Guide · Safety and rules

How dangerous are jet skis? Rules, age and licence in Tenerife

How dangerous are jet skis on a guided ride? Less than the noise suggests, as long as you know the rules, respect the limits and listen to the briefing.

Check availabilityfrom $47 · no cancellation fee

Editorial team, jetskisafaritenerife.comUpdated October 26, 2026Reading time 6 min29 sources

The tour this guide is about Jet ski safari on the south coast of Tenerife 4.5 (3,005 reviews) 40 minNo licence and no experience neededDrinks, life jacket and lockers included from$47per person Check availabilityFree cancellation up to 24 hrs before

Straight answer

01Licence: None needed on guided group excursions.¹
02Minimum age: 18 to drive, or 16 with parental consent.²
03Life jacket: Compulsory for driver and passenger.³
04Spacing: At least 25 m between craft in a group.⁴
05Hours: Daylight only, 1 hr after sunrise to 1 hr before sunset.⁵

Where the real risks on a ride lie

Jet skis are fast, heavy and loud, and that is exactly why people love them. The risks are the obvious ones: hitting another craft, hitting a swimmer, and falling off at speed. On a guided ride in Tenerife, Spanish rules attack each of those directly, with fixed distances, a guide in charge of the formation, and riding zones kept away from beaches.

Falling off is what first-timers fear, and at moderate speed it is usually harmless. You land in the water, wearing a life jacket, and climb back on from the rear. Before you set off, ask the guide to show you the boarding step and the grab handle, so the move is familiar when you need it. Collisions are the serious risk, and the rules spend many lines on spacing. Health matters too: the ride booked on this site is not suitable for pregnant women, non-swimmers or people with back problems.

The rules also set who may ride and when. Rental craft on circuits and group excursions are capped at 60 hp.⁶ Riding is only allowed in good visibility and good weather, with prudence and without reckless behaviour.⁷ The harbour master can change riding times and zones, or stop riding for a while, when the weather or other safety reasons call for it.⁸

Safety, step by step

From booking to back on the pontoon

Before you go

Consent for teenagers

Drivers of 16 or 17 carry a signed parental consent.² ⁹
At the marina

The briefing

An instructor explains handling and basic rules first.¹⁰
Kitting up

Life jacket on

Approved, with at least 100 N of buoyancy and a whistle.¹¹
On the water

Hold the formation

Pairs behind the guide, at least 25 m apart.⁴
Coming back

Slow in the marina

A top speed of 3 knots in channels and marinas.¹²

Jet ski rules and regulations in Spain

The main jet ski rules and regulations in Spain sit in a royal decree on the safety of personal watercraft, published in the official state gazette. Companies may rent craft by the hour for group excursions, or for solo trips where a qualified instructor drives and you ride behind.¹³ On circuits and group excursions the rider needs no qualification.¹ For private use you need a boating title, such as the basic navigation skipper title.¹⁴

Rental companies carry obligations of their own. They must hold accident insurance.¹⁵ They need a rescue boat or craft to move users, and at least 2 instructors, each watching at most 4 machines with at most 2 people aboard each.¹⁶ ¹⁷ They tell the local harbour master's office the route and approximate length of every excursion they sell, and keep a register of instructors and riders open to it.¹⁸ ¹⁹

Rental craft may not be beached or parked on the sand.²⁰ Every craft carries a plate of basic rules: daylight only, a top speed of 3 knots in channels and marinas, a life jacket, and no approaching within 50 m of other craft, ships or boats.¹² ²¹ On a group excursion, overtaking is not allowed.²² The deposit on the ride booked here exists to enforce exactly those distances.

Distances in the rules

The gaps Spanish law keeps on the water, in metres

Minimum gap between craft on a group excursion, from other craft, the exclusion zone around whales and dolphins, and the shore strip where no bathing zone is marked.⁴ ²¹ ²³ ²⁴

The rules at a glance

What Spanish law asks of riders and operators

Topic	The rule	Who it binds
Age	18, or 16 with consent	Every driver
Licence	None on group excursions	Guided riders
Life jacket	100 N, with a whistle	Driver & passenger
Power	Capped at 60 hp	Rental craft
Spacing	25 m in a group, 50 m on a circuit	Every rider
Hours	Daylight, with an hour's margin	Every rider
Insurance	Accident cover	Rental companies

Taken from the consolidated text of the Spanish royal decree on personal watercraft in the BOE, the state gazette; operators may set stricter limits.² ¹ ³ ¹¹ ⁶ ⁴ ²⁵ ⁵ ¹⁵

Three ways onto the water

Buoy circuit, guided excursion or your own licence

No licence

Buoy circuit

Inside 4 buoys

Spacing: 50 m
Direction: All the same way
Supervised: Yes

Check dates

No licence

Guided excursion

Along the coast

Spacing: 25 m
Leader: Instructor ahead
Overtaking: Not allowed

Check dates

Licence needed

Private use

Your own trip

Title: Required
Range: 2 nautical miles
Hours: Daylight

Check dates

Decision helper

Is a jet ski ride right for you?

Check yourself against the rules before you book

A guided excursion

No qualification is needed, and a briefing comes first.¹ ¹⁰

Yes, with consent

A signed consent and a copy of your ID let her drive.² ⁹

Choose something else

The ride booked here is not suitable for non-swimmers.

Better not

The ride booked here is not suitable for people with back problems.

Only with a licence

Private use needs a boating title or navigation licence.¹⁴ ²⁶

Users driving the craft must always keep the distances and formation the instructor has given them, and may not overtake one another.

Boletín Oficial del Estado (BOE), Spanish Governmentrendered from Spanish · Source 22

Age, licence and consent, explained simply

Spanish law sets the minimum age to drive any personal watercraft at 18. Riders aged 16 or 17 may drive with the consent of their parents or guardians.² The consent must be a signed document with a copy of the parent's ID card or passport, and the young driver must be able to show it at any moment.⁹ Print it at home; a marina is no place to go looking for a printer.

Operators can be stricter than the law, never looser. The ride booked here accepts drivers from 16, with written consent for 16 and 17-year-olds, and passengers from 8 who can hold on to the driver. Some tours ask for 18 whenever a passenger rides behind, and one buoy circuit asks for 18 to drive at all. The ride booked here also sets a maximum age of 70.

Do you need a licence? Not on a guided excursion. To ride alone for private use, the lightest option is a navigation licence issued by sailing and motorboating federations or nautical schools.²⁶ It covers daytime trips within 2 nautical miles of a port, marina or shelter.²⁷ For a holiday ride, the guided excursion is the simple and legal way onto the water.

Checklist

A first-timer's safety list

Before

Signed consent for drivers aged 16 or 17
Ask about hand signals and restarting
Life jacket fastened and snug

On the water

Keep the gap your guide sets
Gentle throttle, especially at first
Fall off? Climb on from the rear

Video

How to drive a jet ski as a beginner

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How to jet ski for beginners

If you are learning how to jet ski for beginners, the first lesson is the briefing. Spanish rules require one from an instructor before anyone uses the machines, covering handling and the basic rules of navigation, and long enough for you to take them in.¹⁰ Ask about anything you did not catch: what the hand signals mean, how to stop, and how to restart after a fall.

On the water, sit centered with your feet planted and knees soft. Squeeze the throttle gently; these machines answer fast, and a heavy hand is what throws riders off. Remember that a jet ski steers with thrust, so if you let go of the throttle in a turn the machine keeps going straight. Look where you want to go, not at the water right in front of you. When a wave comes, take it slightly at an angle with a little throttle on rather than braking hard; the hull rides over it, and you stay seated.

Hold your place in the group. Group excursions run preferably with 1 instructor ahead of 4 craft in pairs, like an arrowhead, at least 25 m apart.⁴ Keep the gap your guide sets, never overtake, and watch the guide rather than the scenery when the group changes direction.²² The views will wait for the stops.

Where you may ride, and when

Beaches are off limits. Personal watercraft may not enter buoyed bathing zones and must use marked launch channels at the ends of beaches, at no more than 3 knots.²⁸ Where no bathing zone is marked, riding is banned in the 200 m strip next to the shore, except to reach or leave a beach at right angles at no more than 3 knots.²⁴

Riders on an hourly circuit without a licence stay inside the 4 buoys, all going round in the same direction, at least 50 m apart.²⁵ On the coast, the guide leads and the formation keeps you clear of other boats. Riding is allowed only in daylight, from 1 hour after sunrise to 1 hour before sunset.⁵

Wildlife has its own rules. Spanish law sets an exclusion zone of at least 60 m around any whale or dolphin.²³ If cetaceans appear closer than that, the engine goes into neutral at low revs, or is stopped.²⁹ If your group suddenly slows and drifts, that may be the reason, and the right thing is to sit still and enjoy the moment.

Who should think twice before booking

Some people should choose a different day out. The ride booked here is not suitable for children under 8, pregnant women, non-swimmers, people over 118 kg or people with back problems. Another listing adds heart problems to that list and recommends that riders know how to swim. Alcohol and drugs are ruled out on every listing that mentions them.

Weight limits are there for stability. The ride booked here allows 200 kg on one jet ski and does not recommend it for riders over 120 kg. Others set lower combined limits for 2 riders, from about 160 kg. Be honest about these numbers when you book; an overloaded machine handles badly.

Nerves alone are no reason to skip it. Start with the shorter option of 40 minutes, sit behind a confident driver, or try a buoy circuit first. Tell your guide you are new and ask for an easy pace at the start. Fear tends to fade once the first stretch of open water is behind you.

Your hour at sea