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Boat rental guides

Real prices, licenses, skippers, platforms, itineraries: concrete answers before you book.

• License-Free Boat Rental in Croatia: What Is Really PossibleUnlike Spain or Italy, Croatia requires a recognised license for any motorboat, whatever its power. Your real options in Zadar, Split or Hvar: skippered trips, or a recognised foreign license.
• License-Free Boat Rental in the Balearics: Rules, Spots & PricesSpain allows license-free boating up to 15 hp on a 5 m hull — the most generous rule in the Med. Where it works best in Mallorca, Ibiza, Formentera and Menorca, and what it costs.
• EES and ETIAS in 2026: What They Change for Renting a Boat in Europe With Non-EU CrewBiometric border checks since April 2026, an ETIAS travel authorisation expected late 2026: what your British, American or Canadian crew need to know before they step aboard.
• Mosquitoes at anchor: why they bite hardest at dusk, and how to actually avoid themAn idyllic bay by day can turn unbearable at sunset. Why coastal mosquitoes cluster near the shore at anchor, and the simple habits that change your evening.
• Beach flags: what they mean when you approach the shore on a rental boatGreen, yellow, red: the supervised-beach flag code isn't just for swimmers. What a boat renter should understand from it when approaching the shoreline.
• Harness and jackline on a rental sailboat: the safety gear too often overlookedStaying clipped to the boat rather than falling in the water: what a harness and jackline change in rough weather, and when to actually use them on a rental.
• Air conditioning aboard: what is actually possible on a rental boatSailboat, catamaran or yacht: when air conditioning genuinely exists, what it costs in electricity, and why it stays rare at anchor away from a marina berth.
• Starlink satellite wifi on board: what it changes for a boat rentalMore and more rental catamarans and yachts now carry a Starlink antenna. Real-world speed, latency and the limits of satellite connectivity at sea.
• "From" price or fixed price: how to read a boat rental listing correctlyThe price shown at the top of a listing isn't always what you'll pay. Understanding the difference between a fixed price and a headline price before comparing two offers.
• B7, GTL or HVO: which diesel fuel for a rental boat?More and more marina pumps now offer a synthetic diesel alongside regular B7. What GTL and HVO actually are, and what they change for a pleasure-boat diesel engine.
• Nautical miles and knots: working out the real travel time for your rentalA nautical mile isn't a kilometre, and a knot doesn't scale linearly with a RIB's speed. The simple method to estimate travel time before you set off.
• Hypalon or PVC: what the tube fabric really changes on a rental RIBTwo fabrics cover the tubes of rental RIBs, and they age very differently in the sun. What to know before comparing two listings that look identical.
• Lost or Stolen French Boat Licence on Holiday: How to Fix It Without Losing Your RentalMissing wallet, bag stolen the night before departure: the boat licence is gone. Sworn statement, theft report, French duplicate paperwork, real waiting time — and how not to cancel the booking.
• Anchor Stuck on the Bottom: Freeing It Without Damage on a Rental BoatRock, ground chain, wreck: when the anchor refuses to come up, forcing the windlass is the worst option. Trip-line prevention, freeing techniques and the right reflexes with your operator.
• Capbreton and Hossegor by Boat: The Landes' Only Harbour, Its Canyon and Its ChannelA submarine canyon at the harbour mouth, a narrow channel between two jetties, world-famous waves: what the Landes coast offers — and demands — afloat, and which rental bases to approach it from.
• The Kill Switch at the Helm: The Most Neglected Safety Habit in Boat RentalThe red lanyard hanging under the console is not a gadget: it stops the engine if the driver is thrown from the helm. Where to clip it, when to wear it, what the rules say.
• Reversing a Charter Sailboat: Master Prop Walk Instead of Fighting ItWhy a sailboat refuses to back up straight, what prop walk is, and how to use it to manoeuvre in the marina — the charterer's manual.
• Leaving the Dock in a Crosswind with a Rental Boat: The Manoeuvre Step by StepWind pinning you to the dock or blowing you off it: the crosswind departure is the manoeuvre that stresses charterers most. Wind check, spring line, pivot on a fender — the full method.
• Where to Rent a Boat in Occitanie: Which Base Between the Camargue and the Côte Vermeille?From Le Grau-du-Roi to Collioure: 200 km of coast, licence-free lagoons and marinas born of a state planning mission. The full picture of the Gulf of Lion's rental bases.
• Where to Rent a Boat in the Dalmatian Islands: Which Island (or Which Base) to Choose?Hvar, Brač, Korčula, Vis, Šolta, Dugi Otok, Mljet: a charterer's manual to the Dalmatian archipelago — depart from the mainland or rent on an island, and which one to aim for.
• Bodrum or Kos: Renting a Boat on the Turkish or the Greek Side of the Aegean?Twelve miles separate the two bases — and a border. Formalities, the meltemi, gulets versus the Dodecanese: how to choose your shore for a charter in the eastern Aegean.