Who are the top 5 marina operators in the US?
- Lyall Burgess
- Feb 17
- 3 min read
After reading the headlines last week about the Donerail Group offering $1.1 billion to purchase MarineMax we decided to do a little dive into the marina industry in the USA. It remains highly fragmented with the vast majority under private ownership or run by the city/county. However, there have been some large acquisitions and mergers in recent years that is leading to some consolidation of the roughly 3,700 marinas in the US.
Blackstone Infrastructure recently acquired Safe Harbor Marinas for over $5 billion
The top 5 marina operators in the USA
# | Name | No. of marinas | No. of slips (wet/dry) |
1 | Safe Harbor Marinas | 138 | 50,000 |
2 | Suntex Marinas | 95 | 15,000 |
3 | MarineMax | 65 | 12,500 |
4 | Alliance Marine | 50 | 8,000 |
5 | Topside Marinas | 13 | 5,600 |
1. Safe Harbor Marinas
Easily the largest owner and operator of marinas in the United States with 138 properties. In February 2025, Blackstone Infrastructure acquired the company for $5.65 billion. Safe Harbor provides the highest standards of excellence in customer service across its portfolio of inland and coastal properties including:
Safe Harbor Lauderdale Marine Center is the largest yacht repair & refit facility in the US, covering 65 acres and specializing in superyachts.
Safe Harbor Charleston City features the "MegaDock," which at 1,530 feet is the longest free-standing floating fuel dock in the Southeast.
Safe Harbor Front Street was the latest acquisition in January 2026 in Belfast, ME
Despite recent mergers, no single company holds more than a 5% market share of the total U.S. industry
Founded in 2007 Suntex expanded significantly by merging with Westrec Marinas (2022) and Almar Marinas (2024) and now owns & operates 95 marinas across fifteen states. Their latest acquisition of Two Georges Marina in Shalimar, Florida was reported January 21, 2026. Their flagship marina Las Olas Marina in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, opened in 2024 following an eight-year multi-million dollar redevelopment.
3. MarineMax (incl. IGY Marinas)
In the news this week as the Donerail Group has put together an unsolicited all-cash offer of $1.1 billion to purchase MarineMax, which includes IGY Marinas. The California based hedge fund currently owns ~4% of MarineMax and is one of the larger, and more vocal, shareholders. Interesting timing to present their offer coming just ahead of the MarineMax AGM in early March, so more pressure on the board to make a decision. It's worth noting that OneWater Marine also offered to purchase MarineMax back in 2024 in an all-cash deal valued at $2.5 billion but the offer was rejected.
Alliance Marine has built a significant network of marinas & services mostly on the US East coast and rebranded in late 2025 (formerly Oasis Marine) with three key divisions: Management, Development & Technologies.
Scale is essential in today’s marina industry
Founded in 2020, family owned & operated and focused on acquiring new locations to increase their portfolio. They target marinas located in, and supported by, outstanding communities with membership bases of avid and passionate boaters.
Let us know if we have missed a large marina operator, there is Morningstar Marinas who is very similar size to Topside and also Grand Caribbean Marinas who has a large presence in Puerto Rico. Reading a lot of the company websites it's interesting to see that they are all keen to promote the overall customer experience as opposed to just somewhere to park your boat. The marina has become a destination in itself, with a lifestyle & community around it. How awesome is that!
Can we establish a connected community of boaters?
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