Boating in Tampa: Ramps, Slips and Rules

The City of Tampa lists four public boat ramps: Ballast Point at 5300 Interbay Blvd, Lowry Park at 1204 W Flora St, Davis Island Seaplane Basin at 846 Severn Ave and Picnic Island Park at 7409 Picnic Island Blvd.

All four Tampa ramps have trailer parking alongside regular parking, and Ballast Point, Lowry Park and Davis Island Seaplane Basin are listed as ADA accessible (City of Tampa, Boat Ramps). The Lowry Park ramp sits inside Lowry Park across from ZooTampa and is the only city ramp with two ramps.

Only Davis Island Seaplane Basin and Picnic Island Park are listed as open around the clock, which makes them the city options for a launch before dawn. Davis Island Seaplane Basin has no restrooms, while Picnic Island Park has restrooms and sits next to the dog beach.

The Tampa ramp page does not list a launch fee for any of the four ramps, and it was last updated March 19, 2026. Ballast Point also has a bait shop and a restaurant, The Taste of Boston, inside the park.

Hillsborough County maintains 16 public boat ramps, charging $5 to launch plus $2 more for entry when the ramp is inside a Conservation Park.

The county names Edward Medard Conservation Park, Riverview Civic Center, Harney Park and Baker Creek as favorites for freshwater boating, and Cockroach Bay, E.G. Simmons Conservation Park, Williams Park, Salty Sol Fleishman and Courtney Campbell as the ramps for getting offshore (Hillsborough County, Boat Ramps).

Hillsborough County announced that the picnic shelter at Ruskin Commongood Boat Ramp would be replaced starting 9/3/2026, with the work expected to take about one month and the shelter unavailable during that time; the notice was still posted on the county page on October 14, 2026.

Cockroach Bay Preserve State Park, a series of islands at the mouth of the Little Manatee River in the southeast region of Tampa Bay, can only be reached by private watercraft. Its islands total 617 acres, about 500 of them mangrove swamp, with two canoe and kayak paddling trails and no facilities on the islands (Florida State Parks, Cockroach Bay Preserve). The nearest public ramp is at the end of Cockroach Bay Road, west of U.S. 41 and four miles north of the Manatee County line.

Marjorie Park Yacht Basin, the City of Tampa marina on Davis Islands, charges transient boats $2.00 an hour for up to four hours and $2.00 per foot per day for stays of 5 to 24 hours.

Weekly dockage at the Davis Islands marina is $7.15 per foot plus tax, and its 32 monthly slips for permanent tenants have a waiting list (City of Tampa, Marjorie Park Yacht Basin). The marina sells off-road diesel and mid-grade recreational gasoline at direct cost plus 40 percent, and pump-out service runs during operating hours at prices that vary, so the marina asks boaters to call.

The office at 97 Columbia Drive, Tampa, FL 33606 answers at (813) 259-1604 and is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. The dock master building has restrooms, a laundry room, showers, a weather station and a ship store. The basin is a block from the Davis Islands business district with its convenience stores, banks and restaurants, which makes it the city slip for a crew stopping for supplies.

The marina page was updated September 9, 2026, and the rates above are the ones posted that day. Anyone hoping for a monthly Davis Islands slip should call the marina to be added to the waiting list rather than arrive expecting space.

Yes: the 14-mile Tampa Bypass Canal takes boats, with a 10 horsepower, no-wake limit north of SR 60 and no powerboat limit on the salt water stretch south of SR 60 to McKay Bay.

The Southwest Florida Water Management District says the Tampa Bypass Canal protects Temple Terrace and Tampa from floods by diverting floodwaters from the Hillsborough River, and the canal is also a water supply source for the city of Tampa (SWFWMD, Tampa Bypass Canal). Canal recreation areas are open daily from sunrise to sunset, and bank fishing is allowed from public access points and parks along the Tampa Bypass Canal, with FWC license rules applying.

Boats reach the fresh water section from Harney Canal Park at 7171 North US 301, a 12-acre Hillsborough County site with a boat ramp, fishing pier and portable toilets. Its ramp is open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. in summer and 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. in winter, and boat ramp fees apply. The salt water section is reached from McKay Bay or from private ramps.

On the Hillsborough River itself, John B. Sargeant Conservation Park at 12702 U.S. Hwy. 301 N. in Thonotosassa is the Hillsborough County park best known for boating access to the Hillsborough River State Canoe Trail, and the county's Lower Hillsborough Wilderness Preserve takes in 13 miles of the river (Hillsborough County, Wilderness Parks). Hillsborough River State Park, covered in the Tampa parks guides, has three more canoe and kayak launches upstream.

Anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 1988 must carry a Boating Safety Education Identification Card to operate a boat on Tampa Bay or any Florida water, and most motorboats must be registered through the county Tax Collector.

For Tampa residents, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission lists approved boater safety courses, and a course completion certificate serves as a temporary way to meet the card requirement until the card arrives (FWC, Boater Education). Last verified: October 14, 2026, on the FWC website.

Every vessel except non-motor-powered boats under 16 feet and non-motor-powered canoes, kayaks, racing shells and rowing sculls must be registered through the local Tax Collector, which for a Tampa owner means the Hillsborough County Tax Collector (FWC, Boating Regulations). Registration must be done within 30 days of purchase, and the Certificate of Registration must be on board whenever the boat is running.

On Tampa Bay as elsewhere in Florida, a child under 6 must wear a USCG-approved Type I, II or III life jacket aboard a vessel under 26 feet while it is underway. Vessels 16 feet or longer must also carry at least one USCG-approved throwable Type IV device, immediately available.

Manatee protection zones in Hillsborough County, where Tampa sits, are set by state rule 68C-22.013, Hillsborough County Zones, whose current version took effect January 5, 2005.

The Hillsborough County rule sits in the Florida Manatee Sanctuary Act chapter of the Florida Administrative Code, administered by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (Florida Administrative Code, 68C-22.013). FWC manatee protection rules restrict the speed and operation of vessels where needed to protect manatees from collisions and harassment, and in especially important areas they can prohibit or limit entry (FWC, Manatee Protection Zones).

Counties can also adopt local manatee zones by ordinance, but FWC must approve them, and local zones cannot include the main marked channel of the Florida Intracoastal Waterway or waters within 100 feet of it. The statewide zone rules sit in Chapter 68C-22, and FWC publishes maps of the zones, so a Tampa boater can check the Hillsborough County boundaries before leaving the ramp and then follow the posted signs on the water.