Free Hawaii State Boating Safety Course

General Requirements:

Any person operating a power driven vessel on the waters of the State is required to possess a certificate of completion from a NASBLA approved course on the safe use and operation of a power driven vessel that contains a component on Hawaii waters approved by the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources. This requirement applies to all vessels with motors greater than 10HP. Certain exemptions apply. For details, visit http://www.dlnr.hawaii.gov/dobor/.

A person under sixteen (16) years of age shall not operate a power driven vessel on the waters of the State unless the person possesses a certificate of completion from a NASBLA/State approved boating safety course and is accompanied on-board and directly supervised by a person twenty-one (21) years of age or older who also holds the required certificate of completion.

Thrill Craft Requirements:

Regarding Thrill Craft, all recreational thrill craft operators (including PWC operators) shall be required to possess and make available upon demand of enforcement personnel, a certificate of completion from an accredited institution of higher education on the safe use and operation of a thrill craft. The BoatU.S. Online safety course does not meet this requirement.

No person under 15 years of age shall operate a thrill craft. No person shall permit, or mislead another person into permitting, a person under 15 years of age to operate a thrill craft.

The BoatUS Online safety course does not meet this requirement for thrill craft operators. Only courses for thrill craft operators offered through the University of Hawaii Community College system are approved for Thrill Craft and PWC operators.

A thrill craft is any motorized vessel that falls into the category of a personal watercraft and which:

• Is generally less than 13 feet in length as manufactured
• Is generally capable of exceeding a speed of 20 mph
• Can be operated by a single operator, but may have the capacity to carry passengers while in operation
• Is designed to provide similar operating performance as a personal watercraft through a combination of size, power plant, and hull design

The term “thrill craft” generally includes, but is not limited to, a jet ski, wave-runner, wet bike, surf jet, miniature speed boat, hovercraft, and every description of vessel which uses an internal combustion engine powering a water jet pump as its primary source of motive propulsion, and is designed to be operated by a person or persons sitting, standing, or kneeling on, or being towed behind the vessel.