In Spain each boating licence sets a length and a distance. Knowing which one you hold, or which one you lack, decides which boat you can take.
To skipper a recreational boat in Spain you need one of the five qualifications regulated by Royal Decree 875/2014: the navigation licence, the basic navigation skipper licence (PNB), the recreational boat skipper licence (PER), Yacht Skipper and Yacht Captain. Each one sets a maximum length and a distance from the coast. The navigation licence covers boats of up to 6 metres, by day and no more than 2 miles from a harbour or place of shelter.
Since 1 October 2026, hiring a boat also requires a licence, however short the motorboat. Royal Decree 1188/2025 kept the exemption for boats of up to 5 metres and 15 hp for private use only. In the Alquiler Náutico fleet, the 4-metre boat requires at least the navigation licence and the 6.6 to 6.9 metre motorboats require the PNB. With a skipper on board, no licence is needed.
It is the first step. Under Royal Decree 875/2014, the navigation licence allows you to handle recreational boats and jet skis of up to 6 metres in length, with the engine power the manufacturer considers suitable for each hull. It is only valid for daytime navigation, between sunrise and sunset, and no more than 2 miles from a harbour, a marina or a place of shelter.
It is issued by nautical schools and by sailing and powerboat federations once the student completes the theory and practical training set out in the decree itself, and they report it to the authorities within five working days. You must be 18, although from 16 you can obtain it if your parents or guardians give their consent in writing.
The basic navigation skipper licence allows you to handle motorboats of up to 8 metres, provided they go no more than 5 miles, in any direction, from a harbour, a marina or a place of shelter. With the additional sailing practice it also covers sailing boats of up to 8 metres with the same limit, and in both cases it allows you to ride jet skis.
It is the licence required for the 6.6 to 6.9 metre motorboats in the fleet, for up to 8 passengers, which leave from the Puerto Deportivo de Fuengirola. Like the navigation licence, the PNB can be obtained from the age of 16 with written permission from the parents. For the other licences, the decree requires you to be 18 when you sit the tests.
The recreational boat skipper licence is a big step up: motorboats of up to 15 metres, sailing up to 12 miles from the coast, and also crossings between islands within the Balearic and Canary archipelagos. With additional practice it extends to boats of up to 24 metres, to sailing boats and to the crossing between the mainland and the Balearic Islands.
To obtain it you must pass a theory exam, complete the basic safety and navigation practice, pass the short-range radio operator course, which the decree requires from this licence upwards, and pass a medical check. Exams are called by the Directorate General of the Merchant Navy or by the regional government that has taken on that responsibility.
They are the two top qualifications. Yacht Skipper allows you to handle recreational motorboats of up to 24 metres sailing up to 150 miles from the coast, and Yacht Captain, boats of up to 24 metres with no geographical limit. Each one requires you to hold the qualification immediately below it first, so the path always goes through the PER.
Above 24 metres everything changes: the decree calls anything longer a recreational ship, and no recreational licence allows you to handle it. That is why the 31.7-metre yacht in Puerto Banús always goes out with its crew and a second deckhand. The same applies to the other yachts in the fleet, which come with the crew included.
Until that date, a motorboat of up to 5 metres and 15 hp could be handled without a licence, including when it was hired. Royal Decree 1188/2025 amended article 10 of Royal Decree 875/2014 and kept that exemption for private use only. In its preamble, the decree itself gives the reason: the high number of incidents and accidents that occurred in those activities.
What still requires no licence, always outside hire, is this: a privately used motorboat of up to 5 metres and 15 hp, a sailing boat of up to 6 metres for sporting use, and floating or beach craft. In all three cases, by day, no more than 2 miles from the point of departure and only if you are 18 or over. Jet skis are excluded from that exemption.
The original licence. Royal Decree 875/2014 requires you to carry the card or licence on board whenever you go to sea, so a photo on your phone is not enough. Whoever will take the helm shows their document when collecting the boat and may only handle it within the limits it grants: length, distance from the coast and hours.
In the Fuengirola fleet, the 4-metre boat requires at least the navigation licence and the 6.6 to 6.9 metre motorboats, the PNB. Before setting off there is a briefing of about ten minutes on how to start, steer, anchor and moor, where the equipment is and how to call for help, and you return in daylight. Without a skipper, a deposit is left and returned in full.
Going out with a skipper. On a boat with a skipper, the skipper steers, anchors and is responsible for safety, and the group needs no licence or experience. It is also the way to board the larger boats: the 12.2-metre sailing boat in Puerto Banús, for 9 passengers, always goes out with a skipper, who can teach you how to handle it during the trip.
Without a licence you can also ride a jet ski with an instructor inside the buoyed circuit, and towed or beach activities do not require one. If what you want is to obtain a licence, Alquiler Náutico is not a sailing school and does not run courses or process licences: that is done at a school or a federation, and on the day of the trip you show the original.
If it is not here, call us: two minutes on the phone and it is sorted.
No. Since 1 October 2026, hiring any motorboat requires a licence, even if it is under 5 metres long. Without a licence, the option is a boat with a skipper.
Yes. At 16, with the written consent of parents or guardians, you can obtain the navigation licence and the PNB. The other licences require you to be 18.
No. Royal Decree 875/2014 requires the card or licence to be carried on board whenever you go to sea, and the original is shown when collecting the boat.
The 6.6 to 6.9 metre motorboats, for up to 8 passengers, require at least the PNB. The 4-metre boat requires at least the navigation licence.
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.
