Maryland boating laws · checked Oct 2026

Maryland boating laws: life jackets, boater education and jet skis

What Maryland law requires on the water, pulled from official sources and linked line by line: life jackets, boater education, jet skis, paddle craft and registration.

Kids must wear a life jacket: Under 13
Boater education card: Required (see who)
Jet ski / PWC minimum age: 16 to operate or rent …
Emergency: 911 · VHF Channel 16

Emergency on the water in Maryland

911

Life in danger, on any water: call 911 from a cell phone.

VHF 16

Channel 16 is the primary VHF-FM marine radio calling and distress channel. Carry a VHF radio on the coast and the Great Lakes.

Emergency and non-emergency contacts in Maryland

911 for emergencies; on the Chesapeake Bay, Potomac and Atlantic coast, call the U.S. Coast Guard on VHF Channel 16.

Coast Guard sectors covering Maryland

Each sector runs a 24-hour command center. Its line is useful for reporting an overdue boat or reaching the Coast Guard by phone, but in a distress use VHF Channel 16 or call 911 first.

Sector Maryland-National Capital Region	(800) 418-7314 24-hour Coast Guard sector line · checked Oct 2026 · atlanticarea.uscg.mil

Toll-free 8xx numbers may not connect from a foreign SIM or a satellite phone.

How to call the Coast Guard: VHF 16 or 911 · Coast Guard phone numbers by region

Maryland life jacket laws (and kids)

Children

Children under 13 must wear a properly sized, USCG-approved life jacket aboard any recreational vessel under 21 ft (unless moored or anchored, or the child is below deck or in an enclosed cabin); children under 4 need an infant/child life jacket with a crotch strap, head support and grab handle.

Source: mgaleg.maryland.gov

Everyone else, towing and seasonal rules

Upper Potomac River and its tributaries: everyone aboard a vessel, raft or tube must wear a USCG-approved life jacket while underway from November 15 to May 15 (and carry one per person the rest of the year). Every vessel, including canoes, kayaks, rowboats and sailboards, must carry one USCG-approved life jacket per person. Sailboard (windsurf) operators must wear a full-torso wetsuit or drysuit from October 15 to May 15.

The federal baseline

Federal default: children under 13 must wear a USCG-approved life jacket on a recreational vessel that is underway, unless they’re below decks or in an enclosed cabin. Where a state has its own child-wear rule, the state rule applies on its waters (33 CFR 175.15(c), 175.25). Coast Guard required safety equipment →

Boater education card (the “Maryland boating license”)

Most states don’t issue a boating license. What they require is a boater education card: proof you passed an approved boating safety course.

Who needs it

Anyone born on or after July 1, 1972 operating a recreational vessel that must be numbered (any motorized vessel, including PWC). Operators under 16 must hold a certificate and be supervised aboard by a certified person (18+ if the vessel is 11 ft or longer) or by someone born before July 1, 1972. Exempt: commercial operators; non-residents 16+ visiting 60 days or less in an out-of-state numbered boat; foreign visitors 90 days or less; private waters. 30-day temporary certificates are available.

The card

Maryland Certificate of Boating Safety Education (valid for life; NASBLA-approved certificates from other states accepted)

Source: mgaleg.maryland.gov

Maryland jet ski (PWC) laws

Minimum age

16 to operate or rent (14-15 only if certified under the 1996 grandfather provision)

Rules on the water

Everyone aboard must wear a USCG-approved Type I, II, III or V life jacket; operators born after July 1, 1972 must carry a boating safety certificate; no operation from sunset to sunrise or in restricted visibility; lanyard attached to the operator; max 6 knots within 100 ft of shore, piers, pilings, bridges, people in the water, or another vessel; in the Atlantic Ocean, stay 300 ft from people in the water and surf fishermen; idle speed in water under 18 inches; no wake-jumping within 100 ft, following within 100 ft of a skier, or weaving; DNR PWC regulation sticker required.

Source: regs.maryland.gov

Kayak, canoe, paddle board and kite rules

Sailboards may meet the life-jacket rule with a neoprene wetsuit/drysuit or a closed-cell foam padded harness, and must wear a full-torso wetsuit or drysuit Oct 15 to May 15 (COMAR 08.18.04.02). Canoes, kayaks and other paddlecraft must carry a life jacket per person; manually propelled craft are not registered. No kiteboarding- or SUP-specific rule found.

Boat registration in Maryland

Any vessel with propulsion machinery of any type (including electric trolling motors and PWC) must be numbered with Maryland DNR (2-year certificate). Exempt: sail-only and manually propelled vessels (kayaks, canoes, SUPs), USCG-documented vessels (which need a Maryland use sticker instead), foreign boats under 90 days, and boats numbered in another state.

Popular boating waters in Maryland

Chesapeake Bay
Annapolis and the Severn River
Ocean City and the coastal bays (Assawoman, Isle of Wight, Sinepuxent)
Deep Creek Lake
Potomac River
Susquehanna Flats
Patuxent River
Choptank River

Some of the waters Maryland boaters know best. This is our list, not an official one, and it isn’t complete.

WHAT VESSELSOS DOES HERE

VesselSOS on Maryland waters

Life in danger? One tap dials 911. The screen shows your GPS position and a word-for-word script: say “Boat emergency, I’m on the water” and the name of the lake, river or bay you’re on.
On the coast and the Great Lakes it also shows which Coast Guard sector covers your position, with that sector’s 24-hour line as a second Call button, and a VHF Channel 16 MAYDAY script filled with your boat’s details for you to read on your own radio.
A live link for family ashore (Plus, free during the beta): your position, speed, course and phone battery in any browser, no app needed on their end. You send it by text yourself.
Not an emergency? The tow screen has Call buttons for the TowBoatUS and Sea Tow 24-hour dispatch lines, or your own member number.

What it doesn’t do: it doesn’t call the Coast Guard for you and isn’t connected to 911 or any rescue system. Nobody is alerted automatically if you’re late. The return-time check only asks “Are you OK?” on your own phone. It doesn’t replace a VHF radio, a PLB or EPIRB, or the life jackets the law requires.

iPhone only, in invite-only TestFlight beta. Not in the App Store yet, no Android. US support (911 routing, American English) is in beta version 1.4 and later.

Quick answers

What is the Maryland life jacket law for kids?

Do you need a boating license in Maryland?

How old do you have to be to drive a jet ski in Maryland?