Home / Boating schools / United Arab Emirates
Boating schools in the United Arab Emirates
In short
In Dubai the Dubai Maritime Authority issues pleasure craft licences. Since 2025 visitors holding a licence from an IMO member state can obtain a local one.
When a certificate is required
This page covers Dubai. There, pleasure craft are operated with a licence from the Dubai Maritime Authority; the other emirates are not covered here.
Duration and minimum age
Visitors submit their home licence electronically; the authority checks authenticity and compliance and then issues the local licence.
Who issues the certificate
Dubai Maritime Authority, part of the Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation, www.pcfc.ae
Finding a school
Where the boating schools in the United Arab Emirates are listed
No list of single schools, it dates within a season. We name the bodies that keep the registers.
Authority
Dubai Maritime Authority
Reviews foreign licences and training certificates. Training from an institute it has not certified needs an equivalency review.
www.pcfc.aeThe certificates
What each certificate covers
Pleasure Marine Craft Driving Licence
The Dubai Maritime Authority licence for pleasure craft
Besucherlizenz
Since August 2025, for visitors holding a licence from an IMO member state, after review by the authority
Context
How training works in the United Arab Emirates
This page covers Dubai; the rules of the other emirates are not included. The responsible body is the Dubai Maritime Authority, part of the port and customs corporation PCFC. It issues pleasure craft licences and decides whether foreign licences and training certificates are equivalent.
Since August 2025 there has been a licence for visitors. Anyone holding a licence from a member state of the International Maritime Organization submits it electronically and receives a local licence once it has been checked. Whether a particular licence meets the standards is for the authority to decide.
Recognition, charter, cover
What the certificate means outside the classroom
Recognition abroad
The Dubai Maritime Authority recognises licences from the Gulf states and other IMO member states, provided they meet its standards. The home licence is submitted and checked.
What the charter base asks for
A Dubai charter company sets its own requirements on top of the authority's licence. Ask before you book.
All countries at a glanceWhat matters for cover
Whether the waters of the Arabian Gulf fall within the cruising area of a policy is a question for the policy wording, not the certificate. Check before the passage.
All countries at a glanceQuestions and answers
Common questions about boating in the United Arab Emirates
Do I need a boating licence in Dubai?
Yes, a licence from the Dubai Maritime Authority. Visitors obtain one on the basis of their home licence.
Is my home licence valid in Dubai?
Not directly. The authority reviews it and, if it is equivalent, issues a local visitor licence.
Does this apply to all emirates?
This page covers Dubai only. The other emirates are not included.
Last reviewed: 08 November 2026. The authority of the country you boat in has the final word.
We insure boats whose owner or flag is in Germany, Austria or Spain.
Other countries
Do you run a boating school?
A training boat runs commercially, with a liable instructor: that needs its own arrangement.
