Florida boating and Jet Ski rules

Florida does not issue a recreational boating license

Legal rule Florida does not issue a general recreational boating license the way it issues a driver license. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission issues a Boating Safety Education Identification Card. The permanent card documents completion of the required education. FWC says that card is valid for life.

The central operator rule is in section 327.395, the Osmany “Ozzie” Castellanos Boating Safety Education Act. A person born on or after January 1, 1988 may not operate a vessel powered by a motor of 10 horsepower or more unless the accepted documents are aboard. Exemptions exist. A qualifying visitor credential can be one of those documents. The word in the statute is “on or after,” and FWC’s card guidance uses the same date.

That answer covers the operator. It does not register the boat, put a life jacket aboard, allow a Jet Ski after dark, or let anyone fish. FWC handles boating education and on-water enforcement. Ordinary vessel title and registration go through a county tax collector. Fishing licenses are a third program. The shorter companion page, Florida boating laws, collects the same core rules plus several local zone examples. This page is the full pre-departure check.

Four separate checks before leaving the dock

Keep these four questions apart. A yes on one line is not a yes on the next line. If a fact is missing, the result is “Check this requirement.” Missing information is not permission.

Do I need a boating card? Start with the situation

“Old enough to operate” and “old enough to rent” are different questions. Before booking for a teenager, ask the business which people it will allow at the controls. A statutory minimum does not require a company to rent to every legally eligible person.

A decision guide that refuses to guess

Use one row at a time. A blank row means “Check this requirement.” It does not mean the trip is approved. Legal rules, a rental company’s house rules, and safety recommendations stay in separate columns in the sections below. A house rule can be stricter than the statute. A safety recommendation can be stricter than both.

The permanent card and the papers that can ride with it

Legal rule For a person born on or after January 1, 1988, section 327.395 requires specified proof aboard while operating a vessel powered by a motor of 10 horsepower or more. Accepted proof includes:

• Photo identification plus the FWC Boating Safety Education Identification Card.
• A state identification card or driver license that itself indicates the person holds the Florida card. An ordinary driver license, with no boating-card marker, is not this document.
• Photo identification plus a Florida temporary certificate, an International Certificate of Competency, a qualifying card from another state or U.S. territory, or a Canadian Pleasure Craft Operator Card.

Finish an FWC-approved course, then follow that provider’s instructions for the FWC card. Some providers send the completion record. Others require the student to request the card. Confirm which paper will arrive, and when. The permanent card and a 90-day course-completion certificate are different documents.

A course-completion certificate, together with photo identification, can be used for up to 90 days after completion when it shows the student’s first and last name, date of birth, and completion date. That temporary use of a full-course certificate is different from the shorter rental-oriented examination described below.

Exemptions are narrow

The statute includes exemptions for specified Coast Guard-licensed masters, operation exclusively on a private lake or pond, qualifying supervised operation, a nonresident with the required out-of-state proof, a limited period after purchasing that vessel, a limited period after finishing an approved course, and any further case the commission sets by rule. Read the statute before relying on one.

For the supervision exemption, the qualifying person must be onboard, at least 18, attendant to the operation, and responsible for safe operation. That person holds the Florida card or is personally exempt. An adult watching from shore is a different arrangement. A parent’s permission is not, by itself, an exemption.

An education exemption does not lower the personal-watercraft age and should not be assumed to satisfy a rental company’s document check. Confirm an unusual rental arrangement with FWC before leaving the dock. Carry the proof on the boat. A missing card can be raised later in a cited case only when the proof was already valid at the time of the stop. The practical step is to have it aboard.

The 90-day temporary certificate

Legal rule FWC’s temporary-certificate program is a shorter examination route often used by rental customers. The exam has 25 questions. At least 19 must be correct. The certificate is valid for 90 days and should be carried with photo identification. It cannot be exchanged for the lifetime card. It is not a substitute for another state’s own requirements.

Arrange acceptable documentation before departure. An unfinished course, a receipt, or an appointment to take the exam later is not proof aboard the boat. Authorized vendors are listed on FWC’s temporary-certificate page. Use that list. A vendor page is not the Florida card.

Visitors: does the card from home count?

Legal rule Often, yes, when the credential qualifies. FWC recognizes boating-education proof from another state or U.S. territory that meets National Association of State Boating Law Administrators standards, carried with photo identification. The statute also names the Canadian Pleasure Craft Operator Card and a valid International Certificate of Competency.

Bring the credential and the photo identification. For an unfamiliar international document, send the rental company a copy before traveling, and ask FWC when acceptance is still unclear. Do not discover the problem at the dock after the bags are already on the boat.

Check every person who may drive, not only the person whose name is on the credit card. Tell the business who might take the controls. The pre-rental briefing still applies to people who already hold a card.

Teenagers, ordinary boats, and the rental age

Legal rule FWC’s regulations page says there is no minimum age to operate an ordinary boat, and that personal-watercraft rules and the education requirement are age-specific. A child born on or after January 1, 1988 who runs a motor of 10 horsepower or more still needs the card or a qualifying exemption, such as a proper onboard supervisor.

Personal watercraft are different. Section 327.39 says no person under 14 shall operate a personal watercraft. The owner or person in charge may not authorize or knowingly permit that operation. FWC describes a violation of that permission rule as a second-degree misdemeanor.

Section 327.54 says a livery may not knowingly lease or rent a livery vessel, other than a human-powered vessel, to any person under 18. That covers a motorboat and a personal watercraft. A human-powered rental is outside that age line and still has equipment rules and the shop’s own rules.

Ask the company A shop can refuse a 16-year-old operator even when state law would allow that person to run a family boat. Ask, in writing if the trip depends on it, who is allowed to drive.

Jet Ski and personal watercraft rules

A personal watercraft is a defined vessel. Section 327.02 describes it as a vessel less than 16 feet that uses an inboard motor powering a water-jet pump, and that is designed to be operated by a person sitting, standing, or kneeling on the vessel rather than inside it. Names such as Jet Ski and WaveRunner are product names. The rules below follow the vessel category, not the brand.

Sunset is not a lights-free window

The prohibition starts 30 minutes after sunset, not at the sunset minute. FWC says navigation lights are still required from sunset until 30 minutes after sunset, and from 30 minutes before sunrise until sunrise. Those half-hours are not a grace period without lights. Putting lights on the craft does not authorize the prohibited night window. For a rental, plan to be back before sunset. That is the simpler target, and it leaves time for a headwind or a wrong turn.

Safety practice Ask the instructor to demonstrate that craft’s throttle, steering, stopping, engine cutoff, and how to reboard. A personal watercraft does not steer the same way once the throttle is closed. Do not assume it handles like the last model.

Some Florida waters prohibit them entirely

Meeting the statewide age and education rules does not open every shoreline.

• Everglades National Park prohibits personal watercraft. The park also runs a separate boater education certificate for nearly everyone operating a motorboat in the park’s marine waters, including renters and licensed captains. Paddling without a motor is outside that mandate. A few direct transit routes near Everglades City are described on the park page. Read that page before launching inside the park. A Florida card does not replace the park certificate.
• Biscayne National Park states that personal watercraft are prohibited, including Jet Skis and WaveRunners. Park waters are shallow. The park tells boaters to use a chart and to watch the tide.

Refuges, aquatic preserves, county zones, and marina basins can add their own limits. A rental route near a park has to account for the boundary, not for whether the water looks open. The boating-laws page lists several confirmed local examples, including Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, and tells boaters to trust the signs first.

Renting a boat: what the business must provide

Florida calls a qualifying rental business a livery. Under section 327.54, a livery advertises and offers a vessel for someone else to use, for any type of consideration, without also providing a Coast Guard-licensed master and without requiring the renter to provide one. A person who simply loans a boat to someone they know, and does not advertise it, is outside that definition. A Florida school or state postsecondary institution is also outside it.

Legal rule A livery may not offer a vessel for lease or rent without an FWC livery permit. The permit is no-cost and must be renewed annually. Qualifying liveries include businesses renting motorboats, personal watercraft, and paddlecraft when they meet the definition. Ask to see the permit. A social-media page, a local business tax receipt, or a booking email is not the permit.

The briefing is part of the rental

The livery may not knowingly rent unless it gives pre-rental or pre-ride instruction. The statute requires that instruction to cover the vessel’s operating characteristics, safe operation and right-of-way, the operator’s responsibility, local hazards such as channels, restricted areas, and depths, and emergency steps for capsizing, a fall overboard, taking on water, and an accident.

The person who receives the instruction must sign a statement covering each component. The person who gave the instruction signs too. The livery keeps that form at least 90 days. Anyone delivering the instruction must have completed a boating-safety course approved by NASBLA and by Florida, even if that instructor would otherwise be exempt from the card rule.

Safety practice Do not sign a statement that instruction was provided when it was skipped or not understood. Ask for the demonstration again. Name every person who might take the controls, and have each of them hear it.

The boat has to be fit for the trip

A livery may not knowingly rent when the number of people exceeds the capacity plate, when the motor’s horsepower exceeds the boat, when required safety equipment is missing, or when the vessel is not seaworthy. Seaworthy, in this statute, means the vessel and its parts and equipment, including engines, bilge pumps, and kill switches, are functional and reasonably fit for their intended purpose. A derelict vessel cannot be rented.

A written agreement is also required. It must include the renter’s name, address, and date of birth, the number of people aboard, the time the vessel must be returned, and an emergency contact’s name, address, and telephone number. The livery keeps each agreement at least one year.

Insurance on the business is a separate question

Legal rule For vessels other than human-powered vessels, the livery must carry insurance of at least $500,000 per person and $1 million per event for the business, show proof where the boats are rented, and give each renter the carrier’s name, address, and policy number. The livery must also either insure the renter in those same amounts or offer the renter a chance to buy that coverage. If the renter declines, the livery must get a signed acknowledgment. That acknowledgment warns that the renter may have no other insurance and may be personally liable for damage or injuries during the rental.

Ask the company Before paying, ask who is insured, what damage charge or deductible could be owed, what happens after a breakdown, a grounding, a weather cancellation, or a late return, and which people are authorized to operate. Save the agreement. Photograph the vessel’s condition before departure. A photograph is a record. It is not a promise that every dispute ends there.

Section 327.54 also says the livery may not knowingly rent to a person who must comply with the education law unless that person presents the documents required by section 327.395(2), or meets the course-completion exemption the livery section specifically names. Do not treat every education exemption as a rental exemption.

Registration is separate from the operator’s card

FWC does not issue ordinary vessel titles and registrations. FWC’s regulations page sends owners to the local tax collector. Applications and fees are handled in that office under the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles system. Ask that office which term is available and what the fee is. Bring the question to the county that will process the boat. A course provider does not title the boat.

Legal rule Most vessels used on Florida waters must be registered and numbered, with the exceptions in section 328.56. The registration certificate must be aboard when the vessel is operated. The numbers and validation decal have to match the boat being used. On a rental, ask where the registration is kept before leaving, not after an officer asks for it.

Kayaks and paddleboards

Florida exempts a non-motor-powered vessel less than 16 feet, and a non-motor-powered canoe, kayak, racing shell, or rowing scull of any length, from the ordinary registration-number requirement. Adding a motor removes that exemption. A small electric motor is still a motor. The 10-horsepower line is the education threshold. It is not a registration exemption.

A new purchase: 30 days is not 90 days

Section 328.46 says a vessel that must be registered, and that is operated, used, or stored on state waters, shall be registered and numbered within 30 days after purchase, unless an exemption applies. During those 30 days the operator must keep a bill of sale aboard. That bill of sale is the temporary certificate of number only when it contains the required facts, including:

• Make, length, type of propulsion, and hull identification number.
• A statement that Florida is the state where the vessel is principally used.
• Purchaser’s name, address with ZIP code, and signature.
• Seller’s name and signature.
• Date of the sale, which is also the start of the 30 days.
• A notice that the temporary authority is invalid after 30 days following the sale.

There is a separate education exception, up to 90 days after purchase, for an operator who carries a bill of sale that meets section 328.46(1). That exception is about the operator’s proof. It does not extend the registration deadline to 90 days. Title applications have their own 30-day clock under section 328.03 when Florida is the state of principal use.

Visiting with an out-of-state boat

A vessel that already has a current number from another state’s federally approved numbering system, or from the Coast Guard in a state without such a system, is generally outside Florida numbering when it has not been in Florida for more than 90 consecutive days. A longer stay, a change in where the boat is principally used, a federally documented vessel, and a foreign vessel each need their own reading. Section 328.56 lists documented vessels and foreign vessels in separate provisions. Ask the tax collector rather than assuming every visitor boat follows the 90-day numbering rule.

Safety equipment starts with the vessel in front of you

Legal rule Section 327.50 requires owners and operators to carry, store, maintain, and use safety equipment according to current Coast Guard requirements, unless the commission expressly exempts the case. The same section requires serviceable navigation lights and shapes required by the navigation rules. FWC organizes the practical lists by vessel length. Use the page for the boat that will actually be operated. A checklist for a 22-foot gasoline center console is the wrong list for a kayak or a cabin boat.

Start at FWC’s equipment index. The classes are under 16 feet, 16 feet to just under 26, 26 to just under 40, and 40 to just under 65. This table is a starting check. It is not a certificate that a particular boat is legal.

Read the life-jacket label

A jacket must fit the person who will wear it and be approved for the activity. An adult size is not a child size. Newer labels use performance levels and activity icons. Older jackets may still use Type I, II, or III wording. FWC says a serviceable older jacket can still be used when it is right for the activity and the label is followed. A Type V device counts only when it is worn as its label requires.

Inflatable life jackets are prohibited for personal watercraft and for the towed sports covered below. A pool noodle, a ski belt, or a float toy is not a life jacket.

Legal rule On a vessel less than 26 feet, every person under 6 years of age must wear a Coast Guard-approved personal flotation device, used according to the approval label, while the vessel is underway. Underway means all times except when the vessel is anchored, moored, made fast to the shore, or aground. Drifting counts as underway. FWC’s regulations page describes the child devices as Type I, II, or III, and its later label guidance also accepts the newer level labels when the approval is followed.

The Coast Guard’s federal child-wear rule uses a different age, under 13, with exceptions for enclosed cabins. On waters under Florida’s jurisdiction, Florida’s under-6 rule is the one FWC enforces for this duty. Do not carry Florida’s age onto every offshore or out-of-state trip, and do not bring the federal age back as permission to leave a five-year-old’s jacket in a locker on a Florida lake. Wearing a fitted jacket is the safe practice at every age.

Fire extinguishers age out

The Coast Guard’s fire-protection rule for recreational boats says a disposable extinguisher must be removed from service when it is more than 12 years old, counted from the date stamp on the bottle, and it is out of service on December 31 of that twelfth year. A gauge still in the green does not keep an expired disposable legal. Rechargeable units have their own service rules. Check the approval, the rating, the pin, the nozzle, and corrosion.

The Coast Guard’s current carriage table uses 5-B, 10-B, and 20-B ratings. Older B-I and B-II labels have limits that depend on the boat’s model year. Under 26 feet with no fixed system in the machinery space, the minimum is generally one 5-B. The count rises with length. An approved fixed system can change the portable count. Read the Coast Guard extinguisher sheet for the boat in question. This paragraph is the overview.

Distress signals are not navigation lights

Navigation lights tell other boats where a vessel is and which way it is heading. A distress signal asks for help. FWC’s regulations summary says vessels under 16 feet need nighttime visual distress signals when on coastal waters from sunset to sunrise, and vessels 16 feet or longer need day and night signals on coastal waters. Human-powered boats and boats under 16 feet are not required to carry daytime visual distress signals. Confirm the combination on the size page for the water being used. Decorative LEDs are not navigation lights, and they must not hide the real ones.

FWC’s Freedom Boater materials describe an attestation decal that tax collectors can issue when an owner signs that the safety equipment is in compliance. The FAQ says an officer may not board or stop a vessel for the sole purpose of inspecting safety or marine sanitation equipment, and that those violations are secondary offenses. An officer may still stop a vessel for another lawful reason. The decal does not put the equipment on the boat.

Engine-cutoff switches

An engine-cutoff switch stops the propeller when the operator is thrown from the helm. A boat that keeps running with nobody at the wheel can circle back through the person in the water.

Legal rule Federal requirements cover specified recreational vessels under 26 feet with engines capable of at least 115 pounds of static thrust, about 3 horsepower. Where the use rule applies, the operator wears the cutoff link while operating on plane or above displacement speed. Common exceptions include a helm inside an enclosed cabin and operation at no-wake or displacement speed, such as docking or slow fishing. Boats manufactured beginning in January 2020 generally had to be equipped. An older boat that already has a working switch is not a reason to leave the lanyard in a cup holder when the use rule applies.

Florida adds its own lanyard rule for personal watercraft, described above. Section 327.50 also requires the operator of a vessel used to instruct a water sport to use an engine cutoff and wear the link while a participant is in the water. Have the rental instructor show the attachment and the restart steps before the boat leaves.

Night boating, kayaks, and bioluminescence

Ordinary powerboating after dark is not banned statewide. The lights have to be the correct ones, and they have to be on from sunset to sunrise and in restricted visibility. Personal watercraft and towed sports have the separate half-hour night ban described on this page.

FWC treats human-powered canoes, kayaks, and paddleboards as vessels, with a limited exception for a paddleboard used inside a swimming, surfing, or bathing area. Its paddlecraft page calls for a wearable life jacket for each person, a sound signal, and a white light from sunset to sunrise or when visibility is restricted. Children under 6 wear the jacket. Coastal nighttime trips can also require approved night distress signals. A motorized paddlecraft follows power-driven lighting rules.

A red headlamp can help the paddler see a chart. It should not be treated as the required white light that lets another boat see the kayak. Wear a bright jacket. Tell someone ashore the launch, the route, and the return time.

A bioluminescence outing has both sets of rules: the kayak equipment, and whatever the launch does after dark. A legal kayak does not open a locked park gate or a ramp that closes at sunset. Read the bioluminescence guide for the planning side, including boat trips that do not require paddling. That guide is not a glow forecast, and this page is not permission to paddle a particular inlet at night.

Before driving to a ramp, check FWC’s boat ramp and access page. The ramp finder has locations and photos. FWC says closures for weather, events, and repairs are not posted there in real time. Call the local operator when the trip depends on a particular ramp.

Idle speed, slow speed, and no-entry are different

Idle speed and slow speed are not one statewide miles-per-hour number. A speed that is quiet behind one hull can throw a hazardous wake behind another. The operator’s duty under section 327.33 is to run the boat in a reasonable and prudent way, with regard for other traffic, posted speed and wake limits, and the conditions. Careless operation is a noncriminal violation. Reckless operation is a crime, and the charge rises if the result is damage, serious injury, or worse. FWC’s regulations page has called reckless operation a first-degree misdemeanor. The statute sets three levels. Follow the statute, and read it for the level that matches the result.

Manatee zones follow the sign and the season

Manatee-protection zones can require slow speed or no entry, and many change with the date. A boating card does not authorize entry into a closed refuge or sanctuary. Seeing no manatee at the surface does not suspend the zone. Check the signs and FWC’s page for boaters and personal-watercraft operators. Springs and river runs add their own seasonal patterns. The springs guide is the swimming companion. It does not replace the markers on the water.

Report an injured, dead, or harassed manatee, and other wildlife violations, to FWC’s Wildlife Alert line at 888-404-3922. In fresh water, read the alligator guide before treating a riverbank as a swim beach. Near swimmers on the coast, read the beach flag page and stay out of posted swimming areas.

Emergency lights, construction flags, and divers

Legal rule Section 327.463 prohibits operating faster than slow speed, minimum wake, within 300 feet of an emergency vessel, including a law-enforcement vessel, a Coast Guard vessel, or a firefighting vessel, when its emergency lights are activated.

A similar slow-speed duty applies within 300 feet of a construction vessel or barge that is displaying the required orange flag while it is actually engaged in construction. The flag has size and height rules. In low visibility, including the period from 30 minutes after sunset to 30 minutes before sunrise, the statute limits when a person may be cited unless that flag is illuminated and visible for at least two nautical miles. The safe action is to slow down as soon as a work barge or emergency lights are ahead. Do not use the lighting detail as a reason to plane past a work site.

For divers, FWC’s regulations page says boaters must make a reasonable effort to stay at least 300 feet from a divers-down device in open water and at least 100 feet away in a river, inlet, or navigation channel. A boater who comes closer must slow to idle speed. Divers have a matching duty to stay within those distances of their own flag or buoy, and the device comes down when the divers are out of the water. Read section 327.331 before crowding a dive flag. Idle speed near divers is the floor, not an invitation to pass through the group.

Navigation, towing, propellers, and carbon monoxide

A boating card does not teach a particular inlet. Keep a lookout. Use a safe speed. Learn which vessel gives way and which vessel stands on when crossing, meeting, or overtaking. The Coast Guard’s navigation rules are more specific than the phrase “right of way.” Do not assume another boat will move because it seems smaller, or because it is a sailboat, or because it is a personal watercraft. In a narrow channel, stay to the side the rule requires and do not block a vessel that can navigate only inside that channel.

Legal rule Section 327.37 regulates water skis, aquaplanes, and similar devices. The boat needs a second person watching, or a wide-angle rearview mirror mounted so the operator can watch the person being towed. Parasailing has its own observer requirement. A mirror does not replace that observer. People being towed must wear a Coast Guard-approved life jacket that is not inflatable. The covered towing activities are prohibited from 30 minutes after sunset to 30 minutes before sunrise. Manufacturer limits on the tower, the tube, and the passenger count still apply, and so does the rental agreement.

Safety practice Keep people off seats and platforms the boat was not designed to use as seats. Before helping someone back aboard, shut the engine off and wait until the propeller has stopped. FWC warns against swimming or boarding next to a running engine. Engine and generator exhaust can hold carbon monoxide. The swim platform of an idling boat is a dangerous place to hold on, especially with the generator running. Teak surfing and being towed close behind the transom belong in that same warning.

If someone falls overboard

Safety practice Shout the side the person fell and keep pointing. Throw a life jacket or the throwable toward the person. Do not jump in unless the rescuer is trained and is wearing a jacket. Turn the boat so the propeller swings away, then stop the engine before coming alongside. Keep the person in sight the whole time. If recovery is not immediate, call for help on Channel 16 or 911 and give the position. FWC’s hypothermia page is the reason the jacket matters after the fall as well as before it. Cold water shortens the time a person can function. Stay with the boat if it is still there, keep the head out of the water, and get medical help after a long immersion.

Alcohol and drugs

Legal rule Section 327.35 prohibits operating a vessel while normal faculties are impaired by alcohol or specified drugs. It also sets a blood-alcohol or breath-alcohol level of 0.08. A reading under 0.08 is not permission to operate while impaired. The penalties rise when someone is hurt or killed, when a child is aboard in the cases the statute names, and on a repeat offense. Read the section for the schedule. By operating in Florida, the operator is subject to the lawful test rules in the surrounding statutes.

Section 327.355 separately prohibits a person under 21 from operating, or being in actual physical control of, a vessel with a breath-alcohol level of 0.02 or higher.

Safety practice Pick a sober, qualified operator for the whole trip, including the ride back from a sandbar, a waterfront restaurant, or an evening outing. Hand that person the keys before the first drink, not after the discussion about who is “fine.”

A boat rental does not include fishing privileges

Being allowed to operate a vessel is different from being allowed to fish from it. Anglers need the recreational fishing authorization that matches their residency, age, species, and water, unless a personal exemption or a qualifying charter arrangement applies. A bare rental boat does not automatically give passengers the coverage that comes with a properly licensed saltwater charter.

Use the Florida fishing-license guide for residency, the free resident shoreline license, visitor rules, charter and pier coverage, and extra permits. Seasons, size limits, and bag limits are a further check. A license does not open a closed season. The fishing page is the companion for where and what people fish. Keep those rules off this page’s operator questions.

A practical pre-launch checklist

This is a planning list. It does not replace the equipment rules for the particular boat. The site’s checklists page holds other Florida lists. This section is the one to use before a boat or a personal watercraft leaves.

Use a marine forecast, not only a beach-temperature forecast. The National Weather Service posts marine warnings for wind, seas, and thunderstorms. Florida thunderstorms can bring a sudden wind shift, lightning, rough water, and lost visibility. A rental period is not a reason to stay out through one. The lightning page is the shore-side companion. If a tropical system is in the forecast, the hurricane-prep page comes before any recreational launch.

Safety practice A float plan can be a paper note, a text, or the emergency contact on the rental agreement, as long as it names the boat, the people, the launch, the route, and the return time. File it with a person, not only with a phone that is going out on the boat.

After a boating accident

Protect people first. For emergency assistance, use VHF-FM Channel 16 or call 911. Give the location, a description of the vessel, what happened, and how many people are involved. “Off the beach” is a weak location. Coordinates, a channel marker, or a named bridge is useful.

Legal rule Section 327.30 requires an operator involved in a collision, accident, or other casualty to give practicable help without creating serious danger to that operator’s own boat and passengers, and to exchange name, address, and vessel identification in writing with an injured person and with the owner of damaged property. If the other vessel is unattended, the operator must take reasonable steps to find the owner.

Notice without delay, by the quickest means available, goes to FWC’s Division of Law Enforcement, the sheriff of the county, or the police chief of the municipality, when the event involves death, a disappearance that suggests death or injury, injury that needs medical treatment beyond immediate first aid, or apparent property damage of at least $2,000. Leaving the scene without giving aid and without the required notice is a separate crime, and the level depends on the harm. A call to the rental desk is not the notice the statute requires. If the rented boat is in an accident, the livery also has its own duty to report the accident to the division.

To report a fuel or oil spill, contact the National Response Center at 1-800-424-8802, and tell the local authorities as well. To report a boating violation that is not an immediate rescue, FWC’s Wildlife Alert line is 888-404-3922.

The rule to remember

Qualify the operator. Verify the boat. Check the equipment. Follow the waterway rules. Check fishing privileges separately.

A rental agreement, a boating card, and a life jacket each cover a different part of the trip. Each one has to be present. Bookmark this page and send it to the person who will be at the helm.

Questions

Do I need a Florida boating license?

Florida does not issue a general recreational boating license. It issues a Boating Safety Education Identification Card after an approved course. A person born on or after January 1, 1988 generally needs accepted education proof and photo identification to operate a vessel with a motor of 10 horsepower or more, unless a listed exemption applies. The card is not the boat's registration, its safety equipment, or a fishing license.

Can a tourist rent a Jet Ski in Florida?

A rental business may not knowingly rent a motorized vessel, including a personal watercraft, to anyone under 18. The renter still needs the education proof the law requires, photo identification, and the pre-rental briefing. A shop may set a higher age than the statute. Everglades National Park and Biscayne National Park prohibit personal watercraft.

Does an out-of-state boating card count?

Often, yes. Florida accepts proof of a NASBLA-approved course or equivalency exam from another state or U.S. territory when the operator also carries photo identification. A Canadian Pleasure Craft Operator Card and an International Certificate of Competency are also named in the statute. An ordinary driver license does not prove boating education unless that credential itself shows the Florida boating-safety card.

Does turning 18 remove the education-card requirement?

No. The education rule uses a January 1, 1988 birth date. Age 18 is the minimum for renting a motorized vessel from a livery. It does not erase the education requirement for a person born on or after that date.

Can a person under 14 operate a Jet Ski with an adult aboard?

No. No person under 14 may operate a personal watercraft on Florida waters. An adult passenger does not lower that age. An owner or person in charge may not knowingly permit operation by a person under 14. FWC describes that permission as a second-degree misdemeanor.

Is the temporary certificate good for 12 months?

No. Use 90 days. Section 327.395 and FWC's temporary-certificate page both say the certificate is valid for 90 days. FWC's general regulations summary still contains a 12-month sentence. The temporary certificate cannot be traded in for the lifetime card, and a passing score is at least 19 of 25 questions.

Does the 90-day education exception extend boat registration to 90 days?

No. A vessel that must be registered generally has to be registered and numbered within 30 days after purchase, with a compliant bill of sale aboard during those 30 days. A separate education exception can last 90 days after purchase when that bill of sale is aboard. The education exception does not move the registration deadline.

Does the rental agreement replace the card and the equipment?

No. Florida requires a written rental agreement, and a signature on it does not make an unqualified operator legal, does not make an unseaworthy boat legal, and does not replace required safety equipment or the pre-rental briefing.

Do lights make a nighttime Jet Ski ride legal?

No. Personal watercraft operation is prohibited from 30 minutes after sunset until 30 minutes before sunrise. The stated exception is fire or emergency-rescue personnel performing official duties. Navigation lights are still required during the allowed twilight periods. Installing lights does not open the prohibited window.

Does an electric motor leave a kayak nonmotorized?

No. Any motor changes the registration analysis. The education card is a separate question and starts at 10 horsepower. A human-powered kayak still needs a wearable life jacket for each person, a sound signal, and a white light from sunset to sunrise.

Does the boat rental include a fishing license?

No. Permission to operate the boat is separate from permission to fish. A bare rental boat is not a licensed saltwater charter. Anglers use the Florida fishing-license guide for their own requirement.

Must every child under 6 wear a life jacket?

On a vessel less than 26 feet long, every person under 6 must wear a Coast Guard-approved life jacket, used as the label requires, while the vessel is underway. Underway includes drifting. The statutory pause is when the vessel is anchored, moored, made fast to the shore, or aground. On a personal watercraft, every rider and every person being towed wears a noninflatable approved life jacket, at every age.

What is the first call in a boating emergency?

For a life-threatening emergency, call 911 or use VHF-FM Channel 16. Give a location, a description of the vessel, what happened, and how many people are involved. Coordinates or a named navigation marker are more useful than a general shoreline description.

This page is general information for recreational planning. Follow the current Florida Statutes, FWC rules, Coast Guard equipment rules, and the signs on the water. For a life-threatening emergency, call 911 or use VHF-FM Channel 16.

Official help

These channels do different jobs. A course website does not title a boat. A tax collector does not decide whether a given operator is ready for an inlet. A life jacket does not answer the fishing-license question.

Related pages

• Florida boating laws, including local zone examples
• Fishing licenses
• Fishing
• Bioluminescence
• Checklists
• Swimming springs
• Beach flags
• Lightning
• Hurricane prep
• Alligators

Sources

Checked November 8, 2026. Laws, park rules, and posted zones change. The sign on the water controls the stretch being run.

• Florida Senate, 2026 statutes: 327.395 education; 327.39 personal watercraft; 327.54 liveries; 327.50 equipment and child life jackets; 327.30 accidents; 327.33 reckless and careless operation; 327.331 divers-down; 327.35 and 327.355 alcohol; 327.37 towing; 327.463 slow speed near emergency and construction vessels; 328.46 and 328.56 registration.
• FWC: boating regulations, education FAQ, temporary certificate, equipment by vessel size, human-powered vessels, life jackets, liveries, boat ramps, manatees and boaters.
• U.S. Coast Guard: fire extinguishers, navigation rules, and engine-cutoff requirements for recreational vessels under 26 feet.
• National Park Service: Everglades personal watercraft, Everglades boater education, and Biscayne boating.
• National Weather Service: marine forecast.