Outdoors / Boating & water safety
Texas is a water state - about 1.7 million acres of lakes, 191,000 miles of rivers and streams, and 367 miles of Gulf coast. Whether you run a bass boat, ride a jet ski, or paddle a quiet creek, here's what you need to know - and how to come home safe.
Read this first
About 85% of people who drown in Texas boating accidents weren't wearing one. You get seconds in an emergency, not minutes - so wear it the entire time, don't just stow it under a seat. Everything else on this page matters less than this.
TPWD Water Safety ->Kayaks, canoes, and paddleboards are 'vessels' under Texas law. You don't register a non-motor kayak, but you must carry a life jacket (kids under 13 wear one), and you can get a BWI in a canoe. Don't skip the rules just because there's no motor.
TPWD Safe Paddling ->The whole guide
Seven short sections. Start with safety - then sort out the paperwork and the rules. Each one ends with the official link.
The habits that keep you alive: life jackets, low-head dams, cold water, and more.
Stay safe ->What every boat must carry, and what kids must wear.
See the gear ->Registering and titling your boat, boater education, and the minimum age.
Get legal ->The extra rules for personal watercraft (PWC).
Ride right ->BWI, no-wake zones, rules of the road, and reporting an accident.
Know the rules ->Kayaks, canoes, and paddleboards - the rules apply to you too.
Paddle smart ->The drain-plug law and Clean, Drain, Dry.
Stop invasives ->Who handles what
Almost everything is TPWD. Two things point elsewhere - send each question to the right place.
Boats, safety & paddling
Texas Parks & Wildlife (TPWD)
Registration and titling, boater education, life-jacket and operating rules, and water safety - under the Texas Water Safety Act.
TPWD Boating ->Life-jacket & equipment standards
U.S. Coast Guard
Sets the federal standards for approved life jackets and safety gear. TPWD enforces them on Texas water.
USCG Boating Safety ->Your boat trailer
Texas DMV / county tax office
Register and renew the trailer like a car - yearly - not through TPWD.
TxDMV Registration ->A few terms you'll see on the water and in the rules.
Personal flotation device - the official name for a life jacket.
One Coast Guard-approved PFD per person.
Personal watercraft - a jet ski, WaveRunner, or Sea-Doo.
Follows motorboat rules, plus extra ones.
Your boat is moving and not anchored, tied to shore, or aground.
Drifting and trolling count as underway.
The slowest speed that still lets you steer - slow enough to leave almost no wake.
Required within 50 feet of swimmers and docks.
Boating while intoxicated - a DWI on the water (0.08), and it applies to paddlecraft too.
Yes, even in a canoe.
A red flag with a white diagonal stripe meaning a diver is underwater.
Stay 50 feet away; slow within 150 feet.
A ring or cushion you throw to someone in the water.
Required on boats 16 feet and longer.
Quirks worth knowing
Quick answers
Yes if it has a motor (any size) or is a sailboat 14 feet or longer. Non-motor canoes, kayaks, and rowboats don't - at any length.
Texas calls it boater education. It's required if you were born on or after Sept. 1, 1993 and operate a boat over 15 hp, a jet ski, or a sailboat over 14 feet. It never expires.
At least 13 to operate alone (a 15-hp-plus boat or a jet ski). Younger than that - or younger riders without the card - only with an adult 18+ who can legally operate, on board.
Yes - children under 13 must wear one while the boat is moving, on vessels under 26 feet, unless they're in an enclosed cabin.
Yes - every rider, with no exception for adults.
Passengers can; the operator cannot be intoxicated. A 0.08 is a BWI, just like a DWI in a car.
Yes - it's called a BWI, and it applies to canoes and kayaks.
No - daylight only, sunrise to sunset.
Yes - the statewide drain-plug law requires it before you leave or approach fresh water.
Within 48 hours if someone died, went missing, or was hurt beyond first aid; within 30 days for property damage over $2,000. And you must stop and help.
Official sources
TPWD runs boating in Texas under the Water Safety Act; the U.S. Coast Guard sets gear standards, and the Texas DMV handles trailers. Texas Porch explains; they decide. Confirm fees and rules before you go.
Caution: Fees and a few details change. The official TPWD pages and the statutes are the final word - and BWI questions are legal matters for a lawyer.
