Both have an engine and both are hired in fifteen-minute slots. Beyond that they have little in common: one is ridden standing and alone, the other seated and with company.
Choosing between a jet surf and a jet ski depends on what you are after. A jet surf is a motorised board that you ride standing up, with a hand-held throttle, and it calls for balance: the first slot is spent learning to stand up. A jet ski is ridden seated, takes minutes to learn and carries two or three people.
For someone who wants a challenge and is going alone, the jet surf; for someone who wants speed from the first minute or to share it, the jet ski. Both go out in fifteen-minute slots, with no licence needed and an instructor in the authorised area. The jet ski can also be taken outside that area with a recreational boating licence.
In your position and in who is on board. A jet surf is a board with an engine inside: you stand on it, as on a surfboard, and control the speed with a throttle you hold in your hand. There are no handlebars and no seat, so you steer with your body weight and the angle of your feet.
A jet ski is ridden seated, with handlebars and a throttle, just like a road motorbike. There are two-seater and three-seater jet skis, so you can ride with a partner, a friend or a child behind you. A jet surf is a solo craft by nature: one board, one person. That difference alone settles the choice for many groups.
The jet surf, by a long way. On a jet ski the instructor’s briefing is enough to start, accelerate and turn, and within a few minutes you are riding comfortably. On a jet surf the first slot is spent learning to stand up: you start lying down or on your knees, give it a little throttle and, when the board picks up speed, rise to your feet.
Falls are part of learning and do not matter: the instructor is close by and you are wearing a life jacket. Anyone who has surfed, wakeboarded or done some paddle boarding usually has better balance, although a jet surf responds differently, because the push comes from the board itself rather than from a wave or a tow rope.
To drive a jet ski you must be 18; under-18s can ride as passengers, behind an adult. The jet skis have a kill cord, a clip attached to the wrist or life jacket that cuts the engine if the driver falls off. For a family with younger children, the jet ski lets everyone go, even though only the adults drive.
On a jet surf there are no passengers, so each person needs their own slot. The minimum age for riding one is not given here: it is confirmed when you book, as is any other question about who can go. What both activities do require is being a confident swimmer, because you can fall off either the jet ski or the board.
Both are hired in fifteen-minute slots with an instructor. Jet ski slots leave from the Puerto Deportivo de Fuengirola; the jet surf is done in an authorised area, and the board is moved by the staff, because it is heavy and not something two swimmers can carry. Just arrive with your swimwear on and sun cream applied, and listen carefully to the briefing.
On a jet ski, one or two slots are plenty; more than forty minutes in a row strains your wrists and back. On a jet surf, the first slot is for standing up and the second for starting to enjoy it, so anyone who wants to get the most out of it would do well to book two. A few minutes out of the water between slots helps your arms recover.
The jet surf needs flat water. Standing on a board, you feel the chop raised by the midday sea breeze with every metre, and with a westerly that chop grows through the afternoon. That is why the best time for jet surfing is first thing in the morning, when the water is usually still and staying upright takes less effort.
The jet ski copes with more swell, although in a slight sea it bounces and you get wetter. In winds of 15 to 20 knots the light kit is called off, and if the forecast does not allow a safe outing, the date is changed at no cost. Before you go it is worth checking the sea forecast on the home page of the website, which updates every half hour.
On a jet ski, quite a lot. Jet skis without a licence go out with an instructor and inside the buoyed area. With a recreational boating licence or a higher qualification, showing the original and your ID, you can ride without an instructor and outside that area, always keeping the required distance from beaches and swimming buoys.
A jet ski hired with a licence is handed over with a full tank and returned the same way. On a jet surf a licence makes no difference: the slots are always with an instructor in the authorised area, and no qualification is needed to ride. For anyone with a licence who wants to explore the coast on their own, the choice is clear.
For a couple or a family who want to go together, the jet ski, because it carries two or three people in the same slot and under-18s can ride behind an adult. For someone going alone, with good balance and keen to learn something new, the jet surf. And in a mixed group you can combine them: some on jet skis and others on the board.
If the question is what to do on the first day, the practical option is to book a jet ski slot mid-morning and leave the jet surf for another day first thing, on a flat sea. A single call to +34 669 06 27 56 is enough to fit the times together so nobody in the group is left waiting ashore.
If it is not here, call us: two minutes on the phone and it is sorted.
No. Jet surfing is done in fifteen-minute slots with an instructor, in an authorised area and with no licence. The first slot is for learning to stand up on the board.
No, it is a single-person board. Anyone who wants company has the jet ski, which without a licence carries two people at most; under-18s ride as passengers with an adult.
The jet ski: it takes minutes to learn and you ride seated. The jet surf calls for balance, and the first slot is spent getting to your feet.
The jet ski copes with more swell than the jet surf, which needs flat water. Between 15 and 20 knots the light kit is called off, and if you cannot go out, the date is changed at no cost.
Leave us your number and we will call you. In July and August it is worth booking ahead.
Puerto Deportivo de Fuengirola, local 367. You can drop in and see the boats before you book.
At no charge. Going out to see what happens is never worth it.
Life jackets for everyone on board, included in the price.
