How is marina performance measured?

Marinas are measured on slip occupancy (wet + dry separately), per-foot annual rate, transient-night revenue, fuel margin per gallon, and on-site F&B + ship-store revenue per slip. Resort marinas add membership/club revenue, mega-yacht marinas add charter brokerage. NOI margins typically run 35-50% for well-managed properties — comparable to extended-stay hospitality.

What is dry storage in a marina?

Dry storage is land-based vessel storage in racks (indoor or outdoor) with valet launch service. Marinas can store 3-5x more boats per acre than wet slips, with lower environmental impact and higher per-slot revenue. Dry storage demand is growing faster than wet slips because of permitting constraints on new in-water capacity.

Who are the major marina operators?

The largest US marina operators are Suntex Marinas (60+ properties), Safe Harbor Marinas (Sun Communities/SUI subsidiary, 130+ properties), Marinas International, Westrec Marina Management, and Almar Marinas. Many marinas remain independently owned or yacht-club operated. Sun Communities (SUI) is the only meaningful public REIT exposure to the sector.

Marina KPIs.

Marinas provide wet-slip moorage and dry-storage for recreational and commercial vessels. Performance is measured in slip occupancy (wet + dry), per-foot annual rate, fuel margin, and on-site F&B revenue. The sector is geographically constrained (coastal + lake markets), limited by environmental permitting (slip count rarely expands), and concentrated under regional operators (Suntex, Safe Harbor, Marinas International). Comparable public REIT exposure is limited; Sun Communities (SUI) acquired Safe Harbor Marinas in 2020 for ~$2.1B — currently the largest US public marina REIT exposure. Slip rental contracts run annual or seasonal, with transient nightly rates layered on top. Ilora.ai ingests slip rental agreements, fuel sales reports (with cost basis), boat-yard work orders, and live-aboard rosters, then benchmarks per-slip economics against AMI (Association of Marina Industries) standards. US Army Corps of Engineers permits, EPA NPDES, and state coastal commission rules govern expansion.

12 definitions · Sector: RECREATION · Used by Ilora.ai specialist AI agents

NOI: Total revenue minus operating expenses (excludes financing and capital costs). The primary measure of property-level profitability.
Cap Rate: Net Operating Income divided by current property value. Expresses unleveraged annual yield as a percentage.
DSCR: Net Operating Income divided by total annual debt service. Lender-required cushion measure; below 1.0 means NOI cannot cover debt.
LTV: Loan amount divided by property value. Lower LTV = lower lender risk.
OER: Operating expenses divided by gross revenue. Lower is better, but varies by property type (hotels run higher than triple-net retail).
GRM: Property value divided by gross annual rental income. Quick valuation shortcut; less precise than cap rate.
IRR: Annualized return on investment accounting for time value of money across the full hold period.
CoC: Pre-tax annual cash flow divided by total cash invested. Measures the cash yield, not total return.
DCF: Valuation method that projects future cash flows and discounts them to present value at a chosen rate.
TTM: A rolling sum of the most recent 12 months. Smooths seasonality for KPI comparisons.
Rounds: Total golf rounds played in a year. The fundamental demand measure for golf courses.
Slip Occ: Percentage of marina slips occupied. Marina equivalent of hotel occupancy.

Sub-types

Sub-types within Marina.

Resort Marina: Full-amenity destination marina with pool, restaurant, hotel-adjacent.
Working Marina: Service + commercial-vessel focus, lighter on amenities.
Yacht Club: Member-only equity or non-equity club structure.
Mega-Yacht Marina: Slips for 80'+ vessels with super-yacht infrastructure.
Dry-Stack Storage Facility: Land-based rack storage with valet launch only, no wet slips.

Amenities & features

9 amenities Ilora.ai tracks for Marina.

Wet Slips: In-water moorage with utility hookups. Per-foot annual or seasonal rates.
Slip occupancy %
Avg per-foot rate
Annual vs transient mix
Dry Storage / Rack Storage: Indoor or outdoor land-based vessel storage with valet launch.
Rack occupancy %
Dry storage revenue per slot
Launch volume per day
Fuel Dock: Marine gasoline + diesel sales. High-margin amenity.
Fuel margin per gallon
Annual gallons pumped
On-Site Restaurant + Bar: Waterfront F&B serving boaters + walk-in. Seasonal.
F&B revenue per slip
F&B seasonality index
Ship Store / Chandlery: Marine retail (parts, tackle, apparel). Convenience markup.
Ship store revenue per slip
Boat Service / Repair Yard: Mechanical service, hauling, bottom paint. Often outsourced.
Service revenue per slip
Yard utilization
Pump-out Station: Sewage waste removal. Often free, environmental compliance.
Pump-out volume
Showers / Restrooms / Laundry: Boater amenities for live-aboards and transient guests.
Live-aboard count
Pool / Beach Club: Resort marina amenity, drives slip-rate premium.
Pool/beach club membership

Industry reference

How the marina sector operates.

Market segments

Annual / seasonal slip holders
Transient (visiting boaters)
Live-aboard residents
Charter operators
Commercial fishing fleet
Mega-yacht

Operating models

Owner-operated
Third-party managed by national operator (Suntex, Safe Harbor, Marinas International, Westrec)
Yacht-club governance model
Municipal-operated

Regulatory frameworks

US Army Corps of Engineers permits
EPA stormwater + NPDES compliance
State coastal commission permits
Clean Marina certification (state programs)
Local harbor master / port authority rules

Industry organizations

AMI (Association of Marina Industries)
IMI (International Marina Institute)
NMMA (National Marine Manufacturers Association)
Marina Operators Association
State marine trades associations

Comparable public REITs / operators

SUI (Sun Communities — Marina Holdings segment, the only pure-play public exposure)

Documents Ilora.ai ingests

Slip rental agreements (annual + transient)
Wet/dry occupancy report
Fuel sales daily report (with cost basis)
Fuel dock cash recap
F&B daily sales (POS extract)
Boat-yard work orders + invoices
Live-aboard waitlist + roster
Capital plan (dredging, dock replacement)
Environmental compliance log

Industry tools (we integrate with these)

Molo (marina management)
DockMaster (marina ops + accounting)
Marina Management Systems
Suntex Marinas proprietary tools (if managed by Suntex)
POS systems (Toast, Square for F&B)
QuickBooks / Sage for back-office accounting

Frequently asked

Common questions about marina.

How is marina performance measured?: Marinas are measured on slip occupancy (wet + dry separately), per-foot annual rate, transient-night revenue, fuel margin per gallon, and on-site F&B + ship-store revenue per slip. Resort marinas add membership/club revenue, mega-yacht marinas add charter brokerage. NOI margins typically run 35-50% for well-managed properties — comparable to extended-stay hospitality.
What is dry storage in a marina?: Dry storage is land-based vessel storage in racks (indoor or outdoor) with valet launch service. Marinas can store 3-5x more boats per acre than wet slips, with lower environmental impact and higher per-slot revenue. Dry storage demand is growing faster than wet slips because of permitting constraints on new in-water capacity.
Who are the major marina operators?: The largest US marina operators are Suntex Marinas (60+ properties), Safe Harbor Marinas (Sun Communities/SUI subsidiary, 130+ properties), Marinas International, Westrec Marina Management, and Almar Marinas. Many marinas remain independently owned or yacht-club operated. Sun Communities (SUI) is the only meaningful public REIT exposure to the sector.

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