How to Get a Boating License
Why Get a Boating License?
Bad company for a beach vacation.
To drive a boat in Croatia, you must have a boating license. In the past, boat operators regularly rented out small speedboats to first-time drivers without paperwork. If you are renting in-person, you can probably still get away with this, but that is not Faros Boats’ policy and we don’t recommend it. Not only is it unsafe to drive a boat in Croatia’s busy, rocky bays without any kind of preparation, but Port Authority has also been cracking down on this activity in recent years. There is a meaningful chance that your day on the water will come to an abrupt, unpleasant end when you are pulled over by a police boat. Not a great way to entertain your friends and family on your Adriatic vacation!
In this article we’ll talk about how to get a quick, inexpensive boating license so that you can enjoy your holiday without stress. Note that we’ll only be discussing the most basic type of certification. Yachts, sailboats, and higher powered motorboats require real experience or training to operate.
What Kind of Boat do You Want to Drive?
As in other languages, Croatia has different names for different classes of boats, but they do not quite line up to English names.
Not a čamak.
Čamac (chamak): a rowboat, canoe, or raft powered by oars or paddles.
Barka: a small, open boat without a cabin. Usually powered by a motor, although small fishing boats with sails and oars had this name in the past. Our Nautika 500 falls into this category.
Brodica (broditsa): a motorboat big enough to traverse open sea. The Cap Camarat and Highfield are in this category.
Jahta: a yacht.
Trajekt: a ferry boat.
Brod: a large boat, like a shipping vessel or a schooner in the old days.
If you search for “boat license Croatia,” you’ll mostly see results for yachts and sailboats, but a license is also required to drive simple powerboats (barka and brodica). If you plan to bareboat charter a sailboat, that is a bigger project and you probably have some sense of the training involved. This guide will help casual tourists understand what kind of license they need to drive smaller craft.
What Type of license do you need?
For any of our boats, you need a Category A Boat Skipper Certificate. There is no mandatory course associated with this certification in Croatia. One simply needs to master the so-called Basics of Navigation, which include: reading nautical charts, determining course and distance, rules for avoiding collisions at sea, lights on ships, daily signals and danger signals, ropes and knots, and meteorology. A good local boat operator will also inform you of any Mediterranean weather patterns like bura that might impact your journey.
Where can you Get a Certificate?
You can get a Category A Boat Skipper Certificate in Croatia for about €110. Exams are handled by the Ministry of Sea, Transport, and Infrastructure. To find out where and when a Category A exam will be held, email voditelj.brodice@pomorstvo.hr or call +385 1 6169 159 / +385 1 6169 250.
Alternatively, Croatia recognizes state-issued boating certificates from all over the world. So, for example, if you met state requirements to operate a powerboat in Florida, you would be able to use those credentials here. As it happens, in Florida you can get a temporary boating certificate online, print it immediately, and it is good for 90 days. For $3, you can take the exam through this training company, approved by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission, and for an additional $7 you can get related study materials.
While this certificate should cover you legally, we are somewhat skeptical that it would prepare individuals to skipper a larger powerboat on the open sea, and so we request that you contact us if you’re interested in self-captaining the Highfield RIB or Cap Camarat.