Boating education a visitor needs
Anyone born on or after 1 January 1988 who operates a vessel powered by a motor of 10 horsepower or greater must carry proof of boating safety education; an International Certificate of Competency is named in the statute.
Who the section is written for
A person born on or after 1 January 1988 may not operate a vessel powered by a motor of 10 horsepower or greater without the documents the section lists in his or her possession aboard the vessel. That is the whole trigger: a birth date and an engine size. Nothing in it turns on the length of the boat, the water, or whether the engine is the main one or an auxiliary.
For a European crew the birth date is the part that catches people out. A charter party of four can need the document for the youngest two and not for the others.
What the statute accepts
The list names a valid International Certificate of Competency outright, and a Canadian Pleasure Craft Operator Card as well. Separately from those, it accepts a card or certificate from another state, a United States territory or Canada, and a course or examination that meets or exceeds the NASBLA minimum standards. Those last two are usually run together into “a NASBLA card from another state”; the section keeps them apart, and so does this page.
A temporary certificate is valid for 90 days after the date of issuance. The Florida boating safety identification card issued after the course is valid for life.
What this page does not say
It does not say whether any particular national certificate is the equivalent of an ICC — that is the certificate issuer’s question, not the statute’s. And it carries only the 2026 text of 327.395: the agency pages that explain the course, the temporary certificate and where to sit the examination were not readable when this page was written.
Worth knowing
- The ICC is named in the statute. So is the Canadian Pleasure Craft Operator Card. Both are written into the list of documents the section accepts.F.S. 327.395(2)
- Another state's card and the NASBLA standard are two things. The section accepts a card or certificate from another state, a United States territory or Canada, and separately a course or examination that meets or exceeds the NASBLA minimum standards. They are often quoted as one phrase; the statute separates them.F.S. 327.395(2)
- Ninety days, by the 2026 text. A temporary certificate is valid for 90 days after the date of issuance. The card issued after the course is valid for life.F.S. 327.395(5)
- It has to be aboard. The section asks that the person have the documents in his or her possession aboard the vessel — not at home, and not in an email.F.S. 327.395(1)
- A boat from another state has registration to think about too. Education is about the person. The boat is a separate question, with a reciprocity period of its own.F.S. 327.395 Registering a boat from another state
Questions
Does an ICC count in Florida?
The statute names a valid International Certificate of Competency among the documents it accepts. It names no national certificate of any other country, so a certificate that is not an ICC is not covered by what this page carries.
I was born before 1988. Do I need anything?
The requirement in 327.395 is written for a person born on or after 1 January 1988. Below that birth date the section does not ask for the document.
Does it apply to a sailing boat?
It is written for a vessel powered by a motor of 10 horsepower or greater. A sailing yacht with an auxiliary over that figure is powered by such a motor.
What is a temporary certificate?
A document the section recognises for 90 days after the date of issuance, as against the Florida boating safety identification card, which is valid for life.