Hawaii boating laws: life jackets, boater education and jet skis
What Hawaii 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
- 15 to operate …
- Emergency
- 911 · VHF Channel 16
Emergency on the water in Hawaii
Emergency and non-emergency contacts in Hawaii
Call 911 for life-threatening situations: swimmers in distress, boating mishaps with injury, missing beachgoers. U.S. Coast Guard (Sector Honolulu, 24/7): 1-800-552-6458 for overdue boats or hazards to navigation; (808) 541-2450 for scuba diving accidents; (808) 522-8260 for marine casualties; (808) 842-2677 for fuel/oil spills. DLNR DOCARE (808) 643-DLNR [643-3567] for boating, thrill craft, fishing and resource violations (not emergencies). Marine Animal Response Hotline 1-888-256-9847 for monk seals, turtles, whales and dolphins in distress.
Coast Guard sectors covering Hawaii
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 Honolulu | (800) 552-6458 24-hour Coast Guard sector line · checked Oct 2026 · pacificarea.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
Hawaii life jacket laws (and kids)
Children
Children 12 and under (under 13) must wear a properly fitting USCG-approved life jacket while aboard a vessel underway or anchored/moored offshore in a non-designated mooring area, unless below deck or in an enclosed cabin.
Source: dlnr.hawaii.gov
Everyone else, towing and seasonal rules
One wearable USCG-approved life jacket per person on all vessels except Hawaiian-design racing canoes, racing shells, rowing sculls and racing kayaks. Vessels 16 ft and longer also need a throwable (Type IV) device (canoes and kayaks generally exempt). Anyone being towed (water ski, tube) must wear a life jacket; inflatables are not approved for towing or thrill craft and only for people 16 and older. No cold-water season rule.
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 “Hawaii 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 operating a recreational motorized vessel over 10 hp in Hawaii State waters (enforced since Nov 10, 2014; HAR 13-244-15.5) must complete a NASBLA- and State-approved boating safety course. Exempt: holders of a valid USCG Merchant Mariner Credential; commercial thrill craft (rental jet ski) customers in State-authorized zones; vessels of 10 hp or less; out-of-state visitors on voyages originating elsewhere staying under 60 days; rental-vessel operators who received a State-approved safety briefing. Lifeguards and government employees are NOT exempt. Thrill craft (PWC) operators additionally need a Hawaii Thrill Craft Operator Certification.
The card
Boating course Certificate of Completion, or the State-issued Boater Safety Education Card (BSEC); a valid Merchant Mariner Credential is also accepted. Carry hard-copy proof.
Source: dlnr.hawaii.gov
Hawaii jet ski (PWC) laws
Minimum age
15 to operate (HAR 13-256-16)
Rules on the water
In Hawaii a PWC/jet ski is a 'thrill craft'. Annual DOBOR registration; NASBLA course plus Hawaii Thrill Craft Operator Certification (lifetime, covers local ocean safety, Hawaiian cultural practices and protected species). Operator and every rider must wear a USCG-approved life jacket (inflatables not allowed); engine cut-off lanyard attached when above idle. Slow-no-wake within 300 ft of shore; access by the most direct route, only from harbors/ramps or private beachfront property. Outside designated Ocean Recreation Management Areas (ORMAs), recreational thrill craft must stay 500 ft offshore or beyond the outer edge of the fringing reef, whichever is farther; inside ORMAs only in designated thrill craft zones. Prohibited off Kahoolawe, Lanai, Molokai and Niihau, in Marine Life Conservation Districts and Natural Area Reserves, and at Ahu o Laka (Kaneohe Sandbar). Designated recreational zones include Kaneohe Bay Zone K (Oahu), Maunalua Bay Zone E (Hawaii Kai, Oahu), Haleiwa Zone E (Oahu), Hilo Bay and Kailua Bay (Kona) zones; many close in humpback whale season, Dec 15 to May 15. Maui Humpback Whale Protected Waters (west and south Maui): no thrill craft, parasailing or water sledding Dec 15 to May 15. Commercial rentals may operate only inside permitted 200-ft-radius commercial thrill craft zones (e.g. Waikiki, Maunalua Bay, Kaanapali, Kalaepaakai Point) with a required customer safety briefing; no thrill craft may be used for profit in a recreational zone.
Source: dlnr.hawaii.gov
Kayak, canoe, paddle board and kite rules
SUP/paddleboards are vessels outside swimming, surfing and bathing areas: carry a life jacket per person, a whistle or other sound device, a white light (flashlight/headlamp) between sunset and sunrise, and visual distress signals on federally controlled waters; children 12 and under must wear the life jacket. Windsurfing (HAR 13-256-20): use the most direct route to/from shore, follow sailing-vessel rules of the road, stay at least 200 ft from a dive flag. ORMA zones affect sailboarders: Kanaha Beach Park, Maui has swim-only zones A-C, and no sailboard launch before 11:00 a.m. (beginner windsurf instruction near shore after 9 a.m.) under HAR 13-256-130; Kailua Beach Park, Oahu Zone A is designated for windsurfing (no motorboats; no swimming when windsurfers are using it); Hookipa, Maui has restricted zones (HAR 13-256-127). No State rule written specifically for kiteboarding was found in HAR 13-256 or 13-230; the widely cited 'no kiting before 11 a.m.' at Kanaha/Kite Beach is a community-adopted practice extending the sailboard rule, not an explicit kite regulation found in official text.
Boat registration in Hawaii
All undocumented vessels principally used in Hawaii must be registered (and titled) with DOBOR and renewed annually. Exempt: manually propelled boats (canoes, kayaks, SUP), sail-only boats 8 ft or less, motorized vessels under 5 hp, documented vessels, foreign vessels, vessels from another state in Hawaii waters 60 days or less, public vessels and ship's lifeboats. Exempt owners may register voluntarily.
Popular boating waters in Hawaii
- Kaneohe Bay (Oahu)
- Maunalua Bay / Hawaii Kai (Oahu)
- Waikiki and Ala Wai / Keehi Lagoon (Oahu)
- Kanaha and Kahului, North Shore Maui
- Lahaina-Kaanapali and Maalaea, West/South Maui
- Kailua-Kona and Honokohau (Hawaii Island)
- Hilo Bay (Hawaii Island)
- Hanalei Bay and Nawiliwili (Kauai)
Some of the waters Hawaii boaters know best. This is our list, not an official one, and it isn’t complete.
VesselSOS on Hawaii 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 Hawaii life jacket law for kids?
Children 12 and under (under 13) must wear a properly fitting USCG-approved life jacket while aboard a vessel underway or anchored/moored offshore in a non-designated mooring area, unless below deck or in an enclosed cabin.
Do you need a boating license in Hawaii?
Anyone operating a recreational motorized vessel over 10 hp in Hawaii State waters (enforced since Nov 10, 2014; HAR 13-244-15.5) must complete a NASBLA- and State-approved boating safety course. Exempt: holders of a valid USCG Merchant Mariner Credential; commercial thrill craft (rental jet ski) customers in State-authorized zones; vessels of 10 hp or less; out-of-state visitors on voyages originating elsewhere staying under 60 days; rental-vessel operators who received a State-approved safety briefing. Lifeguards and government employees are NOT exempt. Thrill craft (PWC) operators additionally need a Hawaii Thrill Craft Operator Certification.
How old do you have to be to drive a jet ski in Hawaii?
15 to operate (HAR 13-256-16)
Do you have to register a boat in Hawaii?
All undocumented vessels principally used in Hawaii must be registered (and titled) with DOBOR and renewed annually. Exempt: manually propelled boats (canoes, kayaks, SUP), sail-only boats 8 ft or less, motorized vessels under 5 hp, documented vessels, foreign vessels, vessels from another state in Hawaii waters 60 days or less, public vessels and ship's lifeboats. Exempt owners may register voluntarily.
Sources
State boating agency: Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation (DLNR DOBOR)
- https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dobor/
- https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dobor/rbs-faq/
- https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dobor/boating-motorized-vessel/
- https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dobor/thrill-craft/
- https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dobor/boating-in-hawaii/
- https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dobor/boating-in-hawaii/personal-floatation-device/
- https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dobor/boating-in-hawaii/numbering-your-vessel/
- https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dobor/contact/emergency-contacts/
- https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dobor/files/2025/04/13-256_250402.pdf
- https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dobor/files/2024/03/13-230_240315.pdf
- https://www.boat-ed.com/hawaii/boating_law/
- https://www.boat-ed.com/hawaii/studyGuide/Specific-PFD-Requirements/10101202_34515/
- https://www.boat-ed.com/hawaii/studyGuide/Requirements-for-Paddleboards/10101202_38509/
- https://www.pacificarea.uscg.mil/Our-Organization/Oceania-District/Oceania-District-Units/Sector-Honolulu/Sector-Honolulu-AOR/
- https://oceansafety.hawaii.gov/
- https://www.honolulu.gov/hosd/about-us/
Checked October 2026. Laws change; confirm with Hawaii DLNR DOBOR 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.