What nobody tells you before you get your licence
The paperwork, the qualifications compared and how the course really works. We write it because these are the questions that come in by phone, and because almost none of them has a clear answer a click away.
If what you are after is which boat you can hire with the licence, or what to see from the water, that is better told by Costa Brava Rent a Boat, the boat hire company in the same group: here we only talk about training.
6 articles
- Requirements
The medical certificate: the paperwork almost nobody knows they need
It is compulsory for the Licencia de Navegación too — Spain's entry-level boating licence — it is done at the same centre that renews your driving licence, and it lasts two years. It is usually the only thing that delays an enrolment.
· 4 min - Requirements
At 16 or 17 you can, and this is what your parents have to sign
The minimum age for the licence is 18. The exception is only half known and comes up on almost every call: 16 and 17 work too, if the legal guardians authorise it in writing.
· 3 min - Qualifications
Licencia, PNB or PER: which one you actually need
Three qualifications and one difference that decides almost everything: two of them have an official government exam and one does not. What each one allows, plainly, and without selling you ours.
· 5 min - Qualifications
Why the licence has no exam (and why the PER does)
The question almost always arrives with suspicion: if there is no exam, is it really worth anything? It is, and the reason is not that it is easier, but that somebody else answers for the qualification.
· 4 min - The course
Why the theory cannot be done online
It is the Generalitat that says so, not us. And it is the reason why any offer of a “boating licence online” you come across does not stand up.
· 3 min - The school
Who is allowed to teach you to handle a boat, under the rules
Teaching the practicals of the Licencia de Navegación — Spain's entry-level boating licence — takes more than knowing how to navigate, and more than holding a PER. The rules call for a professional qualification, and the two acronyms get confused daily.
· 4 min
We open soon. We'll tell you as soon as there's a date
The school is awaiting authorisation: today there are no places, no course dates and no final price. Leave us your email and you'll be among the first to know. If you'd rather ask, a real person answers on WhatsApp.