Florida man 'playing Monopoly for real' reveals the true costs of owning a $5,000,000 yacht and it's not for the faint-hearted

Published on Mar 17, 2026 at 6:38 PM (UTC+4)
by Alessandro Renesis

Last updated on Mar 17, 2026 at 6:38 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by Mason Jones

This real estate mogul in Tampa Bay broke down the cost of owning a $5 million superyacht, and it’s probably worse than you think.

We all know that buying a very expensive yacht comes with even higher running costs.

The content creator factored in monthly fuel costs on top of maintenance, paying a captain, insurance, and parking.

That number is much higher than everyone assumed, and it confirmed a long-held belief about yachts.

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This is how much money you need to maintain a $5 million yacht in Florida

Ben Mallah, a real estate mogul who lives in Tampa Bay, Florida, took to his social media accounts to share the monthly price of a luxury yacht.

‘Parking’ the yacht alone costs thousands of dollars a month.

In his estimation, docking the yacht has never cost him less than $7,000 every month.

And that’s pretty conservative, because in general he says the true average is closer to $10,000-$15,000 per month.

Superyachts like his also require a captain and a crew, and that’s not cheap either.

For a boat of his size (30 meters or 100 feet), you’ll need to pay the captain at least $100,000 a year, and that’s on top of other crew members you can’t really do without.

Keeping your superyacht safe is essential, and making sure that you’re covered if it gets accidentally damaged, Ben says insurance is about $4,000-$5,000 a month.

It used to be closer to $2,000, but maritime insurance in Florida has recently skyrocketed.

You also need regular upkeep, so hiring maintenance people and buying maintenance equipment costs around $4,000 a month, according to Ben.

All in all, you’re looking at at least $500,000-$600,000 a year in maintenance costs.

Then there’s the ‘big one’

A 100-foot yacht can be classified as a mid-size yacht, but it still needs a lot of fuel.

We’re talking about at least 100 gallons in an hour on average.

Generally, you can expect to pay between $4 and $5 per gallon, so that works out at around $400 or $500 for every hour of sailing.

Ben used the example of a ‘short’ 2.5-hour journey from Miami to the Bahamas, which ended up costing thousands of dollars in fuel alone.

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After beginning his automotive writing career at DriveTribe, Alessandro has been with Supercar Blondie since the launch of the website in 2022. In fact, he penned the very first article published on supercarblondie.com. He’s covered subjects from cars to aircraft, watches, and luxury yachts - and even crypto. He can largely be found heading up the site’s new-supercar and SBX coverage and being the first to bring our readers the news that they’re hungry for.