

    Determine specialist inspections

    Engine, electrical, rigging or structural specialists where the vessel warrants it.

  5. 5

    Confirm haul-out facility compatibility

    Lift tonnage alone is not enough — beam, draft and underwater gear all matter.

  6. 6

    Conduct in-water and out-of-water inspection

    Accessible structure and systems afloat; hull and running gear with the yacht lifted.

  7. 7

    Conduct sea trial

    Systems and machinery observed under operating conditions.

  8. 8

    Review findings before closing

    Commercial outcomes typically fall into proceed, renegotiate or walk away.

Possible commercial outcomes

  • Proceed
  • Renegotiate
  • Walk away

These are commercial options, not legal advice. What happens next depends on your purchase agreement.

Timing

Palm Beach Survey & Sea-Trial Seasonality

Calendar anchors that genuinely affect survey, haul-out and sea-trial scheduling in this market.

Palm Beach International Boat Show

Wednesday–Sunday, mid-MarchSourceVerified Aug 22, 2026

The show's own overview page publishes a Wednesday-to-Sunday March schedule. We do not state a specific year's calendar dates here because the fetched official page did not label the year unambiguously. In show weeks, surveyor, captain, technician and marina availability all tighten sharply.

Atlantic Hurricane Season

June 1 – November 30SourceVerified Aug 22, 2026

Insurance conditions, yard availability, storm-storage demand and named-storm haul-out priority all shift during the official season. Build schedule contingency into any survey and haul-out booking made inside these dates.

Buying a Yacht in Palm Beach?

Tell us the yacht, size and current location. InspectMyYacht will help you map the survey, haul-out, sea trial and specialist inspections required before closing.

What do you need?

InspectMyYacht is not a surveyor, yard or marina. We help buyers plan and coordinate independent surveyors, haul-out facilities, sea trials and specialist inspections.

FAQ

Palm Beach Yacht Survey FAQ

Where can a yacht be hauled out for survey in the Palm Beach area?

Practical options run from Safe Harbor Rybovich in West Palm Beach, which publishes a maximum hoist weight of 660 tons and operates a floating dry dock, to smaller Riviera Beach yards such as Cracker Boy Boat Works. The Viking Yacht Service Center holds two 150-ton travelifts but is described as dedicated to one builder's boats, so access should be confirmed first.

Does Safe Harbor Rybovich's 450 ft figure mean it can lift a 450 ft yacht?

No. The 80–450 ft range is dockage: it describes what can berth there. The lifting figure published for the same site is a maximum hoist weight of 660 tons, plus a floating dry dock. Berthing capability and lifting capability are separate datasets and are shown separately on this page for exactly this reason.

How much does a yacht survey cost in Palm Beach?

One Florida surveyor publishes $26–$30 per foot for a pre-purchase survey with an $850 minimum, $22–$26 per foot for an insurance survey, and $175 per hour for consulting. General United States industry guidance separately puts many pre-purchase surveys around $20–$40 per foot. No Palm Beach-headquartered surveyor with a public numeric tariff was found, so no local average is claimed.

How good is sea-trial access in Palm Beach?

Unusually good. Lake Worth Inlet gives direct ocean access, and marinas inside the inlet at Palm Beach Shores put a trial in open water within minutes. That is a real advantage over markets where a trial starts with a bridge opening or a long channel run.

Why is no maximum vessel length published for Riviera Beach City Marina?

Because the operator's own FAQ and amenities pages give different figures — 250 ft on one and 200 ft on the other — along with two different slip counts. When a single operator contradicts itself, publishing either number would be presenting a guess as a fact, so we ask you to confirm it directly.

Do the four-post lifts at a marina count as haul-out capability?

No. Slip-side four-post lifts hold a boat clear of the water at its berth. An out-of-water pre-purchase inspection generally needs the vessel ashore on stands, with the hull pressure-washed and running gear accessible, which is a travelift or dry dock operation.

Methodology

Sources Used on This Page

InspectMyYacht separates haul-out equipment specifications from marina dockage limits and general yard capabilities. Every figure links to the exact page it came from, official sources are preferred over third-party sources, and where a value cannot be confirmed it is omitted rather than inferred.

There is no page-wide verification claim. Each value is verified individually against its own source page, and its verification date is shown beside the figure it belongs to.

InspectMyYacht does not own, operate, employ or represent any yard, marina or surveyor listed on this page, and is not itself a certified surveyor. More about our methodology

Other Florida yacht survey locations: Florida hub · United States

Nearby markets

Other Yacht Markets Near Palm Beach

Yachts move. If the vessel you are buying is lying in a neighbouring market, or would be hauled there, start with that market's constraints instead.

Know What You’re Buying Before You Close

InspectMyYacht will help you plan the surveyor, haul-out, sea trial and specialist inspections for your Palm Beach purchase.

Plan My Due Diligence