How Much Does It Cost To Rent a Jet Ski? (2022 Prices)

So you’ve seen some others riding around and having some serious fun out there on a jet ski. Perhaps you’ve curious just how much this costs to just hire or rent one for a few hours.

Generally speaking, it costs $75 to $100 to hire a jet ski in most areas, but individuals will be limited to 30 minutes to 60 minutes of restricted usage. To get some serious riding fun in, we recommend hiring a jet ski of between 2 to 4 hours which will cost between $180 and $350 depending on if it’s self-drive or an organized tour.

There are some factors that can play into that pricing, including if you require additional instructions or assistance. In this guide, we’ll examine this further.

Jet Ski Rental Pricing

When you look at it from one perspective, it looks quite expensive to hire a jet ski. Surely these rental companies must be making a fortune!? Not really, especially as it’s a seasonal business.

The places where you can hire a jet ski, otherwise known as a rental business, are quite expensive to actually run. One of their biggest issues is the rising cost of insurance.

Also, they sometimes have to pay the local authorities a lease on the spot that they’re hiring from as part of their contract conditions. Then you’ve got staff wages with often 2 to 3 people on shift, then the cost of fuel too. It certainly adds up! Let’s not forget all the marketing that has to be done to get someone to their front door.

Self-Hire

The cheapest way to hire a jet ski is to self-drive one without a tour leader. What will happen is that they will have a specially marked area with life buoys right by the hire shop where you can let loose on their pre-determined ‘track’ which has been laid out.

You won’t really get to explore anywhere but it’s a great chance to learn how a jet ski is operated. Actually, that part is simply as the throttle is in your right-hand. If you’re using the jet ski in this enclosed area then they won’t need you to display a jet ski licence, only if you were to want to ride away and explore the waterways unsupervised. This increases the insurance cost and thus you will pay a little extra for this privilege.

Tour

It’s more expensive to go on a jet ski tour because they need to cover the cost of fuel, salary and wear and tear on the lead jet ski. For large groups, they will also have a sweep rider whose main job it is to keep the group moving along from start to finish.

I’d still recommend that you go on a group tour anyways as this is a great way to build up some confidence and experience while exploring in style! Even if it means that you’ll need to wave up some extra dollars…it’s worth it!

Cheapest Place to Hire

Definitely, the place to hire a jet ski if you want a bargain is south-east Asia. In Thailand, for instance, you can hire out a jet ski for $50 an hour including fuel. However, be warned that they have the jet ski scam where you’ll need to pay money for existing damage. We’ll explain more about that one.

In Summary

Compared to owning a jet ski, it’s much less expensive to hire one every month or so, or just go for a ride casually. Sometimes you can find some great deals on discount deal sites too.