Community Boating Center is a non-profit organization fostering small-watercraft education, access, safe recreation, and marine stewardship on Bellingham Bay. Based at 555 Harris Ave in Bellingham’s Fairhaven waterfront, the CBC offers hourly boat rentals, season passes, youth and adult programs, guided experiences, and community sailing events.
The rental fleet includes kayaks, paddleboards, rowboats, and dinghy and keelboat sailboats. Hourly rates run $20 for a single kayak or paddleboard, $30 for a tandem kayak/paddleboard or a rowboat, $35 for a dinghy sailboat, $50 for a keelboat (crew required, 5-person max), and $50 for the Mega SUP, a giant stand-up paddleboard fitting 4 to 10 people. Some craft, including sea kayaks, sliding-seat rowboats, dinghies, and keelboats, require a skill test before renting. For regular visitors, Season Passes offer unlimited access during open rental hours for an entire year, ranging from the $250 Human Powered Pass (paddling equipment only) up to the $600 Keelboat Plus Pass (access to all rental equipment), with a 50% discount available for families of three or more, people with disabilities, students, and active-duty military and veterans.
Beyond rentals, the CBC runs guided experiences including a Bioluminescence Paddle and evening kayak and sailing tours along the Fairhaven waterfront, suited to ages 10 and up with all abilities welcome. Youth programs, adult classes, private lessons, and community sessions round out the CBC’s broader educational mission, along with scholarship opportunities so cost isn’t a barrier to getting on the water.
Rentals run seasonally: spring hours (mid-April to summer solstice) are weekends 10am-8pm and Wednesday/Friday 2pm-8pm; summer hours (solstice to Labor Day) run weekends 10am-8pm and Monday-Friday 2pm-8pm; fall hours (Labor Day to mid-October) run weekends 10am-sunset and Wednesday/Friday 2pm-sunset; rentals are closed in winter, with office hours by appointment.
For anyone in Bellingham looking to rent a kayak, paddleboard, rowboat, or sailboat, or take part in a guided tour or boating class, Community Boating Center offers a well-rounded, education-focused nonprofit boating hub on Bellingham Bay.
