Boater Card Rules

All states

Boating license rules in Ohio

No person born on or after January 1, 1982 may operate powercraft over ten horsepower without a NASBLA approved safe boater course or proficiency exam certificate.1

The details

Engine size covered
Powercraft over ten horsepower1
Exemptions
Does not apply to an individual who possesses valid merchant mariner credentials, carried onboard.1

The official pages we read do not say: personal watercraft (jet skis), minimum age to operate, card and course cost, cards from other states. Ask the agency.

The rules are set by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Parks and Watercraft.

Sources

  1. Ohio Revised Code 1547.05 Completing boating course as prerequisite to licensing; exception (effective September 14, 2016), Ohio Legislative Service Commission, checked 1 November 2026

Checked 1 November 2026. "Secondary" marks a source we used only because the official page could not be read.