While there are hundreds of jet ski rental businesses around the world, have you ever wondered if you can hire one for more than a few hours.
Well, you’re in luck!
You can hire a jet ski for between 2 days and 7 days by seeking out smaller, independent hire agencies. These are typically rental companies with only 2 to 3 jet skis in their fleet. They keep their jet skis on trailers and allow hirers to tow the jet ski away with their own car to explore more than one waterway or region.
In this guide, I’ll be helping you seek out those smaller and lesser-known companies.
Hire a Jet Ski Long Term
In just about every case, you can only hire a jet ski for between 1 to 3 hours. It really makes things difficult if you want a longer-term hire to either tow tubes, go fishing or even some camping! That’s really what owners of jet skis actually do, but hirers often have different goals.
In the eyes of a rental business, 97% of people who hire are just there to have some affordable fun for a few hours. This is why it can be unfeasible for them to allow you to rent a jet ski for a weekend or even for an entire week.
Luckily, I did some research and found some companies that do these longer-term rentals. Some of them will actually allow you to either take the jet ski away with your vehicle, or they’ll hook up the ski and take it to a boat ramp of your choosing.
Cost of Rentals
Unlike those people who hire for short-term, you’re going to be paying a whole lot more. Expect to pay between $1,000 to $2,500 to hire a jet ski long term depending on the season and length of hire. A lot of this expenditure is due to additional hours you’ll be putting on the machine as well as an increased insurance risk and premiums for the owner.
Certainly, if you’ve hired from the same individual a few times, they’ll often give you a slight discount. This is all too common in the shoulder months either side of summer and especially if you hire during the week.
While the price seems high, it’s still far cheaper than buying your own jet ski outright and having to store it someplace. You’ll still be responsible for storage and refuelling the jet ski while it’s in your care, but you won’t need to get finance or pay a lot in upfront cost.
Keep in mind that you’ll be expected to pay a large bond of up to $3,000 on your credit card. This sits in escrow in case you damage, destroy or steal the jet ski. By paying a small premium each day of the hire (say $30), you can get this liability fee down quite considerably.
Where to Find Weekend Rentals
So then, where do you find these guys who’ll gladly take their ski out for an entire weekend? Well, let’s have a look:
- Look on Google. I found someone in my local area who allows you to hire overnight and on weekends.
- Ask in Facebook groups. There are dozens of jet ski owner Facebook groups all across the world. Have a look inside and you’ll find individuals who might be willing to allow you to hire their private jet ski. There may be some maritime regulations and insurance/licensing requirements in your particular state.
- Call the jet ski hire shops. While many of these rental businesses proclaim that you can only hire by the hour on their websites, they’ll often let people rent longer term if they simply ask. It’s even easier if you’ve hired from them before.
Occasionally, and especially in winter, some dealerships are open to the idea of long term rentals given their sales volume is remarkably low and they still need revenue.
Closing Thoughts
I hope that’s given you some great ideas on where you can get a jet ski to rent for more than just a few hours. It’s seriously fun out there and chances are that you’ll have even more fun if you can ride for longer.
Catch you out there!
