Frequently asked questions
42 straight answers about hull cleaning, zincs and paint, docks and pilings, seawalls, pricing, rules and insurance. Lost something overboard? Our divers recover it too; call any hour.
- 5.0★ on Google · 335 reviews
- Licensed & insured
- $2,000,000 liability insurance
- 5.0★ on Google · 335 reviews
- Photos after every cleaning
- Monthly dive report: zinc % and bottom paint condition
- Licensed & insured · $2,000,000 liability
Booking and how we work
Why should I choose Barnacle Doctor?
Barnacle Doctor is South Florida's top rated dive service on Google (5.0 from 335 reviews). We are a team of licensed scuba divers who go through months of training before they clean a customer's boat, we clean with non-abrasive cavitation, and every cleaning comes with photos and a dive report so you can see how the hull, running gear and zincs are doing.
Are you licensed and Insured?
Yes. We carry $2,000,000 liability insurance through Fisk Marine Insurance.
Does the owner need to be present?
No. The diver works from your dock or slip without you, the photos and dive report arrive afterwards, and billing is monthly. In a gated community the divers call ahead, and a text is sent right before the visit so the gate is expecting them. If you are there, our divers are happy to walk you through what they found.
How long does a hull cleaning take?
Between 45 minutes and 4 hours, depending on the level of growth and the length of the boat. A hull on the 30-day schedule is at the short end; a hull that has sat for a season is at the long end.
What areas do you serve?
The South Florida east coast from Miami to Jupiter: Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, with 25 waterfront cities listed on our service-areas page. Barnacle Doctor was founded in Boca Raton and is now based at 301 Seabreeze Blvd in Fort Lauderdale.
Do you offer emergency or same-day service?
We offer 24/7 emergency service. Call 561-666-3716 at any hour for a fouled intake, a lost item, a post-storm check or anything that cannot wait for the next scheduled dive.
How do I get a quote?
Call 561-666-3716 or send the form with three things: boat length, where it is docked, and whether it has bottom paint. For docks and seawalls, the address and a few photos. We respond fast, and hull quotes come before the first dive.
Can you recover something I dropped off the dock or the boat?
Yes. Our divers recover lost items from the water: phones, keys, jewelry, tools, anything that went over the side at a dock or slip. Call any hour and tell us what fell, where and when.
Do you work at marinas as well as private docks?
Both. At a private dock there is nothing to arrange. At a marina, tell us the marina and slip when you book so its vendor requirements are met before the first dive; many South Florida marinas require approved vendors, insurance certificates and scheduling through the dockmaster.
Hull cleaning
Why should I have my boat's bottom cleaned?
Because South Florida water grows barnacles all year. Growth adds drag and fuel burn, clogs thru-hull fittings (which destroys water makers, live wells and air-conditioning units), and bottom paint cannot adhere to metal running gear, so props, shafts and rudders foul first. Monthly cleaning keeps all of it off and lets the diver spot problems early.
How often should I have the barnacles removed?
At least once a month if the boat sits in the water. Nutrient-rich areas need cleaning every two weeks, and so does any hull without bottom paint: barnacles adhere to gelcoat much faster and thicker than to paint, and left too long they blister the gelcoat and fiberglass.
Do your services provide pictures?
Yes. Every monthly visit comes with detailed, high-quality photos of your hull and running gear, plus the dive report. The photos show the work was done and let you compare the hull month to month.
Does cavitation cleaning cause any damage?
No. Cavitation cleaning is a 100% non-abrasive technology developed for ships and underwater structures: imploding vapour bubbles lift the growth at far lower pressure than a pressure washer, with no scraper touching the surface. Our divers set the standoff and dwell so sound paint and gelcoat are left as they were.
How fast do barnacles grow on a boat in South Florida?
Slime forms within days, and in warm water barnacles and tubeworms can settle on top of it within one to two weeks of the last cleaning. There is no winter die-off here, which is why the interval is 30 days rather than the two or three months common in cooler states.
How much fuel does a dirty hull cost me?
More than you would think. Studies of ships by the IMO found a thin slime layer can raise fuel use by 20 to 25 percent and light barnacle fouling far more, and U.S. Naval Academy research measured large powering penalties from heavy fouling. Your boat is smaller, but drag works the same way.
What is a dive report?
A written report that comes with every cleaning: zinc percentage per anode (replaced at 50%), bottom-paint condition, photos of the hull and running gear, and anything the diver spotted, such as clogged thru-hulls, damage or loose gear.
Do you clean running gear and props?
On every visit. Props, thrusters, rudders, shafts, transducers, thru-hull fittings and trim tabs are cleaned every time, because bottom paint cannot protect metal and running gear fouls first. Tell us if any of it is coated with Propspeed.
How do I know the diver cleaned the whole hull?
You see it: detailed photos of the hull and running gear come with every cleaning, alongside the dive report. If something looks wrong in the photos, call us.
Zincs and bottom paint
How often should I get my zincs changed?
Depending on the electrolysis in the water around your boat, zinc anodes last anywhere from 3 to 13 months, so we do not go by the calendar: every anode is checked on every monthly dive, the percentage goes on your report, and we replace zincs once they reach 50%.
What does replacing zincs at 50% mean?
An anode is replaced when about half of it is gone or it is wearing unevenly. Below half, its surface area is too small to protect everything bonded to it, and the props, shafts and drives it was guarding start to corrode instead.
Should I use zinc or aluminium anodes?
Both work in salt water, which is most of our coast. Aluminium is lighter, lasts longer per pound and also works in brackish water; zinc is the traditional choice. Magnesium is for fresh water only. Use one type for the whole boat.
How long after new bottom paint can you start cleaning?
About 90 days for ablative paint; some owners and divers wait three to four months. Fresh ablative paint is soft and full of biocide, and scrubbing it early wastes both. Tell us the paint type and date and we will set the first dive at the right point.
Hard or ablative bottom paint if I use a diver?
For a boat that sits at a dock and gets cleaned monthly, hard antifouling paint holds up best because wiping does not remove the film. Ablative paint loses a little biocide with every scrub and suits boats that run often enough to polish themselves.
Is cavitation cleaning safe on Propspeed?
Coated running gear is handled by the coating maker's rules: Propspeed's guidance is a soft cloth, no abrasives and no direct high-pressure water. Tell us before the first dive that the coating is applied, and it will be treated accordingly and photographed on every report.
Docks, pilings and lifts
Why should I wrap my wooden pilings?
Because exposed wooden pilings deteriorate quickly: oyster growth eats at them and hides the damage, and shipworms hollow them from the inside. Our wraps are black UV-stabilized high-density polyethylene fastened with type 316 stainless steel nails, from the mud to 2 ft above high tide, and add at least 20 years to a sound piling.
Why should my floating dock be cleaned?
Growth can add several hundred pounds to a floating dock and sink it lower in the water, which limits what it can do. Growth on jet ski and drive-on boat docks also damages the hull every time you load, and barnacles on the wheels are the usual culprit.
What are shipworms?
Bivalve clams (Teredo navalis) that bore into wood as larvae and tunnel through it for life. The entry hole is no bigger than a nail head while the inside is hollowed out, and in warm, salty water like ours unprotected wood shows structural damage in three to seven years.
How can I tell if a dock piling is rotten?
Press a screwdriver into the piling at the waterline: sound wood resists, soft wood or a sinking tip means borers or rot. Also look for clusters of pinholes, splits, a narrowed waist at the tide line and a piling that moves when you push the dock. Our multi-point inspection does the same below the water.
What is a Snap Jacket?
A UV-protected PVC jacket that snaps around an existing wood piling in place, is closed with a locking strip and filled with concrete. The concrete kills the borers and restores a hollowed, warped or even separated piling to more than its original strength, without removing the dock above it. The manufacturer's warranty is 25 years.
Do I need a permit for a Snap Jacket or piling wrap?
It depends on the city and county. Wrapping an existing piling is maintenance in most places; a concrete sleeve adds to the pile's footprint, and Miami-Dade DERM permits cover work in tidal waters. We check what your city requires before the work is scheduled.
Do barnacles and oysters damage docks and seawalls?
Yes. Their shells trap moisture and salt against wood (rot) and steel hardware (corrosion); on concrete, barnacle adhesion widens micro-cracks toward the rebar; the weight sinks floating docks; and the growth hides all of it. Cleaning is how the damage gets seen.
Seawalls
How often should my seawall and pilings be inspected?
Seawalls and concrete pilings should be cleaned every year and inspected every 1–2 years, and after any named storm. Our cleanings include a complimentary multi-point inspection, and a seawall inspection starts with the cleaning, because thick growth covers the damage an inspection is meant to find.
What does a seawall inspection include?
The growth comes off first. Then the diver inspects the cap, the panels, the joints and any seepage, the tiebacks, the weep holes, the ground behind the wall for voids and depressions, and the submerged toe and face, and writes it up with photos above and below the waterline. $250 residential, $350 multi-family and commercial.
What is the seawall documentation you provide?
A written condition report with photos, produced after the inspection and any repair: the documentation buyers, agents and many lenders ask for on a waterfront sale. Tell us what your lender or insurer requires; if it needs a report sealed by a licensed engineer, we will say so before you pay.
Does Barnacle Doctor raise or rebuild seawalls?
No. We inspect seawalls and repair cracks by filling them deep with custom-made cement tubes that reach the back of the crack. Raising a wall to the current height standard or replacing it is marine-contractor work with permits, and our inspection tells you whether that is what you are looking at.
How long does a seawall last in Florida?
Most last 25 to 50 years: concrete 30 to 50 or more, vinyl 25 to 40, steel 20 to 35, wood 10 to 40, depending on exposure and maintenance. A wall built with a 1960s canal is at or past its design life whatever it looks like from the lawn.
Can barnacles hide seawall damage?
Yes, and they cause some of it. Oyster and barnacle build-up eats at a seawall and covers the cracks that let sediment escape from behind it, which is how a yard, deck or patio starts to sink. That is why we clean the wall before we inspect it.
Pricing and billing
Do you publish your prices?
The seawall inspection fees are published: $250 residential, $350 multi-family and commercial. Hull, dock, piling, wrap and Snap Jacket work is quoted on your boat or dock, before the first dive. Our pricing page shows what drives a quote and what the local market publishes.
How am I billed for monthly hull cleaning?
Monthly. Boats on the plan get a diver every 30 days (every two weeks for bare gelcoat or nutrient-rich water), the report and photos after each visit, and easy monthly billing with nothing to arrange after each dive.
Rules, safety and insurance
Is in-water hull cleaning legal in Florida?
Yes. No Florida statute bans diver hull cleaning; the state's antifouling law restricts tin-based paint, not cleaning. What applies is marina vendor rules and Florida's Clean Marina best practices, which tell marinas to prohibit in-water pressure washing and hull scraping. Cavitation cleaning does neither.
Do you work during manatee season?
Yes, year-round. From November 15 to March 31 our divers observe the manatee protection zones, look before entering the water and keep clear of any manatee in the slip; they are protected under federal and state law and are never touched or fed.
What insurance do you carry?
$2,000,000 in liability insurance through Fisk Marine Insurance. Tell us if your marina needs anything specific when you book.
Longer answers: the guides
Each guide starts with the answer and ends with its sources.
- How often should you clean your boat bottom in South Florida?
- Bottom paint and hull cleaning: hard vs ablative, when to wait, and Propspeed
- Cavitation cleaning vs pressure washing vs scraping: what actually gets a hull clean?
- In-water hull cleaning rules in Florida: marinas, manatee season and copper paint
- Zinc anodes in South Florida: what they protect, when to replace them, and why they vanish
- Seawall inspection for home buyers: what to ask before you close on a waterfront home
- South Florida seawall rules by city: Broward's 2035 standard, Fort Lauderdale and Miami Beach
- Hurricane prep for docks, lifts, seawalls and boats in South Florida
- Dock piling repair: shipworms, the screwdriver test, and wrap vs Snap Jacket vs replacement
- Does insurance cover storm damage to a dock, lift or seawall in Florida?
Still have a question?
Ask it here, or call 561-666-3716. We respond fast.
Ready to get started?
Send the form or call for a free quote on hull, dock, piling or seawall work.