Houseboat Rentals

If you have never been to Lake Powell you should look at a map for it's location, it's very remote. You won't find freeways or city malls within 150 miles of the southern end. Driving to Powell is typically the biggest ordeal to cope with, but it's worth the trip. Generally speaking if you're driving from LA, Phoenix, or Las Vegas you'll want to rent your houseboat at the Wahweap Marina at the south end of the lake. Las Vegas is the closet major airport with reasonable flight schedules and fares. Vegas is about 250 miles from Wahweap Marina. Phoenix is 280 miles away from Wahweap.

For summertime you should try to make reservations as far in advance as possible if you plan to launch your toys at Wahweap Marina.

If you are driving from the Salt Lake or Denver areas, Bullfrog or Halls Crossing are the marinas to rent from since it's closer at the north end of the lake. Houseboat rentals at Bullfrog or Halls Crossing have less demand so you can generally make reservations with less notice. Make sure you check with ARA to confirm the marina at Bull Frog is open, recent water levels have closed the marina.

If you're flying in and renting a houseboat from Bullfrog consider flying into Salt Lake City, UT, it's the closest major airport to the north end of the lake.

City Miles to Bullfrog Marina

Salt Lake City, UT                       302 miles
Grand Junction, CO                    225 miles
Denver, CO                                   489 miles
Las Vegas, NV                              408 miles

Halls Crossing is just a few miles from Bullfrog on the other side of the lake. A ferry ride is usually available from Bullfrog if you rent from Halls Crossing, but again, double check with ARA about what's running due to recent low lake levels.

Ski-Boat and PWC rentals outside of the National Park

It is possible to rent boats outside of the national park boundary but you must launch and retrieve the boat yourself, or have a company authorized by the national park service do it for you. For a list of authorized businesses with the appropriate "incidental business permit", see our page for a list of SERVICES. If it's only a ski boat, PWC, or fishing boat, it's easy to rent and launch those yourself. You'll likely find it costs less to rent outside of the park (such as Page, AZ, 6mi from Wahweap Marina) but a little more hassle.

Personal Watercraft rental tips at Powell:

If you are considering renting a PWC at the lake, ARAMARK only rents TigerShark craft (my least favorite). I suggest you consider renting a SeaDoo, available in town at Page, AZ about 15 miniutes from Wahweap Marina. It's well known that Seadoo's are more fun, nimble, faster, comfortable, and reliable versus the more lame Tiger Shark products. If you want to ski, wakeboard, or go tubing behind a PWC, you can only do this behind a 3 or 4 man craft legally. Seadoo models GTI or GTX (or higher) three man craft are a good match to do this, having enough power to pull a 165lb skier on a big single ski, or a person up to 200lbs. on a tube.

MORE PWC SAFETY TIPS