California Boating Safety Course

Welcome and Course Overview

Welcome aboard! I’m your guide for the California Boater Safety Course, powered by StateBoatingCourse.com. Think of this course as your chart from total beginner to confident skipper. During our time together we’ll travel through five clear chapters, each one a leg of the journey:

Chapter 1: Know Your Boat & Gear
In this chapter we get familiar with hull shapes, capacity plates, life jackets, fire extinguishers, and every safety gadget that keeps you afloat.

Chapter 2: Trip Planning and Preparation
Here we plan a trip the smart way: float plans, weather checks, legal paperwork, and a pre-departure checklist that stops problems before they start.

Chapter 3: Safe Boat Handling & On-Water Etiquette
We’ll learn right-of-way rules, buoy meanings, lights, and horn signals so you can share the water without collisions or confusion.

Chapter 4: Rules of the Road & Aids to Navigation
This chapter masters docking, turning, anchoring, towing skiers, managing your wake, and showing courtesy to everyone from kayakers to anglers.

Chapter 5: Emergencies & Special Considerations
Here we tackle fires, capsizing, distress calls, invasive species, clean-water habits, and the general laws you must follow to keep your card, and your freedom.

By the end you’ll not only pass the state exam, you’ll feel at home on any lake, bay, or river in California. So grab a seat, keep your hands and feet inside the virtual vessel, and let’s cast off together.

California Boating Card Basics

The California State Parks Division of Boating and Waterways (DBW) must approve all boating courses that lead to certification in California after receiving the initial approval from NASBLA. 

Enacted in 2014, the mandatory education requirement is more commonly known as the California Boater Card program. It prohibits the operation of any motorized vessel in California without a valid DBW-issued Boater Card. This program has been phased in by age, and as of January 1, 2025, all operators are required to carry a California Boater Card when on state waters. For more information, visit https://californiaboatercard.com/. 

Court-ordered boating education: Any person convicted of a moving violation in the Harbors and Navigation Code, the Federal Navigation Rules and regulations adopted by the California State Parks Division of Boating and Waterways (DBW) while operating a vessel, must be ordered by the court to complete and pass a boating safety course approved by DBW. Proof of completion and passage of the course must be submitted to the court within seven months of the time of conviction.

A person must take an approved boating safety course and pass the corresponding exam to obtain their California Boater Card. A list of approved courses is found here: https://californiaboatercard.com/courses/. The California Boater Card is a lifetime card that never needs to be renewed. According to California law the following people are not required to have a boater card to operate a motorized vessel on California waterways: 

• A person operating a rental vessel. 
• A person operating a vessel while under the direct supervision of a person 18 years of age or older who is in possession of a California Boater Card. 
• A person who is a resident of a state other than California who is temporarily operating a vessel in California for less than 60 days and meets the boating requirements, if any, of his/her state. 
• A person who is a resident of a country other than the United States who is temporarily operating a vessel in California for less than 60 days and meets the boating requirements, if any, of his/her country. 
• A person operating a vessel in an organized regatta or vessel race, or water ski race. 
• A person who is in possession of a current commercial fishing license. 
• A person who is in possession of a valid marine operator license, for the waters upon which the licensee is operating, issued by the United States Coast Guard, or who is in possession of a valid certificate issued pursuant to the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978, as amended. 
• A person who has successfully completed a boating course approved by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training Post. 

People meeting one of the exemptions will need to carry proof of exemption while operating at any time on state waterways. People operating a motorized rental vessel on California waterways are not required to have a California Boater Card. 

Successfully completing a course from California-approved providers, like this one, and passing the exam, meets the qualifications to apply for a California Boater Card.