For captains · Texas to the Keys
List free. Keep the booking.
Independent charters, not a peer-to-peer rental marketplace. Guests find you here, then they book with you. We do not take a cut on a contact listing.
Four steps
Ready as soon as we review the listing
01
Describe the boat
Name, port, photos, trip types, half-day and full-day prices. License and insurance come after we set up your login — not on the first form.
02
Leads come to you
Guests request a quote on your listing. You talk to them. You decide who goes on the boat. We do not sit on the call or take the deposit.
03
You take the money
Venmo, cash, your own terminal — however you already book. Contact listings are free. We only make money later if you opt into checkout on this site.
04
Guests can still have a trip if the Gulf blows up
Your page can point them to a room near the marina and indoor stops for a washout. That is the part Boatsetter-style rental apps skip. WhereToVacation inventory can sit in that same slot later.
The rest of their trip
Lodging and a rainy-day plan on the same page as the boat
Charter sites send people home when the weather turns. Yours can still be useful: a place to stay near the marina, and indoor stops if the Gulf is blown out. Affiliate lodging links now. WhereToVacation.com can fill that same block when the inventory is live — not a second checkout we pretend exists today.
- Stay near the boat — not a generic hotel widget with no marina in mind
- Rainy-day filter: aquarium, museum, indoor market, not “hope it clears”
- Same guest, same port, one tab — charter first, vacation second
You stay in control
You keep the calendar
Mark days off in the listing when you want it. No forced rental windows. No boat-club schedule.
You keep the customer
The quote is yours. Repeat trips stay yours. We are a storefront, not a fleet dispatcher.
You keep the rate
Set half-day and full-day yourself. On-platform checkout is optional at 10% (8% founding) — not 15%, and not required to be listed.
Questions captains actually ask
How do I list my boat?▾
Use List your boat. We need captain and business name, boat specs, port, prices, photos, and a short description. License and insurance come after we set up your login — not on the first form.
What do you charge?▾
Contact-captain listings are free. You keep the booking. If we are actually sending you trips and you opt into on-platform checkout, commission is 10% (8% locked for founding captains). We do not charge 15%.
Is this like Boatsetter — you take the payment and rent my boat?▾
No. This is a captain directory, not a peer-to-peer rental marketplace. We do not screen bareboat renters, we do not write boat-rental insurance, and we do not direct-deposit your charter fee. Guests contact you; you run the trip the way you already do.
What is the lodging / rainy-day block on my listing?▾
Guests planning a charter also need a room and a backup if the weather dies. We show stays near your home port (affiliate links today) and indoor rainy-day stops. WhereToVacation.com can replace the generic lodging links later without turning GCC into a hotel site.
Do I have to take card payments here?▾
No. Default is contact-captain. On-platform checkout is opt-in after trips are actually showing up, and live Stripe stays off until we say so.
Do you rain-check trips I booked myself?▾
No. Rain checks only for trips paid on this site. If they paid you direct, weather is your policy. We may later let you record a credit here for those guests; that is not built yet.
More on the FAQ. Direct: admin@gulfcoastcharters.com
Takes a few minutes
We review each application by hand. We will not auto-invite a stranger from a typed email.