Boating Safety Courses 
 
Anyone operating a motorboat, inluding a personal watercraft (pwc) or sailboat in Colorado must be at least 16 years old.  Fourteen and 15-year-olds who successfully complete a state approved boating safety course, such as the one offered by Colorado State Parks, can operate a motorboat, jet ski or sailboat in Colorado.  The course is offered throughout the state and is open to adults as well as teens.

The 2009 Boat Safety Review Session Schedule is available online.  Be sure to check back often, as the list is be updated as more information becomes available.

Registration for the required review sessions must be made by calling 303-791-1954, or by sending an email to boating.safety@state.co.us.  Please provide your name, date of birth, mailing address, contact phone number and indicate what location/date you are interested in attending.

The "Boating Safetly in Colorado" manual is a self-study manual that must be studied by the students prior to the review session.  The manual will be mailed to you when you register for a review class.

Boat operator cards will be issued to students who attend the review session and pass the final exam with a score of 70 percent or more. 

The certification fee is $15 per student and the student must bring a 1-by-1-inch photo, which will be laminated onto their operator card. 

Anyone 16 years old or older may also take a web based boat safety class.  Two that have approved content from the State of Colorado and NASBLA are BoatEd and BoaterExam.com.

We also recognize the difficulty some have with understanding navigational rules.  BoaterExam.com has a very beneficial & free "mini-course" available here.