<p>Turbulent mixing is a vital component of vertical particulate transport, but ocean global circulation models (OGCMs) generally have low resolution representations of near-surface mixing. Furthermore, turbulence data is often not provided in reanalysis products. We present 1D parametrizations of wind-driven turbulent mixing in the ocean surface mixed layer, which are designed to be easily included in 3D Lagrangian model experiments. Stochastic transport is computed by Markov-0 or Markov-1 models, and we discuss the advantages/disadvantages of two vertical profiles for the vertical diffusion coefficient <em>K<sub>z</sub></em>. All vertical diffusion profiles and stochastic transport models lead to stable concentration profiles for buoyant particles, which for particles with rise velocities of 0.03 and 0.003 m s<sup>−1</sup> agree relatively well with concentration profiles from field measurements of microplastics. Markov-0 models provide good model performance for integration timesteps of Δ<em>t</em> ≈ 30 seconds, and can be readily applied in studying the behaviour of buoyant particulates in the ocean. Markov-1 models do not consistently improve model performance relative to Markov-0 models, and require an additional parameter that is poorly constrained.</p>