A new floating attraction has settled into Winthrop harbor this month, letting up to six people soak in a wood-heated hot tub while it drifts past Boston Logan International Airport's runways at a leisurely three miles per hour. Boston Hot Tub Boats officially launched in early August 2026, calling itself Boston's first and only hot tub boat experience, and it operates out of Atlantis Marina at 550 Pleasant St. in Winthrop.
The family-run business is the creation of owner Marie Bocquet, who moved to Boston four years before the venture opened and spent two years working to bring it to life, according to MassLive. Bocquet has said the idea came to her during a bachelorette party on a floating hot tub in Copenhagen: “It was during a bachelorette party and I thought to myself, ‘This is fun. It's super unique,’” she said, per the same account. Her husband helps run the business alongside her, and the company says it has received an overwhelmingly positive reception since opening.
Each vessel is outfitted with a wood-burning stove to heat the water, a Bluetooth speaker, floating cup holders, and waterproof phone cases, MassLive reports. The hot tub water can reach up to 104 degrees Fahrenheit and can be adjusted to a guest's personal preference, though federal regulators at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission set that 104-degree figure as a hard ceiling nationwide specifically to prevent hyperthermia and heat stroke.
What a Two-Hour Cruise Actually Looks Like
Groups can venture out for up to two hours, cruising past a nearby marsh or small beach inside the marina while other, larger boats operate around them without interfering, according to the same report. Bocquet described the appeal simply: “It's a nice way to spend a relaxing afternoon, chatting and listening to music,” she said, adding that “it's like you've been in a hot tub for two hours so all your muscles are relaxed and you feel good.” The marina's location beneath Logan's low-altitude flight paths means guests can watch planes take off and land from the runway throughout the ride, a quirk of Winthrop's geography that CBS News Boston also highlighted in its coverage of the marina's dockside setup, which includes heated individual changing tents, lockers, and restrooms so guests can change into swimwear right at the dock.
Bookings run roughly $493 on weekdays and about $557 on weekends, with reservations accepted through the company's website, and the last available daily time slot is 4 p.m. Booking terms published by the reservation platform Greetwell show a $150 fee for cancellations made within seven days of a rental, while bad-weather disruptions are treated as free reschedules rather than refunds. Rental rules reported by Country 102.5 allow guests to bring beer, wine, hard seltzers, and canned cocktails aboard, but the company strictly bans hard liquor, glass containers, food, smoking, vaping, and cannabis.
Safety Rules Built Around an Unlicensed Captain
Because the boat is self-driven, one designated guest serves as captain for each trip and must present a valid driver's license and sign a captain waiver before departure — but that person does not need a boating license to operate the vessel. The captain must remain sober while operating the boat, a rule that echoes Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 90B Section 8, which makes operating any motorized vessel under the influence of alcohol or drugs illegal and punishable by fines up to $1,000, imprisonment, and potential suspension of driving privileges.
Staff review the boat's safety features with guests before departure and maintain contact with harbormasters and the Coast Guard throughout each rental, MassLive reports. The boat stores life jackets onboard and carries walkie-talkies for communication with staff, while guests are required to use a floating buoy during the trip. Coast Guard and state rules also require any child under 12 aboard to wear an appropriately sized, approved life jacket for the entire rental, per Country 102.5's reporting on the company's policies.
The exemption from a boating license may not last much longer for casual operators statewide. Under Massachusetts' Hanson-Milone Act, enacted in January 2025, all motorboat operators born after January 1, 1989, must obtain a state boater safety certificate starting April 1, 2026, though law enforcement will not begin assessing penalties until September 1, 2026. Because the hot tub boats rely on rotating, uncrewed guest captains rather than licensed commercial masters, the business leans heavily on its waivers, sober-captain policy, and dockside briefings to stay within state boating law as those rules evolve.
Sanitation and Growth Plans
Between rentals, the vessel is drained, sanitized, and refilled with clean tap water, according to MassLive's reporting. Bocquet is also exploring adding a captain service, which would free every guest on board to drink since a hired operator would handle the boat instead of a designated sober rider. She has said she hopes to expand the fleet, which currently consists of a single boat, by adding two more in the near future, and the company plans to remain open year-round.
Part of a Wider Cold-Water Trend
The floating hot tub concept did not originate in Winthrop. Dutch designer Frank de Bruijn created the first version, known as HotTug, in Rotterdam in 2012, pairing wood-fired water heating with electric motor propulsion, according to Live the World. Boston is also arriving relatively late to the trend domestically — as The B-Side has noted, similar floating spa operations launched years earlier in Seattle, Chicago, and the San Francisco Bay Area, making Winthrop's version part of a broader pattern of cold-water port cities adopting the novelty.
