The rule that allowed a small boat to be hired without a licence changed in October 2026. This is what it says now and the options that remain open.
No. Since 1 October 2026, no motorboat can be hired in Spain without a licence, however small it is. Royal Decree 1188/2025 amended article 10 of Royal Decree 875/2014, and the exemption that allowed a boat of up to 5 metres and 15 hp to be handled without a licence now applies to private use only. When hiring, whoever takes the helm needs at least the navigation licence.
Without any licence, several options remain: going out on a boat with a skipper, riding a jet ski with an instructor inside the buoyed circuit, kayaking, paddle boarding and joining the towed activities. With the navigation licence you can take the 4-metre boat in the Fuengirola fleet, and with the basic navigation skipper licence (PNB), the 6.6 to 6.9 metre motorboats.
Article 10 of Royal Decree 875/2014 lists the cases in which no licence is needed to handle a recreational boat. Since 1 October 2026, the first of those cases reads: private use of recreational motorboats of up to 5 metres in length and with a maximum rated power of 15 hp, without a power-limiting device. The word that decides everything is private.
The preamble of Royal Decree 1188/2025, published in the Official State Gazette on 30 December 2025, makes it clear: when these boats are hired out, the hirer must hold the corresponding licence. The decree justifies the change by the high number of incidents and accidents in these activities, and set 1 October 2026 as the date it came into force.
Outside hire, the same article keeps three cases: private use of a motorboat of up to 5 metres and 15 hp, sporting use of a sailing boat of up to 6 metres, and the use of floating or beach craft. In all three, no more than 2 miles from the harbour, marina or beach of departure, only by day and only if you are 18 or over.
Jet skis are left off that list and have their own rule, Royal Decree 259/2002, which does allow them to be ridden without a licence when hired by the hour, with an instructor and inside a buoyed circuit. Anyone looking for a boat they can take out without a licence for an afternoon at sea now has two routes for the boat: handle it with the right licence or board one with a skipper.
The 4-metre boat, 2 metres wide, with a polyethylene hull, requires at least the navigation licence, which covers boats of up to 6 metres, by day and no more than 2 miles from a harbour or place of shelter. Before setting off there is a briefing of about ten minutes: starting, steering, anchoring, mooring, where the equipment is and how to call for help.
The 6.6 to 6.9 metre motorboats, for up to 8 passengers, require at least the PNB, which allows you to handle motorboats of up to 8 metres no more than 5 miles from a harbour or place of shelter. For both, the original licence is shown, because the rules require it to be carried on board, and a deposit is left and returned in full on your return.
A trip with a skipper solves the whole problem. The skipper steers, anchors and is responsible for safety, and the group needs no licence or previous experience. From Fuengirola there are motorboats with a skipper and the dolphin-watching trip, of one to two hours, and beyond Fuengirola there are more boats that always go out with a skipper or a crew.
The skipper also takes care of what is hardest for anyone who has never handled a boat: leaving and mooring, choosing where to anchor according to the day’s wind and deciding to head back if the sea changes. Everyone in the group can swim at the same time and nobody has to miss out on a toast, always with no glass on board.
The jet ski without a licence, with an instructor and inside the buoyed circuit, in 15-minute slots from the Puerto Deportivo de Fuengirola. Riders must be 18, and since the rule changed there are at most two people on each jet ski. It is the way to be at the controls of something with an engine without any licence, with the instructor watching throughout the slot.
Without an engine, the kayak, single or double, requires no learning, and paddle boarding starts with a half-hour introduction, best first thing on flat water. In the towed activities, such as parasailing, the boat is always driven by the staff, so nobody in the group needs a licence to join in.
It depends on how often you plan to go out. The navigation licence is the first step: it is issued by nautical schools and by sailing and powerboat federations after theory and practical training, and it can be obtained from the age of 16 with written permission from the parents. With it you can take the 4-metre boat and also a jet ski without an instructor.
For a week’s holiday, a trip with a skipper is usually more practical than rushing to find a course. Alquiler Náutico is not a sailing school and does not run courses or process licences; anyone who wants the licence has to obtain it at a school or a federation and then show the original when collecting the boat.
As before: by phone on +34 669 06 27 56, or by leaving your number on the website form. On the call it helps to say who will take the helm and which licence they hold, to confirm which boat suits them, or simply to ask for a trip with a skipper. Prices are not published and are given on that same call.
From October to May almost everything can be arranged from one day to the next; for July and August 2027 it is worth booking days ahead. If the forecast does not allow a safe trip, the date is changed at no cost. And if someone holds a licence issued in another country, ask when booking whether it is valid, with the document to hand.
If it is not here, call us: two minutes on the phone and it is sorted.
No. Since 1 October 2026, anyone who hires a motorboat and handles it needs a licence, even if the boat is under 5 metres. Without a licence, the option is a trip with a skipper.
At least the navigation licence, which covers boats of up to 6 metres, by day and no more than 2 miles from a harbour or place of shelter.
Yes, with an instructor and inside the buoyed circuit. Riders must be 18 and there are at most two people on each jet ski.
For private use, yes: article 10 of Royal Decree 875/2014 allows it for motorboats of up to 5 metres and 15 hp, by day, within 2 miles of the point of departure and from the age of 18.
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.
