How to Start a Hull Cleaning Business: Rules, Gear and Pay
By DiverHire
To start a hull cleaning business, first confirm whether paid hull diving counts as work diving where you live, then get any harbor permit and environmental (BMP) certification your marinas require, a safe air supply, soft hand tools and insurance the marinas will accept. After that it is a route business: most cleaners charge per foot of boat length, roughly USD 2 to 8 per foot in the US prices checked for this guide (2017 to 2026), and the most common answer from hull cleaners surveyed by the Port of San Diego was five boats a day. The rules differ sharply by country and harbor, so confirm locally.
What does a hull cleaner actually do?
You clean the underwater hull of boats kept in the water, up to the waterline, plus the running gear: propellers, shafts, struts, rudders and thrusters. Experienced cleaners are better at getting into the rudder gaps and through-hulls, and most will change zincs if the owner has the zincs and tools on hand (The Boat Galley).
A Port of San Diego survey of 32 hull cleaners (undated) found that boats of 27 to 40 ft were by far the most common, and 30 to 59 minutes was the most common time per hull. 78% cleaned on a set schedule; nearly all said their boats averaged a monthly clean in winter, and most every three weeks in summer (Port of San Diego survey).
It is hard physical work. One Florida company asks applicants to be able to spend 4 to 5 hours in the water a shift (Underwater Solutions). The Boat Galley notes that many divers get into the business and quit after a season.
Is boat hull cleaning a good business?
It can be, because the demand repeats. A boat on a monthly schedule is 12 cleans a year from one sale, and scuba.com notes that owners rarely change cleaners: a loyal route once you have one, and a slow start while you build it. Competition is real: the Port of San Diego's permit list, effective 11 August 2026, names more than 60 hull-cleaning businesses (Port of San Diego permit list). For the owner's side, see our hull cleaning cost guide and how often to clean a boat hull.
Is hull cleaning commercial diving? The rules by country
It depends on where you dive and whether anyone works for you. This summarizes the regulators' own pages and is not legal advice: confirm with your regulator, harbor office and insurer before you take money for a dive. Part 3 of our planning and pricing guide covers certification and the legality of paid diving.
United States: OSHA 29 CFR 1910 Subpart T
OSHA's commercial diving standard applies to "every place of employment" where diving is performed, with four exemptions: instructional scuba, government public-safety diving, human-subjects research and qualifying scientific diving (OSHA 1910.401). Hull cleaning is not among them. OSHA's enforcement directive excludes recreational diving "not related to employment", cites a diver examining hull damage as Subpart T work, and covers non-exempt diving operations "that involve an employer-employee relationship" (OSHA CPL 02-00-151, 2011).
OSHA's own overview lists "the self-employed" among those not covered by the OSH Act (All About OSHA, 2024), and states that run their own OSHA-approved plans must be at least as effective as federal OSHA (OSHA). Whether OSHA's diving rules apply to you depends on whether you employ anyone and on your state; check with OSHA or a lawyer before you start. Where Subpart T applies, its scuba rules include a standby diver with gear set up at the dive location (a buddy in the water does not count), and a line tender wherever the diver cannot ascend directly to the surface, which on a vessel without stabilizers the directive defines as below the turn of the bilge. Falling outside OSHA's scope is no safety exemption: the hazards below apply to every hull dive.
California: BMP certification and harbor permits
California harbor rules aim to keep copper antifouling paint out of the water, using hull-cleaning Best Management Practices (BMPs) first developed by the California Professional Divers Association in 1990 (LA County Beaches and Harbors).
- Marina del Rey: a 2018 county ordinance requires BMP certification for everyone who cleans hulls in the water, commercial or private. The training is free online and the certificate lasts two years. You also need a USD 10 Commercial Service ID from the Harbor Master, renewed every two years. A visible paint plume is prohibited; the first two violations are infractions with fines of up to USD 250, and a third is a misdemeanor.
- San Diego Bay: under Port Ordinance 3025 (amended 2021), no business may clean hulls without a Port In-Water Hull Cleaning Permit; the Port lists the fee as USD 250. Marinas and yacht clubs must check your permit, and keep a copy, before you work on their docks (Ordinance 3025). The Port says it is reviewing its policies, so contact it first (Port of San Diego).
The Coastal Commission's example BMPs make a useful checklist: clean only when the growth requires it, by hand with cloth, plastic scrapers or soft scrubbers; haul the boat out if the growth needs metal scrapers; never make a visible paint plume; and leave a newly painted hull for at least 90 days (California Coastal Commission, 2017).
Ontario: O. Reg. 629/94, CSA Z275 and DCBC
O. Reg. 629/94 applies to all diving operations except federally regulated ones, recreational diving and training, snorkel-only work, and dives by unpaid volunteers in an unforeseen emergency. Paid hull cleaning is not among those exceptions. Where it applies, every participant must be competent to CSA Z275.4 and medically fit, minimum scuba crews apply, and recreational divers who want to work commercially must first go through the Diver Certification Board of Canada's assessment and training (Ontario, 2022). A standby diver must always be at the site, and scuba divers may not use power tools or lift bags (Ontario compliance guide, 2022). The upcoming CSA Z275.2-26 standard confirms four as the default minimum scuba crew, with three only under restricted conditions such as a documented low-risk "controlled environment" no deeper than 18 m (CADC, May 2026). A one-person scuba hull service meets neither figure, so talk to Ontario's Ministry of Labour before you start.
United Kingdom: Diving at Work Regulations 1997 and ACOP L104
According to HSE, diving at work under yachts and small vessels to clean hulls and carry out minor repairs falls under the Diving at Work Regulations 1997 and comes under the inland/inshore code of practice, L104; the regulations cover all divers when one or more is at work, whether employed or self-employed. You will need to notify HSE that you are a dive contractor, have an adequate team size and make sure the divers and supervisor hold the appropriate diving qualification. HSE's list of work allowed on recreational qualifications does not include hull cleaning (HSE diving FAQs, 2026). Each diver needs a certificate of medical fitness to dive from an HSE-approved doctor, normally valid for 12 months, and must keep a daily record of their diving for at least two years after the last entry (regulation 12). A self-employed diver can be the diving contractor (regulation 5), and L104 is a free download (HSE L104).
Hull cleaning equipment: what to buy and what it costs
Start with the air supply. Scuba.com describes three setups: back-mounted scuba, a hookah (a surface compressor feeding air down a hose), and a hybrid with a cylinder left on the dock and a long hose, which keeps tank dings off customers' boats. Hookahs give longer bottom time but are noisy, and a few marinas ban them; in The Boat Galley's experience most bottom cleaners use one. Here are list prices from one maker, Brownie's Third Lung, in September 2026 (the Nomad units are sold under its BLU3 name) (Brownie's):
| Air supply or add-on | Price (USD) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Nomad Mini battery hookah | 1,649–2,558 | Rated to 15 ft |
| Nomad battery hookah | 2,199–3,359 | Rated to 30 ft, maker lists hull cleaning as a use |
| The OG gasoline floating hookah | 2,900–6,900 | 2 to 4 divers |
| Sea LiOn battery floating hookah | 5,900–10,945 | 2 to 4 divers |
| Land-based commercial systems | 4,595–6,500 | C270, C390 and CTD390 models |
| Spare Air Add-On Kit (bailout) | 360 | 3 cu ft reserve per diver |
| Add-a-Diver hose and regulator kit | 400 | Equips one more diver |
Other kit (no verified prices found):
- Your own wetsuit, hood, boots and mask (one Florida employer asks hires to have them); the shock-drowning protocol below recommends a rubber wetsuit with gloves and booties, and scuba.com adds thick work gloves against barnacles.
- A suction-cup handle to hold yourself on the hull.
- White and green pads, microfiber cloths and plastic scrapers. The Boat Galley calls plastic scrapers easier on paint than metal ones.
- Spare zinc bolts and the tools to fit them; The Boat Galley warns how easily a dropped bolt is lost.
- Lockout tags for shore-power plugs and breakers, and a camera for condition reports.
Hull cleaning safety: carbon monoxide and electric shock drowning
Carbon monoxide in your air
DAN warns that a hookah compressor drawing in a boat engine's exhaust can deliver carbon monoxide straight to the diver (DAN, 2019). CO is colorless and odorless. Poisoning starts as a dull headache, dizziness or weakness and can progress to unconsciousness, brain damage or death. Put the intake upwind and as far from any engine exhaust as possible. A battery compressor removes the gasoline engine from your own rig (Brownie's Sea LiOn), but not the exhaust from a boat idling next to you. Carry a bailout supply.
Electric shock drowning (ESD)
A shore-power wiring fault can put current into the water around a boat's propellers, sterndrive and through-hull fittings, exactly where you work. Boating magazine calls ESD a freshwater phenomenon: seawater is more than 500 times more conductive, so almost all the current flows around a swimmer in salt water rather than through them. As little as 10 to 22 milliamps can cause paralysis and loss of the ability to breathe (Boating magazine, 2013). The Electric Shock Drowning Prevention Association's protocol for divers makes no exception for salt water and lists steps divers should consider (ESDPA, 2018):
- Unplug the boat, not just the switch at the pedestal, and hang a lockout tag on the receptacle and breaker.
- Unplug the boats next to it.
- Wear a rubber wetsuit with gloves and booties.
- Check in with the marina so someone knows where you are diving, and strongly consider a buddy on the dock who knows where to cut the power and can call 911.
- If you feel even the slightest tingle entering the water, stop, get out and report it to the marina.
Entrapment, crushing and dirty water
Scuba.com adds more hazards: entrapment under large, flat hulls, crushing at small clearances and big tides, and polluted marina water. West of England P&I's advice for ships applies here too: confirm that propellers, thrusters and pumps are not running before anyone goes under (West P&I, 2023).
Boat cleaning business insurance
Scuba.com (2023) says almost all marinas require general liability and workers' compensation cover, even from divers who work alone. No insurer-published premiums could be verified for this guide. Get quotes from a marine or dive-business insurer, and ask each marina for its requirements before your first job there. Part 6 of our planning and pricing guide covers insurance and liability.
How to price hull cleaning: per foot, per visit or monthly route
Most cleaners charge per foot of length overall (LOA). Scuba.com put it at USD 1 to 6 per foot in 2023, with more charged for same-day service. Sources disagree: Danny's Diving in Victoria, BC, which bills by the hour instead, says per-foot pricing usually runs 10 to 20 dollars a foot (its page prices in CAD, 2026). Published rates:
| Operator and region | Rate | Terms | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bottom Time Dive, SW Florida | USD 3.00/ft sail, 3.50/ft power under 55 ft, 4.00/ft power 55 ft and up | Monthly schedule, USD 100 minimum | 2026 |
| DS Diving, Jacksonville FL | USD 5/ft under 50 ft, rising to 8/ft at 61–65 ft | Anodes USD 20 each | 2026 |
| Danny's Diving, Victoria BC | CAD 140–220 for a 25–30 ft sailboat, CAD 180–320 for 30–40 ft | Billed hourly, before GST, video included | 2026 |
| Boat owner report, Marathon FL | USD 2/ft | Monthly schedule | 2017 |
Three pricing models show up:
- Per foot with a minimum for boats on a schedule, plus fixed add-ons. Bottom Time charges USD 10 per thruster and USD 45 for a hydraulic swim platform (Bottom Time Dive).
- Hourly for one-offs. Bottom Time bills one-time, rush and heavy-growth cleans at USD 150 per person per hour. It treats any boat not on at least a monthly schedule as a one-time clean.
- Route and group pricing. Danny's Diving says regular-schedule customers can pay less, and gives a group discount when three or more boats at one marina book together.
Zinc changes are billed on top (DS Diving: USD 20 per anode); see our zincs and anodes guide.
How much do hull cleaners make?
As an employee
Employee wages only. The government figures cover broader diver categories and the Glassdoor figure is a 2022 model estimate, so treat them as context:
| Source | Role and region | Employee pay | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glassdoor | Underwater hull cleaner, US | USD 39,831 a year median total pay (model estimate), likely range 32,000–49,000 | Data updated September 2022 |
| Job Bank Canada | Diver (NOC 72999), Ontario | CAD 21.00 low, 30.00 median, 42.79 high per hour | 2023–24 |
| US Bureau of Labor Statistics | Commercial divers, US | USD 35.09 an hour median (USD 72,990 a year) | 2025 |
As an owner-operator: an illustrative route
This is an illustration built from the cited figures, not a forecast: owner-operator gross revenue before costs, mixing the San Diego survey with Florida prices. It assumes a 35 ft boat (inside the survey's most common size band), five boats a day (its most common answer), a monthly schedule, and Bottom Time's USD 3.00/ft monthly sailboat rate or DS Diving's USD 5/ft rate for boats under 50 ft.
| Scenario | Cleans | Gross revenue at USD 3.00/ft | Gross revenue at USD 5.00/ft |
|---|---|---|---|
| One 35 ft boat | 1 | USD 105 | USD 175 |
| One dive day | 5 | USD 525 | USD 875 |
| Your first 20 boats, monthly | 20 a month | USD 2,100 a month | USD 3,500 a month |
| Full route, 80 boats monthly | 960 a year | USD 100,800 a year | USD 168,000 a year |
Eighty boats on a monthly schedule is 960 cleans a year: five a day, four days a week, for 48 weeks. Twenty boats is about four dive days a month: a start, but part-time income.
These are gross figures, not take-home pay. Take off vehicle and fuel, air-system servicing, suits and pads, insurance, permits (USD 250 in San Diego Bay, USD 10 for a Marina del Rey ID), accounting, tax, and unpaid time driving, checking in and invoicing.
How to get your first 20 hull cleaning clients
- Get legal first. Where permits exist, marinas check them: San Diego Bay marinas must see your permit before you work, and LA County publishes its list of BMP-certified cleaners.
- Start at the marina office. The ESDPA protocol asks marinas to check divers in and out. Get to know the dockmaster, and ask whether the marina runs "diving windows", when dock power is shut off.
- Build density before distance. Fill one or two marinas before you drive across town.
- Be findable and available. The Boat Galley tells owners to find a diver by asking other boats, the marina and the fuel dock, and notes that divers rarely have same-day slots.
- Be easy to pay and to trust. The Boat Galley found that many cleaners take cash only; offer card or automatic payment, and send photos and a short condition report after each clean, including the zincs. Software such as HullWorx handles four-week marina routes, zinc tracking and condition reports (no pricing on its site).
See also our guides to building your first client base and what careful owners check before hiring.
Finding work through DiverHire
DiverHire is a new marketplace for underwater work, in public beta, with only a few divers and jobs listed so far. Create a free diver profile at diverhire.com/register/diver, describe your hull-cleaning work and set your service area, upload certificate proof for DiverHire to review for a verified badge (it checks certificates, not permits or insurance), and bid on boat cleaning jobs as clients post them, for example in San Diego or Miami. Profiles are free, Diver Pro is an optional USD 29 a month, and DiverHire takes no fee on jobs: you and the client agree the price and arrange payment directly. Clients tag each job casual or commercial as their own opinion, and you decide whether to bid, signing a waiver when you do: permits, insurance and local diving rules stay your responsibility.
Sources
- Port of San Diego: In-Water Hull Cleaning Survey Results, Hull Cleaners — 32 respondents; most common boat size 27–40 ft, five boats a day the most common answer, 30–59 minutes per hull, 78% on set schedules, monthly winter and three-weekly summer cycles (undated)
- Port of San Diego: Copper Reduction Program — Ordinance 3025 amended 2021, USD 250 business permit, policy under review (viewed September 2026)
- Port of San Diego: Ordinance 3025, Regulation of In-Water Hull Cleaning — permit required for any hull-cleaning business, marinas must check and keep permits (2021)
- Port of San Diego: List of Permitted Hull Cleaning Businesses — more than 60 permitted businesses (effective 11 August 2026)
- LA County Beaches and Harbors: Hull Cleaning — Marina del Rey 2018 ordinance, BMP certification for all cleaners, free two-year training, USD 10 Commercial Service ID, fines, CPDA BMPs from 1990, published list of certified cleaners (viewed September 2026)
- California Coastal Commission: Boat Hull Coating Selection and Hull Cleaning factsheet — example BMPs: hand cleaning with cloth, plastic scrapers or soft scrubbers, haul out if metal scrapers are needed, no paint plume, no cleaning for at least 90 days after painting, reporting duties (2017)
- OSHA: 29 CFR 1910.401 Scope and application — every place of employment where diving is performed, and the exemptions (viewed September 2026)
- North Carolina DOL: OSHA directive CPL 02-00-151, Commercial Diving Operations — recreational diving not related to employment excluded, hull-damage example, coverage where there is an employer-employee relationship, standby diver, line-tending, turn-of-the-bilge definition (2011)
- OSHA: All About OSHA (OSHA 3302) — the self-employed listed as not covered by the OSH Act (2024)
- OSHA: Workers — coverage through federal OSHA or state plans, which must be at least as effective (viewed September 2026)
- Ontario: Working divers and commercial diving operations — O. Reg. 629/94 scope and exceptions, CSA Z275.4 competency, minimum scuba crews, DCBC route for recreational divers (2022)
- Ontario: Achieve compliance, diving operations O. Reg. 629/94 — competency evidence, standby diver always at the site, no power tools or lift bags on scuba (2022)
- Canadian Association of Diving Contractors: changes in CSA Z275.2-26 — four confirmed as the default minimum scuba crew, three only under restricted conditions including a controlled environment to 18 m (2026)
- HSE: Diving FAQs — hull cleaning under yachts and small vessels falls under DWR and the inland/inshore ACOP, employed and self-employed covered, contractor notification, limits of recreational qualifications, 12-month medical (2026)
- legislation.gov.uk: Diving at Work Regulations 1997, regulation 12 — approved qualification, medical certificate, daily record of diving kept at least two years (1997)
- legislation.gov.uk: Diving at Work Regulations 1997, regulation 5 — one diving contractor per project, which can be a self-employed diver (1997)
- HSE: L104 Commercial diving projects inland/inshore — scope includes docks, harbours and lakes, second edition, free download (2014)
- Brownie's Third Lung: floating tankless dive systems — Nomad Mini, Nomad, OG and Sea LiOn list price ranges (viewed September 2026)
- Brownie's Third Lung: Nomad Mini — 15 ft maximum depth (viewed September 2026)
- Brownie's Third Lung: Nomad — 30 ft maximum depth, described as ideal for hull cleaning (viewed September 2026)
- Brownie's Third Lung: The OG Tankless Dive System — two to four divers, Spare Air Add-On Kit USD 360 (3 cu ft), Add-a-Diver Kit USD 400 (viewed September 2026)
- Brownie's Third Lung: Sea LiOn — two to four divers, battery power in place of gasoline and exhaust (viewed September 2026)
- Brownie's Third Lung: commercial diving systems — C270, C390 and CTD390 list prices (viewed September 2026)
- Divers Alert Network: Hooked on Hookah — compressor intake and engine exhaust, CO symptoms (2019)
- Electric Shock Drowning Prevention Association: Protocol for Diving on Boats at Docks Using Electrical Power — steps divers should consider: unplug and lock out, neighbouring boats, rubber wetsuit, check-in, dock buddy, tingle rule; marina check-in and diving windows (2018)
- Boating magazine: Electric shock drowning prevention — current from underwater metals, a freshwater phenomenon, seawater over 500 times more conductive, milliamp thresholds (2013)
- West of England P&I: Underwater hull cleaning risks and precautions — propellers, thrusters and suctions stopped before diving, written for ships (2023)
- Scuba.com: Scuba Jobs, Underwater Hull Cleaning — air-supply setups, hookah noise bans, entrapment and crush hazards, USD 1–6/ft, marinas requiring liability and workers' comp, owners rarely switching (2023; read via an Internet Archive copy from July 2024 because the site blocks automated readers)
- The Boat Galley: Hiring a Diver to Clean Your Boat's Bottom — what cleaners do, zinc changes with owner-supplied zincs and tools, hookahs, plastic vs metal scrapers, USD 2/ft in Marathon FL (2017), cash only, same-day premium, many quit after a season (published 2017, updated 2020; read via an Internet Archive copy from September 2025 because the site blocks automated readers)
- Underwater Solutions: Careers — Florida hull-cleaning job requirements (viewed September 2026)
- Danny's Diving: Boat hull cleaning cost in BC — CAD price bands before GST, hourly billing, its claim that per-foot pricing usually runs 10–20 a foot, video documentation, schedule and same-marina discounts (2026)
- Bottom Time Dive: Service rates — SW Florida per-foot rates for boats cleaned at least monthly, USD 100 minimum, add-ons, USD 150 per person per hour for one-time, rush and heavy growth (viewed September 2026)
- DS Diving: Pricing — Jacksonville per-foot rates and USD 20 anodes (viewed September 2026)
- Glassdoor: Underwater Hull Cleaner salaries — USD 39,831 median total pay, 32,000–49,000 likely range (data updated September 2022; read via an Internet Archive snapshot of 31 January 2023 because the live page blocks automated readers)
- Job Bank Canada: Diver wages in Ontario — NOC 72999 hourly wages (2023–24)
- O*NET OnLine: Commercial Divers 49-9092.00 — median wages USD 35.09 an hour and USD 72,990 a year, from US Bureau of Labor Statistics 2025 wage data (viewed September 2026)
- HullWorx: hull cleaning software — route scheduling, marina grouping, zinc tracking, condition reports, no public pricing (viewed September 2026)
Last updated: September 2026. Prices and rules change; confirm with local providers.