# Renting a Boat Without a Licence in Crete: The Rules, the Limits, the Weather > Greek rules let you hire a small motorboat with no licence at all if its engine stays under a set horsepower. Where that line sits, what the hirer must hold, what the deposit and excess mean, the meltemi, and the places you will be tempted to land. - Canonical URL: https://honestcrete.com/guides/renting-a-boat-without-a-licence-in-crete/ - Author: Fotis (Honest Crete, Heraklion) - Area: All Crete · Category: Things to do - Last field-checked: October 2026 · Updated: 2026-10-25 · Published: 2026-10-25 - How to cite: "Honest Crete — Renting a Boat Without a Licence in Crete: The Rules, the Limits, the Weather (field-checked October 2026), https://honestcrete.com/guides/renting-a-boat-without-a-licence-in-crete/" - About the source: field-checked guides to Crete by two Heraklion-based locals. Prices are hedged ranges in EUR; small businesses are kept anonymous; editorial is never paid for and advertising is clearly labelled. Method: https://honestcrete.com/how-we-check/ --- A small motorboat with no skipper and no licence can be the best day of a Cretan holiday: your own cove, your own timetable. Greek rules allow it and draw the line by engine power, not experience: below a set horsepower you need no licence at all. What decides the day is not the paperwork but the wind, and on the north coast in high summer the wind keeps a schedule. This guide is a check of published sources, not a site visit, made in October 2026. **The honest facts** - **The licence line:** an outboard of more than 30 HP on most hulls, or more than 15 HP on an inflatable, multihull or V-shaped hull, needs a speedboat licence (General Port Regulation 20, restated 2022). - **Below it:** a "motor launch", which may be hired out with nobody from the company on board. - **The hirer:** needs an approval from the local Port Authority and third-party liability insurance. - **Back by sunset:** hire craft must be brought in at the latest by sunset. - **Deposit and excess:** what you pay if the boat comes back damaged; ask both figures before you sign. - **The wind:** the meltemi builds through the day and peaks from mid-July to early August. - **At sea:** 108 for the Coast Guard, 112 for anything. ## Where the licence line sits [General Port Regulation 20](https://www.hcg.gr/el/gia-ton-polith/nomo8esia/nomothesia-dieuthynse-limenikes-astynomilimenikes-astynomias-202/dla-genikoi-kanonismoi-limenon-205/genikos-kanonismos-limena-ari8m-20-756/) dates from 1999 and was largely rewritten in December 2022 (ΦΕΚ Β' 6543/2022). It defines a speedboat by engine power: an outboard above 30 HP, an inboard petrol or sterndrive engine above 40 HP, or an inboard diesel above 70 HP. If the boat is wholly or partly inflatable, has a double or multiple hull, or has a V-shaped hull, the thresholds drop to 15, 30 and 50 HP, and any water-jet boat above 15 HP qualifies. A speedboat needs an operator's licence from the Port Authority; anything below the line is a motor launch, which may be hired out without the owner aboard. So ask the engine's horsepower and the hull type first. The [Ministry of Maritime Affairs](https://www.ynanp.gr/el/gia-ton-polith/xrhsimes-plhrofories/adeies-taxyplown-skafwn/) accepts a licence issued abroad if a state authority issued or recognised it, with an official translation. ## What the hirer must hold Renting out leisure craft needs an approval from the local Port Authority under a 2021 joint ministerial decision (ΦΕΚ Β' 4174/2021). The business must carry third-party liability insurance: for hired craft other than speedboats, at least €147,000 for death or injury and €89,000 per incident for property damage and marine pollution. An April 2023 amendment requires hirers to bring their craft in to a safe place after work and at the latest by sunset. The zone, the wind limit and the renter's minimum age were not found in the national texts checked for this guide; ask for them in writing, with the zone on a map. ## Deposit, excess and the contract The deposit is money held against damage; the excess is the share of a damage claim you pay before any insurance does. Ask both figures, what counts as damage (the propeller, the hull underside, a lost anchor), whether fuel is included, and what happens if wind cancels the day. Count the life jackets, one per person with children's sizes, and photograph the boat at the quay. ## The meltemi and reading a forecast The meltemi is the summer north wind of the Aegean, and the [beach safety guide](https://honestcrete.com/guides/beach-safety-and-flags-in-crete/) sets out its pattern: June to September, peaking from mid-July to early August, lightest around dawn and building through the day. The [meteo.gr sailing maps](https://www.meteo.gr/sailingmaps-en.cfm) give wind force in Beaufort and wave height for each three-hour period; check them the evening before and again in the morning. The [meltemi guide](https://honestcrete.com/guides/where-to-swim-when-the-meltemi-blows/) treats a sustained north wind of 5–6 Beaufort as a day to change plans even for swimmers, and an open boat has less margin. Go early, stay near shelter, and turn back when whitecaps appear. ## The places you will be tempted to land Spinalonga is an archaeological site that the Ministry of Culture says is reached [by shuttle boats at fixed times](http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/3/eh355.jsp?obj_id=2607) from Agios Nikolaos, Elounda and Plaka; its page makes no provision for private boats, so visit on the shuttle. The sunken town of Olous beside the [Kolokytha causeway](https://honestcrete.com/guides/kolokytha-and-elounda-beaches-honest-guide/) is antiquity: anchor clear of it and take nothing from the seabed. [Balos](https://honestcrete.com/guides/balos-lagoon-honest-guide/) and Gramvousa, out west, are the day-trip fleet's territory. Wherever you stop, keep well clear of swimmers; the [snorkelling guide](https://honestcrete.com/guides/snorkelling-in-crete-honest-spots/) already warns that rental boats crowd its clear coves on summer afternoons. *Photo: The Kolokytha peninsula off Elounda* **The honest downside** The no-licence category is defined by low engine power, so the boat you can hire without a licence has the least power to push home against a rising afternoon meltemi. And the parts of the rules that protect you most, the zone and the weather limit, are the ones you have to ask the hirer for. **The verdict.** **Worth it if:** you can be on the water early on a calm, sheltered stretch of coast, and treat the hirer's zone and weather limit as rules rather than suggestions. **Skip it if:** the forecast shows a north wind building, nobody in the group has handled a small boat, or the plan involves landing on islands; the skippered trips in the [boat trips guide](https://honestcrete.com/guides/boat-trips-from-this-coast/) are the better day. *Disclosure:* Photo on this page: the Kolokytha peninsula by Cayambe (CC BY-SA 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons, resized for the web. This guide is a check of published sources, not a site visit; the rules and figures were checked against General Port Regulation 20 and its 2022 and 2023 amendments as published by the Hellenic Coast Guard and the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, the 2021 joint ministerial decision on leisure-craft rental, the Ministry of Culture and the meteo.gr sailing forecasts for the date shown at the top of this guide. No boat hirer is named or recommended. Nobody pays to be featured in a guide — no business, no sponsor, no paid mention, ever. Adverts, where they appear, are labelled as adverts. ## Quick answers **Do you need a licence to rent a boat in Crete?** Not for a small one. Greek General Port Regulation 20 requires a speedboat operator's licence only above set engine powers, for example an outboard of more than 30 HP on most hulls or more than 15 HP on an inflatable or V-shaped hull. A boat below those limits counts as a motor launch, which may be rented out without the owner on board. **What is the horsepower limit for a boat without a licence in Greece?** For an outboard engine the limit is 30 HP on most hulls and 15 HP if the boat is wholly or partly inflatable, has a double or multiple hull, or has a V-shaped hull, under General Port Regulation 20 as restated in 2022. Inboard engines have their own, higher limits, and a water-jet boat above 15 HP needs a licence. **Can I use my licence from home to drive a speedboat in Greece?** A speedboat licence issued abroad is accepted in Greece if it was issued or officially recognised by a state authority of the country that issued it. The Ministry of Maritime Affairs asks for an official translation and a certificate from the relevant embassy or consulate. **Until what time can you keep a rental boat in Crete?** Hire boats come back before dark. Since an April 2023 amendment to General Port Regulation 20, a hirer must bring its craft to a safe place after the end of work and at the latest by sunset. Check the return time in your contract. **What number do I call for an emergency at sea in Crete?** 108 reaches the Hellenic Coast Guard, which coordinates search and rescue at sea in Greek waters. 112 works for any emergency.