kayak Registration & Permit Requirements

Kayak registration and permit requirements is something that should be considered before you put your boat in the water.

While the topic of registering and/or acquiring a permit is easy to comprehend, it is somewhat difficult to adequately cover in a single post. This is because regulations and requirements vary from state to state. Furthermore, the requirements can also change based on where you put in.

You should check the specific requirements for each state you plant to kayak in. That being said, in summary a boating license is not typically required for a non-motorized kayak. Add a motor and you greatly increase the odds for requiring a boating license to operate your kayak.

As stated earlier the license and registration requirements for kayaks vary across all states in the USA. Generally speaking a boating license is not required for a kayak across all states. However, as of now a few states (Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio and Pennsylvania’s State parks and forests) require kayak registration.

In the following clip Tommy of TommyTek Outdoors highlights why you may want to just go ahead and register your kayak. Watch it below.

Check the Kayak registration and permit requirements for each state you plan to kayak in.

Again, please refer to the state regulations for each state you plan to kayak in for the latest rules and regulations.

BoatingaValley.com has put together an informative chart that lays out the licensing and permitting requirements for each state. You can find that chart here on BoatingValley.com

Images Source: YouTube Clips