Abandoned and Derelict Boats in San Diego

For a boat that is simply left behind, the right agency depends on where it is. San Diego Bay and its tidelands, which span five cities, belong to the Port of San Diego. Mission Bay and the City's ocean beaches are City parkland, patrolled on the water by San Diego Fire-Rescue lifeguards. A boat on a trailer parked on a street is a parking matter for the Police Department. Beach trash, stranded marine animals and water-quality closures are covered in our beach and bay problems guide.

When you report, give the most precise location you can (nearest marina, pier, buoy or landmark, or GPS coordinates), the boat's name and any registration number on the hull, whether it is afloat, aground or sunk, whether anyone seems to be living aboard, and whether you see fuel or oil on the water.

The Port's general bay information page says San Diego Bay is under the jurisdiction of the Port and its Harbor Police. The Harbor Police page says its vessel patrol answers police and fire calls across the bay, including marinas, anchorages and moorings, and that a Bay Control Officer handles vessel impounds, anchorage permits and environmental spills.

• How to report. Call the Harbor Police non-emergency line, 619-686-6272. The contact page says dispatch runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and lists 911 or 619-223-1133 for emergencies, VHF channel 16 for hailing, and the Harbor Police Mooring Office at 619-686-6227. In an April 2026 news release, the Port said abandoned vessels should be reported to the U.S. Coast Guard or to Harbor Police at that non-emergency number.
• Zuniga Jetty Shoals. The Port describes this roughly 900-acre area just east of Zuniga Jetty, at the bay entrance, as a place where boats are often abandoned, becoming navigation hazards and leaching chemicals and plastics. A project that began in November 2025, paid for from a $1.4 million Caltrans grant, removed 122,060 pounds of debris there, mostly sunken or sinking boats. The City's Municipal Code also limits leaving a boat unoccupied at anchor in the Shoals to two hours (SDMC 63.20.22(a)(3)).
• Exceptions. The Port notes that the roughly 70-acre Naval Training Center channel next to Liberty Station is under U.S. Navy jurisdiction; Harbor Police enforce the law there, but the Navy is ultimately responsible for hazards in that channel, including sunken or abandoned boats. The Port also says South San Diego Bay has many wrecks, shoals and sunken obstructions, and that beaching boats there is not allowed.

Anchoring rules on San Diego Bay

Most derelict boats start as anchored boats. According to the Port's guest docks and anchorage page, it runs two 72-hour anchorages and a Cruiser Anchorage for recreational boats. There is no fee to anchor in them, but a permit is required, and Harbor Police or harbormaster staff can refuse a permit when an anchorage is too crowded.

Permits for A1 and A5 are booked through the Port's online boating reservations; its Harbor Police FAQ adds that there must be a 24-hour gap before applying for another anchorage permit. The Port's anchorages page says that from January 1, 2025, its designated safe-harbor spot to drop anchor moved from La Playa Cove to the Glorietta Bay Basin because of crowding, that the spot is not an official Coast Guard anchorage, and that boats must keep out of the channel and anchor at their own risk. It also describes a lane between San Diego and Coronado, over submerged pipelines and cables, where anchoring is never allowed. The rules are in the San Diego Unified Port District Code; the Port's vessel regulations page lists, among others, section 4.38 (anchorages A1, A5 and A9), section 8.24 (abandoning of watercraft prohibited) and section 8.25 (authority to remove watercraft). The full code is linked from the Port's Port Code page.

The lifeguards' overview says harbor patrol and ocean rescue for boaters are handled by the lifeguard Boating Safety Unit at Quivira Basin on Mission Bay, which enforces boating rules, issues mooring and long-term beaching permits and staffs the 24-hour Lifeguard Communications Center. Lifeguards cover about 24 miles of coastline from Point Loma to Torrey Pines, plus Mission Bay. The Municipal Code names the head of lifeguard services as Mission Bay Harbormaster (SDMC 63.25.2).

• How to report. The lifeguards' contact page lists 619-221-8899 during business hours and 619-221-8800 after hours and on weekends, plus [email protected], with 911 or VHF channel 16 for emergencies. The City's mooring page says lifeguards enforce illegal moorings and beach bars and lists 619-221-8899 for enforcement issues.
• Where boats may stay. The City's boating regulations page says overnight anchoring in Mission Bay is allowed only in Mariners Basin, for up to 72 hours. For longer stays, the City's Developed Regional Parks permit center issues mooring permits for boats up to 25 feet in San Juan Cove, Santa Barbara Cove and Mariners Basin, and permits for beach bars, where small boats are fastened to a bar in the sand.

The Municipal Code rules behind this, as of the March 2025 code update posted by the City:

Source: SDMC Chapter 6, Article 3, Division 00. Section 63.20.22 also covers the ocean side: it applies to any City beach area, including the waters next to it.

• Ocean beaches. The City's boating rules say beaching is prohibited along the oceanfront except at the La Jolla Shores boat launch. Under SDMC 63.20.9, boats other than inflatables without motors may only be launched or landed in designated zones, with an exception for a boat in genuine distress. A boat washed up or left on an ocean beach is a lifeguard matter.
• Mission Bay beaches. The City says beaching is allowed in many parts of Mission Bay where there is no swim area or waterski landing zone, but not at the north end of Fiesta Island. Overnight, the west, north and east shores between Santa Clara Point and the Ingraham Street Bridge are off limits except at permitted beach bars (SDMC 63.25.73, with the weekend and holiday exception in the table above).
• Boat launch zones. A boat may not be anchored, parked or left in a City boat launch zone for more than 15 consecutive minutes or 30 minutes in a day, and vehicles may not be left unattended there (SDMC 63.20.10).
• Do not move or strip it. SDMC 63.20.21 makes it unlawful for an unauthorized person to mar, destroy or move any boat on a beach, in adjacent waters or in Mission Bay Park, even one that looks abandoned. Report it instead.

Old and sinking boats often still hold fuel, oil and batteries. The federal National Response Center, run by the U.S. Coast Guard, says anyone who witnesses an oil spill, chemical release or maritime security incident should call its hotline at 1-800-424-8802. It explains that it is not itself a response agency: it takes the first report and forwards it to the federal and state agencies that respond.

• What counts. The Port's mariner resources page treats oil on the water as reportable when it produces a sheen or discoloration on the surface, and lists the National Response Center and the State Office of Emergency Services, 800-852-7550, as the calls to make. It asks for the location, the type and amount of material if known, any threat to people and any harm to wildlife.
• In or near San Diego Bay. The Port also lists Coast Guard San Diego at 619-295-3121 or VHF channel 16, and Harbor Police dispatch at 619-686-6272. Spills or dumping on land that drain to the bay go to the Port's stormwater line, 619-686-6254.
• Mission Bay. Discharging oil, fuel or other petroleum products into Mission Bay is unlawful (SDMC 63.25.61 and 63.25.62). Call the National Response Center and let the lifeguards know.

Sewage running into the bay or ocean from a pipe or manhole is a different problem; see our sewer spills guide and storm drains guide.

On land, a boat is treated as a vehicle. The Municipal Code's traffic definitions (section 81.0102) list any boat as a recreational vehicle and any trailer as a non-motorized vehicle, so the City's oversized-vehicle rules apply to a boat on its trailer:

• No overnight street parking. SDMC 86.0139 bars recreational and non-motorized vehicles from public streets, park roads and park parking lots from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m., and within 50 feet of an intersection at any time. Under SDMC 86.0141 these rules take effect where signs are posted. The 72-hour parking limit applies to them as well.
• Santa Clara Point lot. SDMC 86.0135 bans parking a boat or unattached boat trailer in the Santa Clara Point parking facilities on Mission Bay from 2 a.m. to 5 a.m., unless it is hitched to a vehicle, and lets police impound it where signs are posted.

The 72-hour rule, how to file a Get It Done parking report, current fines and what happens after a report are all in our abandoned vehicles guide; the same process covers a boat or trailer that never moves. Source: SDMC Chapter 8, Article 6, Division 1. If it was towed, see our towed or impounded vehicle guide.

California's Division of Boating and Waterways (DBW) runs the Surrendered and Abandoned Vessel Exchange (SAVE), which combines the former Abandoned Watercraft Abatement Fund and the Vessel Turn In Program (VTIP). It pays grants to local agencies to remove abandoned recreational boats and to take in unwanted ones before they are abandoned.

• Who can surrender. DBW's Surrendered Vessel Program page says you must be the registered owner, have a clear title and sign a release of interest, then arrange the drop-off with a participating local agency. Under Harbors and Navigation Code section 526.1, as DBW describes it, the agency decides on its own whether a boat is at risk of being abandoned and whether to accept it. Commercial vessels are not covered.
• San Diego contacts. As of November 6, 2026, DBW lists two participating agencies here: San Diego Fire-Rescue at (619) 221-8800 and the San Diego Unified Port District at (619) 821-1830. DBW's list for Southern California also includes Oceanside's small craft harbor department.
• Funding. For fiscal year 2026, DBW lists SAVE grants of $34,000 to San Diego Fire and Rescue and $30,000 to the San Diego Unified Port District. For abandoned boats, the grants can pay for removal, towing, storage, hazardous material removal, appraisal, lien sale and disposal; for surrendered boats, removal, one tow, hazardous material removal, demolition and disposal.

There is no public tracking number or posted timeline for boat reports as of November 6, 2026. What the rules say:

• Mission Bay, City beaches and adjacent waters. A boat left in violation of SDMC 63.20.22 may be removed without notice, with removal and storage costs charged to the owner. Within ten calendar days of an impound, the City sends a registered letter to the owner of record, if it can identify one. If the owner does not appear and pay within 30 calendar days, the boat may be removed, destroyed, sold or otherwise disposed of. Sunken or abandoned boats may be removed and disposed of at the owner's expense, and the City may recover its clean-up and repair costs. Boats left in violation of the Mission Bay anchoring and beach rules (SDMC 63.25.71(c) and 63.25.73(b)) may also be removed without notice.
• San Diego Bay. Harbor Police handle vessel impounds through the Bay Control Officer, and the Port Code has sections on abandoning watercraft and on the authority to remove watercraft. The Port's Zuniga Shoals project shows the slower route for boats already on the bottom: surveying, setting priorities and hiring a contractor, paid for with grant money.
• Paying for it. Both the City (San Diego Fire-Rescue) and the Port receive State SAVE grants for abatement and disposal, which require a 10 percent local match, according to DBW.

For problems away from the water, see our guide to reporting a problem to the City of San Diego.