Delaware boating laws: life jackets, boater education and jet skis
What Delaware law requires on the water, pulled from official sources and linked line by line: life jackets, boater education, jet skis, paddle craft and registration.
- Kids must wear a life jacket
- Under 13
- Boater education card
- Required (see who)
- Jet ski / PWC minimum age
- 16 to operate …
- Emergency
- 911 · VHF Channel 16
Emergency on the water in Delaware
Emergency and non-emergency contacts in Delaware
911 for emergencies; on the water, call the U.S. Coast Guard on VHF Channel 16. Delaware Natural Resources Police Fish and Wildlife Unit marine emergencies: 1-800-523-3336 or 302-739-4580.
Coast Guard sectors covering Delaware
Each sector runs a 24-hour command center. Its line is useful for reporting an overdue boat or reaching the Coast Guard by phone, but in a distress use VHF Channel 16 or call 911 first.
| Sector Delaware Bay | (833) 453-1007 24-hour Coast Guard sector line · checked Oct 2026 · atlanticarea.uscg.mil |
|---|
Toll-free 8xx numbers may not connect from a foreign SIM or a satellite phone.
How to call the Coast Guard: VHF 16 or 911 · Coast Guard phone numbers by region
Delaware life jacket laws (and kids)
Children
Children 12 and under must wear a USCG-approved life jacket at all times on any recreational boat, except below deck, in an enclosed cabin, or when the boat is anchored or moored (23 Del. C. § 2202).
Source: boat-ed.com
Everyone else, towing and seasonal rules
Water skiers must wear a wearable life jacket. No seasonal cold-water rule found.
The federal baseline
Federal default: children under 13 must wear a USCG-approved life jacket on a recreational vessel that is underway, unless they’re below decks or in an enclosed cabin. Where a state has its own child-wear rule, the state rule applies on its waters (33 CFR 175.15(c), 175.25). Coast Guard required safety equipment →
Boater education card (the “Delaware boating license”)
Most states don’t issue a boating license. What they require is a boater education card: proof you passed an approved boating safety course.
Who needs it
Anyone born on or after Jan 1, 1978 operating a registered or USCG-documented boat or PWC (no horsepower minimum). Exempt: holders of a valid USCG license or Delaware River Captain and Bay Pilot license.
The card
Delaware certificate of boating safety education (NASBLA-approved cards from other states accepted; a photo or PDF on a phone is allowed)
Source: boat-ed.com
Delaware jet ski (PWC) laws
Minimum age
16 to operate; 14-15 only under direct supervision of a parent or legal guardian (and with a boating safety card)
Rules on the water
Everyone aboard must wear a life jacket; lanyard cut-off must be attached to the operator; no operation from sunset to sunrise or in restricted visibility unless equipped with navigation lights; headway speed within 100 ft of docks, piers, anchored or non-motorized vessels and shoreline, and 300 ft from people in the water (300 ft for everything in the Inland Bays near towns and in the Atlantic Ocean); headway speed in or at the entrance to marinas; no wake-jumping within 100 ft, weaving, or following a skier within 100 ft.
Source: boat-ed.com
Kayak, canoe, paddle board and kite rules
Sailboards are exempt from some equipment rules. No kiteboarding- or SUP-specific state rule found.
Boat registration in Delaware
All vessels propelled by any mechanical power, including electric trolling motors, must be registered with DNREC (Certificate of Number valid 1 or 3 years). Exempt: USCG-documented vessels, foreign vessels temporarily in state waters, and government vessels. Paddlecraft without motors are not registered.
Popular boating waters in Delaware
- Delaware Bay
- Rehoboth Bay
- Indian River Bay and Inlet
- Little Assawoman Bay
- Lewes-Rehoboth Canal
- Delaware River
- Nanticoke River
- Lums Pond
Some of the waters Delaware boaters know best. This is our list, not an official one, and it isn’t complete.
VesselSOS on Delaware waters
- Life in danger? One tap dials 911. The screen shows your GPS position and a word-for-word script: say “Boat emergency, I’m on the water” and the name of the lake, river or bay you’re on.
- On the coast and the Great Lakes it also shows which Coast Guard sector covers your position, with that sector’s 24-hour line as a second Call button, and a VHF Channel 16 MAYDAY script filled with your boat’s details for you to read on your own radio.
- A live link for family ashore (Plus, free during the beta): your position, speed, course and phone battery in any browser, no app needed on their end. You send it by text yourself.
- Not an emergency? The tow screen has Call buttons for the TowBoatUS and Sea Tow 24-hour dispatch lines, or your own member number.
What it doesn’t do: it doesn’t call the Coast Guard for you and isn’t connected to 911 or any rescue system. Nobody is alerted automatically if you’re late. The return-time check only asks “Are you OK?” on your own phone. It doesn’t replace a VHF radio, a PLB or EPIRB, or the life jackets the law requires.
iPhone only, in invite-only TestFlight beta. Not in the App Store yet, no Android. US support (911 routing, American English) is in beta version 1.4 and later.
Quick answers
What is the Delaware life jacket law for kids?
Children 12 and under must wear a USCG-approved life jacket at all times on any recreational boat, except below deck, in an enclosed cabin, or when the boat is anchored or moored (23 Del. C. § 2202).
Do you need a boating license in Delaware?
Anyone born on or after Jan 1, 1978 operating a registered or USCG-documented boat or PWC (no horsepower minimum). Exempt: holders of a valid USCG license or Delaware River Captain and Bay Pilot license.
How old do you have to be to drive a jet ski in Delaware?
16 to operate; 14-15 only under direct supervision of a parent or legal guardian (and with a boating safety card)
Do you have to register a boat in Delaware?
All vessels propelled by any mechanical power, including electric trolling motors, must be registered with DNREC (Certificate of Number valid 1 or 3 years). Exempt: USCG-documented vessels, foreign vessels temporarily in state waters, and government vessels. Paddlecraft without motors are not registered.
Sources
State boating agency: Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC), Division of Fish and Wildlife; enforced by Delaware Natural Resources Police, Fish and Wildlife Unit
- https://www.boat-ed.com/delaware/handbook/
- https://assets.kalkomey.com/boater/pdfs/handbook/delaware-handbook-entire.pdf
- https://dnrec.delaware.gov/fish-wildlife/boating/safety/
- https://www.atlanticarea.uscg.mil/Our-Organization/East-District/District-Units/Sector-Delaware-Bay/
Checked October 2026. Laws change; confirm with DNREC before you go.
This page summarizes the law for planning; it isn’t legal advice. Where this page and the official text differ, the official text wins. Spotted an error? Email support@vesselsos.com.