Quick facts
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The Captain's Club Map: Getting a boat licence Enquire / book More adventures Related: water sports dubai
The video
In the video below Paris takes a basic boat course. He explains that it qualifies you to skipper a boat up to 12 m, with a fuller qualification needed for anything bigger, and that it is enough for wakeboarding, jet skiing, wake surfing or cruising.
After the licence: boat clubs
Owning a boat in Dubai means berths, insurance and maintenance. A boat club is the alternative: you pay a membership and book boats from a shared fleet.
The Captain's Club is one example. On its own website (checked 30 October 2026) it says it was established in 2014, runs a fleet of over 300 boats at marinas in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah among other cities, trains members to become licensed captains in two days, and lets members reserve boats through its app. Check its site for current membership options. We have no commercial relationship with it.
Related
More time on the water: water sports in Dubai, wakeboarding, jet skiing and yacht rental.
From the Guy in Dubai video archive
About BOAT CAPTAIN LICENSE - HOW I GOT IN 2 DA
Becoming a boat captain may not be as hard as most people thing. To take the basic course qualifies you to skipper a boat up to 12m. For anything larger than this you require a more in depth qualification. However, for most purposes, this allows you to go wake boating, jet skiing, wake surfing or just a little boat party with 10 friends.
I took the course with Al Bateen Marine Training Institute which took me two days. The first day is theory and the second is practical. We took the boat out at Port Rashid and within two day's I had passed the exam.
Sources
- Watch on YouTube
- The Captain's Club: how it works (checked 30 Oct 2026)
- The Captain's Club: boat club Dubai (checked 30 Oct 2026)
Facts checked October 2026. Opening times, age limits and seasons change, so confirm with the operator before you go.
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