eFoil regulations & spots in Bermuda

Bermuda has no eFoil-specific rule. Boating is regulated by the Department of Marine and Ports Services under the Marine Board Act 1962 and the Marine and Ports Services Act 2021, with the Bermuda Police Service marine unit enforcing on the water. Jet skis are treated as "personal watercraft" in Marine Board notices and as boats for registration and equipment purposes; an eFoil is in practice handled the same way.

Private boats must be registered with Marine and Ports after purchase and re-licensed annually (1 April to 31 May), with fees based on registered length; whether a foil board is registrable is not stated, so ask the Boats and Moorings Section. No operator licence is required for boats or jet skis. The Marine Board (Safety) Regulations 1993 require an approved life jacket for every person on board any boat, plus a sound device, flashlight and bailer on craft up to 20 ft. Government safety advisories and licensed operators state that personal-watercraft riders must be at least 16, and Bermuda law only permits jet-ski rental as part of a guided tour - individual rentals are prohibited - so eFoil hire, where offered, is likely to follow the same supervised model.

Marine Board notices set a 5-knot, no-wake limit within 100 m of the shore, any structure or a vessel flying a dive flag; the 1967 Navigation Regulations require a "reasonable rate of speed" and 100 ft clearance from ships. Water-skiing and towing may not take place within 200 ft of any foreshore. Jet skis are periodically excluded by Marine Board (Control Over Maritime Traffic) notices from busy raft-up waters - Paradise Lakes and the islands of the Great Sound, Mangrove Bay, King's Point, Somerset Long Bay, Cambridge Beaches and Daniel's Head to Flora Point over the Cup Match weekend. Harrington Sound, Castle Harbour and the inner harbours are designated "inshore waters" with lighter equipment rules.

Contraventions are summary offences and the police publicise enforcement after holiday weekends. Rules are uniform across the island. Practical advice: keep to the 5-knot band near shore, wear a PFD, avoid the Cup Match exclusion zones, and contact Marine and Ports (Boats and Moorings) about registering a private board before shipping one in; visitors will most easily ride through a licensed watersports operator.