The standard, in full
Six checks. All of them objective, all of them things you could confirm yourself given an afternoon, and none of them for sale.
- 01
Sunbiz registration
We look the business up in the Florida Division of Corporations record and confirm the entity is real and active. The document number goes on the listing so you can pull it up yourself.
- 02
Local presence
A street address inside a corridor zip code, or for mobile operators, evidence of routine work here: reviews that name actual marinas and ramps, not generic praise from anywhere in South Florida.
- 03
Certificate of insurance
We request a current COI and keep it on file. Most marinas in the corridor will ask for one before they let a contractor through the gate anyway.
- 04
Local knowledge call
A short phone screen with one question only somebody who works here can answer fast, usually about which ramp or marina they stage out of. It is a low bar that a national outfit with a Jupiter landing page cannot clear.
- 05
Customer references
Two recent local customers, contacted with the business owner permission, briefly confirmed. Not a survey, just a check that the work happened and happened here.
- 06
Category licensing
Charters need a USCG license and an FWC charter license. Dock and seawall builders need a Florida contractor license valid for marine work. Dealers need a Florida vessel dealer license. We check the number, not the claim.
Licensing, by category
These are checked by number rather than taken on trust, and the number goes on the listing so you can check it too.
Dock & Seawall
Florida contractor license valid for marine work, verified against DBPR by license number.
Fishing Charters
USCG OUPV or Master license, plus a separate FWC charter license. Florida requires both. A USCG license on its own is not enough.
Dealers
Valid Florida vessel dealer license, verified by license number.
What counts as local
A street address inside one of these zip codes, or for a mobile operator, real evidence of routine work here. Reviews that name actual marinas, ramps, and streets count. Generic praise from somewhere in South Florida does not.
A shop an hour away that would happily drive up is not local, however good it is. That is the whole reason this site exists.
Fair questions about all this
Can a business pay to be verified?
No. A featured listing buys placement on the page and is labelled as such wherever it appears. The badge is a record of checks that were completed, so there is nothing there to sell.
Does a badge mean the work will be good?
It means the business is real, registered, insured, licensed for what it does, based here, and that two recent local customers confirmed the work happened. That rules out a lot. It is not a review, and it is not a warranty.
What happens if a licence lapses?
The badge comes off. We re-check insurance and licences annually, and immediately if somebody reports a problem. Every listing has a report link for exactly this.
Why not just show star ratings like everyone else?
Ratings on directories are easy to farm and hard to audit. The things on this list are either true or not, and you can check most of them yourself in an afternoon. That is a lower ceiling and a much higher floor.
What gets a business turned down?
Usually one of three things: the entity is not active on Sunbiz, there is no real evidence of working in these five towns, or the category licence does not check out. Being small, new, or mobile is not a reason on its own.