Renting A Pontoon Boat Lake Of The Ozarks

If you're heading to Lake of the Ozarks this summer and you want to rent a pontoon boat it would be wise to reserve one in advance. Several marinas are reporting increased interest in renting boats and some folks are being disappointed.

This article from OzarksFirst tells the story ...

(Branson, MO) -- It's great weather right now to be out on the lake. But renting a boat may not be that simple.

Several Branson marinas have seen an significant increase this year in the number of people renting boats. And they say the type of customers they are getting is also changing.

Boating season is at its peak, and that means you'll hear a lot more of these sounds on the lake. While that response is nothing new, Rock Lane resort owner Jim Heckman says this season is shaping up to be quite different from last season.

"We've been busy since back in May. Last year, we didn't ever get open until the end of May," said Heckman. Heckman said there are probably several reasons for the increase in business. The temperatures are warmer, lake levels are lower and gas prices are nearly a dollar less than year than a year ago. While that's great for business, it also means people are in a frenzy to rent boats. "We'd probably like to find a couple of these people over here that aren't going to use their boats because we could use them to rent since we have no availability right now for 4th of July."

Heckman said he's seen a big increase in the number of people coming to the lake from out of state. For instance, Heckman's Marina has several boats from Indiana, Illinois and one from Colorado. Arlington Heights, Illinois residents Diane and Bob Shaw have never been to Branson before but decided to come here instead of their usual trip to Florida. It saved them some money, but they're learning that when it comes to renting boats, the early bird gets the worm. "A lot of places have the boats reserved and if you didn't get here early, you have to wait a day."

The Litzinger family did manage to get a boat for the day, and they say so far, it's been worth it. "It's fun. We don't do a whole lot of tubing or have a lot of lakes in Southern California."

Several Branson Marina owners told us that it's a good idea to reserve a boat in advance.
They say you can sometimes rent boats the day-of, if it's on a week day. A two hour pontoon ride will cost you around $100. To rent it all day costs $300. A ski boat is about $140 for two hours, $400 for all day.