If I don't have any license, can I take a boat? With a navigation license, can I drive a boat of more than 6 meters? What happens with the 'titulín'? Is it possible to go to Formentera? With a non-Spanish title can I rent a boat?

When renting a boat during our holidays we have many questions, especially related to the necessary qualification. Here we will try to answer your questions.

There are 2 types of nautical qualifications, recreational and professional. Today we will talk about the recreational ones. A recreational boat is one that, regardless of its means of propulsion (motor, sail or rowing), is intended for sports or leisure purposes. The Royal Decree 875/2014 of October 10th 2014 establishes the different nautical titles of recreational boats in Spain: Navigation License (LN), Basic Navigation Master (PNB), Recreational Boat Master (PER), Yacht Master (PY) and Yacht Skipper (CY). It is important to note that with these qualifications there is no limit on engine power.

If you do not have any license, you can drive a motor boat of up to 5 metres in length and whose power does not exceed 15 HP or a sailing boat of up to 6 metres. Also, you can't go more than two miles from the coast. Remember how much a nautical mile was? 1,852 km.

The Navigation License allows you to take any boat (sailboat or motorboat) up to 6 meters long. As before, you cannot go more than 2 miles from the coast. The Basic Sailing License allows you to drive any boat (sailboat or motorboat) up to 8 meters in length. The maximum distance you can go away from the coast is 5 miles.

The most common license is Recreational Boat Master. With this title, you can take boats (sailboat or motorboat) up to 15 metres long and move up to 12 miles away from the coast. Furthermore, if you practice for 24 hours, the length is extended to 24 metres and sailing between the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands is possible. With the licenses mentioned above, you can go from Ibiza to Formentera without any problem, as for nautical purposes they are listed as one unit.

The Yacht Skipper allows you to take boats up to 24 meters long, move up to 150 miles away from the coast and sail between the Canary and Balearic Islands. On the other hand, with the Yacht Skipper the length is the same (24 meters) but you can go as far as you want from the coast, there are no geographical limits.

What if I have the 'titulín'? If you still have it in force you can continue sailing (6 meters maximum length). If it has expired, you can validate it by the LN, plus a 4 hour practice.

In order to obtain the above mentioned Spanish licenses, you must take the corresponding theoretical exam, accredit some safety and navigation practices, as well as some radio communication practices.

In Ibiza you can prepare for theoretical exams in the different nautical schools on the island, among which we highlight the Nautical Academy of Club Nàutic Sant Antoni (CNSA), where Alan, one of the members of Ibiza Blueline Charters, works as a teacher.

If you have a foreign qualification and you are not sure if it is valid in Spain, we advise you to contact us and we will tell help you.

All our boats can be rented with the Basic Sailing License, which is the minimum required qualification. For this you must present your valid certificate at the time of boarding. If you do not have a recreational license, you must hire the services of a professional skipper. But don't worry about looking for one, as Ibiza Blueline Charters has experienced professional skippers at your disposal. For full day trips, the skipper's fee is 150€. and for half day trips, 100€.