LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Summer is here and families are heading outdoors for vacation. Lake Mead is a popular spot for locals and now an online marketplace is making it easier to get on the water. 13 Action News anchor Tricia Kean tells you how to book your next boating experience.
"We do wake surfing on it, tubing, we do wakeboarding," says Isaac.
GET MY BOAT
He loves his boat and knows how to have a good time when he's out on the lake. He rents out his gear and recently started picking up business with help from the website and app: Get My Boat.
"Ever since I've been using them, they've been good advertising," says Isaac.
RECORD-BREAKING YEAR
Get My Boat is similar to AirBnB. Boat owners like Isaac can rent out their watercraft and renters can find anything from pontoon boats to jet skis.
"We've had a really exciting record-breaking year," says Val Streif with Get My Boat.
She says rentals exploded during the pandemic, as people looked for ways to get outside and stay socially distant.
600% GROWTH
"For the month of May we saw about 600% growth year over year, which was super exciting! In the Las Vegas area, Lake Mead is going to be one of our hot spots," says Streif.
She says Memorial Day weekend was huge for business and they're expecting the same for the 4th of July weekend. So it's important to book early.
SEARCH LOCATION
"Search by your location. You see all of the boats that are available to you. You can set your dates. You can filter by your group size or your price," says Streif.
To help you decide, you can also check out reviews from other renters.
"We even allow people to upload photos, which is great. So you can even see what their experience was like," says Streif.
FREE ACCOUNT
If you're a boat owner, she says setting up an account is absolutely free.
"We just charge one flat fee. It's 8.5%. We're really committed to just making it simple. It's the only fee that we take and it's just when the booking is made," says Streif.
Isaac says he's enjoyed using the app and recommends it to others.
"Get My Boat has actually been a really easy app. It's literally stress-free... We started basically advertising on Get My Boat and the second we did it, it was literally the next day that we were getting bookings," says Isaac.
According to Lake Mead National Recreation Area, visitors are allowed to use boats that they rent outside of the park, drive in, launch, and retrieve themselves; this is legal as the actual business transaction occurs outside of Lake Mead National Recreation Area.
The illegal activity is when any of the following occurs:
- owners rent their boats to private citizens from their rented marina slip
- owners offer piloting services
- owners offer to transport their boats to the park for those who have rented the boat
The activity listed above takes away from Lake Mead's authorized concessioners and more often than not these boat owners don't have appropriate U.S. Coast Guard Captain's License for commercial use.
