Temperatures are rising, and that gives entrepreneurial individuals the ability to make money with hot-weather side hustles. These side gigs capitalize on the human desire to head outdoors to soak up the sunshine. And they often involve doing things you like as hobbies, like boating and swimming.
What can you do and how much can you earn? Here are seven hot-weather side hustles and where you can find them.
Go fishing
Love fishing so much that you take your boat out as often as you can? Why not make some money by adding a few passengers on those trips?
A site called LakeHop enlists boat owners to register and offer water-based excursions. These could involve taking a group fishing, water skiing, tubing or on a sunset cruise. You set the agenda, rates and when you and your boat are available. Boat owners commonly charge $50 an hour or more.
If your boat is docked on an ocean rather than a lake, you can do the same thing with BoatSetter and GetMyBoat. Like LakeHop, these sites let you set the rates and the terms. Naturally, the bigger and nicer your boat, the more you can earn. However, where LakeHop usually assumes you’ll drive the boat, these other sites let you rent the boat without driving it, too. If you prefer to captain the ship, you make that part of the terms.
Teach surfing
To be sure, avid surfers hit the waves at any time of the year. But you’d be hard-pressed to find people eager to learn when it’s 60 degrees outside. But as a hot-weather side hustle, surf lessons are what summer dreams are made of.
A site called TeachMeTo allows surfers to post profiles and set their own rates and availability. To find surf lessons, you’d need to plug in a ZIP code near the waterway you want to visit. In Malibu, for instance, surf lessons are offered at rates ranging from $48 to $120 per hour. Coaches get 100 percent of the rate they set. However, the site adds a 20 percent commission on top of your rate to pay the site’s expenses.
Teach kids to swim
If you’ve got access to a swimming pool and want to teach kids to swim, you can often charge $20 to $30 per hour while spending all day in the water. This hot-weather side hustle can benefit from free word-of-mouth advertising on the local social media site Nextdoor.
Nextdoor connects residents in tight geographic communities so they can share information about lost dogs and crime and provide recommendations for service providers and contractors. It’s quickly become the go-to site for people offering neighborhood services, from house cleaning and appliance repair to swim lessons and tutoring.
And, while the site does support advertising, it allows neighbors to post messages for free. So, at this time of year, it’s pretty common to see posts like: “My CPR-trained daughter, a water polo player, is home from college and teaching summer swim lessons. Message us if you’re interested.”
From the responses in my neighborhood, it looks like a great way to get your swim school started.
Rent your pool
Of course, you don’t need to teach swimming to make money from your pool. You can also simply list your swimming pool for rent on Swimply. Swimply invites pool owners to create a profile showing photos of your yard and pool and what you charge to rent it out by the hour.
Owners determine how many people can use the pool and when it is available. They also set the rates and pool rules. Potential renters contact you when they’re interested in a rental.
Rent your RV
Hot-weather season is also the prime time to rent out an recreational vehicle, if you happen to have one sitting your driveway. RV rentals have been hot since the COVID-19 pandemic and continue to draw millions of potential customers to peer-to-peer rental sites such as Outdoorsy and RVShare.
Owners set rental rates and availability and also say whether they rent out ancillary products like pop-ups and camp stoves. RV owners typically command anywhere from $50 to $450 per night for their rigs, depending on the age, size and type of RV being rented.
Sell garden produce
Backyard gardeners know that it’s always feast or famine. In a bad year, your garden might not produce enough fruit and vegetables to even feed your family. In a good year, you’ve got enough for an army — bushels of tomatoes, corn, zucchini and stone fruit.
If you want to earn a few bucks from this excess, take a look at renting a booth at your local farmers market.
The California Farmers’ Market Association charges backyard growers just a $25 application fee. Other organizations that run farmers markets have fewer restrictions and charge as little as $20 a week for a booth. With today’s produce prices, you could cover that on your first sale.
Work at concerts and events
Events can happen at any time of the year, but hot-weather months are when open-air venues schedule concerts and performances.
Celeste Durve, CEO of TheViperGirls, for instance, says her company is currently hiring to staff events like the Rolling Stones and Blink-182 concerts at SoFi stadium in Los Angeles. VIPER has a year-round contract to handle the staffing at SoFi’s VIP lounge, so, while you’re working, you’re also steps away from the stage.
Pay varies by your role, but usually ranges $25 to $60 per hour, she adds. The best way to apply is through the site’s Instagram page.
Other sites that hire event staff include Qwick, GravyWork, Instawork, Wonolo and BlueCrew.
Kristof is the editor of SideHusl.com, an independent website that reviews moneymaking opportunities in the gig economy.
