BOAT-COMPARATOR Guide
Coastal License or Inland Waterways License: Two Different Boat Licenses, Not One
Sailing at sea and boating on a river or canal don't fall under the same license in France. What each option actually covers, and why one doesn't substitute for the other.
Many first-time renters discover while booking that a "boat license" isn't a single all-purpose pass: the French licensing system splits into two distinct options, each covering different waters.
Two options, not one license
The French leisure boating license comes in a coastal option and an inland waterways option (often called the "river license"). Each is obtained separately, with its own theory exam, and only allows piloting on the waters covered by that specific option.
The coastal option: the sea, up to 6 nautical miles
This is the option the vast majority of boaters take in order to rent a RIB, a motorboat or a sailboat at sea: it allows navigation up to 6 nautical miles from a shelter. Our French coastal license guide covers the exam and its cost, and our guide to the offshore extension explains how to go beyond that limit.
The inland waterways option: rivers, canals, lakes
This option is required to pilot a motorboat above 6 horsepower on a river, a canal or a lake — the Canal du Midi or the large Alpine lakes, for example. A coastal license alone does not cover it: these are two separate sets of regulations, with their own buoyage and right-of-way rules specific to inland navigation (see our guide to license-free canal boating for the thresholds that require no license at all).
Why this distinction exists
Inland waters and the open sea don't carry the same risks: river current, locks and barge traffic on one side; swell, tides and commercial shipping on the other. US research on boating safety education shows that mandatory training for boaters is linked to a meaningful drop in serious accidents, which supports separate programmes for each type of water (Bryant, Mandatory Boating Safety Education for All Ages, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, see the study on Google Scholar).
And with no license at all?
On both types of water, boats with a maximum of 6 horsepower remain accessible without any license: the classic license-free rental at sea, just like license-free canal boats on inland waterways.
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