New Jersey Boating Laws and Regulations

All operators must meet these age and education requirements in order to operate a motorized vessel.

• A person less than 13 years of age may not operate a motorized vessel.
• A person under the age of 16 may not operate a PWC.
• A person 13 through 15 years of age may operate a vessel powered by an electric motor or vessels 12 feet or longer and powered by a motor less than 10 hp only if he or she has successfully passed a boating safety education course approved by the New Jersey State Police.
• A person 16 years old or older, may operate a motorized vessel if they have successfully completed an approved boating safety course.

If you reside in New Jersey you must have a New Jersey certificate, even if you took a NASBLA-approved course in another state.

Most boats must be registered to operate on New Jersey waterways.

• All titled boats must be registered also.
• Any boat (including jet skis and non-titled watercraft), mechanically propelled (incl. electric motors), regardless of length, must be registered.
• Boats greater than 12 feet in length, regardless of propulsion means, must be titled and registered at an MVC office.

Boats and marine equipment which need not be registered:

• Those not based in New Jersey or operating here less than 180 consecutive days that are operating under a federally approved numbering system from another state
• Ship’s lifeboats
• Non-motorized vessels used exclusively on small lakes and ponds on private property
• Racing vessels with New Jersey State Marine Police permit
• Non-motorized inflatable device, surfboard, racing shell, dinghy, canoe or kayak
• Non-motorized vessel less than 12 feet in length

For use on New Jersey waterways, all boats more than 12 feet in length must be titled, with the exception of ship’s lifeboat, canoe, kayak, inflatable, surfboard, rowing scull, racing shell, tender/dinghy used for direct transportation between a vessel and shore for no other purposes.

An operator license is required to operate power vessels on fresh, non-tidal waters such as lakes, creeks and rivers. (Minimum age 16 years; with certain exceptions.)

New Jersey law requires the following with respect to PFDs.

• All vessels must have at least one USCG–approved wearable Type I, II, or III, or V PFD for each person on board or being towed. All vessels 16 feet or longer, except canoes and kayaks, also must carry one USCG–approved throwable Type IV device.
• All children 12 years of age or younger must wear a PFD whenever they are on a vessel that is underway unless they are in a fully enclosed, non-removable cabin.
• A PWC may not be operated unless each person on board is wearing a USCG–approved Type I, II, III, or V PFD.
• Every person being towed behind a vessel on water skis, aquaplanes, or any similar devices must wear a USCG–approved Type I, II, III, or V PFD.
• All PFDs must be in good and serviceable condition and be readily accessible. The PFDs must be of the proper size for the intended wearer. Sizing for PFDs is based on body weight and chest size.

• A person under the age of 16 may not operate a PWC.
• A person 16 years old or older, may operate a motorized vessel if they have successfully completed an approved boating safety course.

New Jersey law prohibits operating a vessel while under the influences of drugs or alcohol. The term “vessel” includes vessels that are “temporarily or permanently equipped with machinery for propulsion” or 12 feet or greater in length. (N.J. Stat. Ann. § § 12:7-46, 12:7-71 (2016).) A person can be convicted of boating under the influence (BUI) for operating a vessel while:

• impaired by alcohol, a narcotic, hallucinogenic, or habit forming drug so as to alter the boater’s “normal physical coordination and mental faculties [and] render such person a danger to himself as well as to other persons,” or
• having a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08% or greater.

The consequences of a New Jersey BUI conviction depend on the circumstances of the case. But generally, the possible penalties are:

• First-offense BUI for alcohol impairment or .08% BAC. A first-offense BUI involving alcohol impairment or a BAC of .08% or greater but less than .1% carries $250 to $400 in fines, a one-year boating privilege suspension, and a three-month driver’s license suspension.
• First-offense BUI for drug impairment of .1% BAC. A first-offense BUI involving drug impairment or a BAC of .1% or greater carries $300 to $500 in fines, a one-year boating privilege suspension, and driver’s license suspension of seven months to one year.
• Second-offense BUI. A second-offense BUI carries $500 to $1,000 in fines, 30 days of community service, 48 hours to 90 days in jail, and two-year suspensions of boating and driving privileges.
• Third or subsequent BUI. A third or subsequent BUI carries $1,000 in fines, at least 180 days in jail (the court can convert up to 90 days to community service), and ten-year suspensions of boating and driving privileges.

For purposes of determining whether a BUI is a second or subsequent offense, only BUIs that occurred within the past ten years count.

All convicted boaters must comply with the screening, evaluation, and referral requirements of the Intoxicated Driving Program (IDP) and complete a state-approved boating safety course.

As required by the Navigational Rules International-Inland, if you are involved in a boating accident, you are required to render any assistance necessary to any of the people involved in the accident as long as you can do so without causing any further injuries or damage to any of the people or vessels involved. Also, you shall supply the operator of the other vessel and any people that were injured in the accident with your name and address as well as your vessel information.

If the accident that you are involved in results in property 30 damage in excess of $500, injury or the death or disappearance of a person, you and the other operator are required to file a full description of the accident with the New Jersey State Police, Marine Law Enforcement station in the area where the accident occurred. The full description will also include any forms provided to you by the New Jersey State Police.

If you are involved in a boating accident on the waters of the State of New Jersey, which includes up to three (3) nautical miles offshore, in which death or disappearance of a person occurs, you must report the accident without delay to the New Jersey State Police, Marine Law Enforcement station in the area where the accident occurred. All other boating accidents that result in personal injury or property damage in excess of $2,000 must be reported within ten (10) days to the New Jersey State Police, Marine Law Enforcement.