eFoil regulations & spots in Curaçao

Curaçao has no rule that names eFoils, electric surfboards or jetboards. Maritime matters fall under the Maritime Authority Curaçao (MAC), which administers the Maritime Ordinance 2007 (Landsverordening Maritiem Beheer); that ordinance is aimed at shipping, port reporting and marine works rather than beach watersports. In practice an eFoil is treated like the island's other small motorised craft, the jet skis and waterscooters, and is governed mainly by the public-beach policy of the Ministry of Traffic, Transport and Urban Planning (VVRP) and the Ministry of Health, Environment and Nature (GMN), plus marine-park rules.

No operator licence is clearly required for private use of small powered craft. Local operators report that small recreational craft under roughly 6 m and 15 hp are driven without a formal certificate, jet-ski tour companies accept drivers from 16 without a licence, and rental desks set 18. None of this is written eFoil law, so confirm with MAC before assuming a board is exempt. A life jacket is universal operator practice and the sensible default; a leash and helmet are what the eFoil school at Jan Thiel issues. No registration scheme for boards was found.

The binding constraint is distance from shore. Under the public-beach policy that took effect on 21 August 2026, jet skis and other motorised water recreation may not be used within 100 m of the coastline at the island's public beaches, and no new waterscooter-rental permits are being issued until existing operations (for example the three at Santa Cruz) are regularised with GMN and VVRP. Along the south-east coast the Curaçao Marine Park, managed by CARMABI, runs 21.7 km from Jan Thiel to Oostpunt and up to 100 m offshore; it is patrolled for anchoring and fishing offences, so clear any motorised riding there with CARMABI first. Keep out of buoyed swim zones, away from the commercial traffic at St. Anna Bay (Willemstad), and give way in the busy Spanish Water (Spaanse Water) lagoon, where jet-ski tours already operate from Caracas Bay.

Enforcement is by the Coast Guard and police under beach-permit conditions rather than a dedicated watersports statute; local press has reported the Coast Guard describing jet-ski legislation as still lacking, so expect warnings and permit sanctions rather than fixed fines. Conditions differ beach by beach under the permit system, so ask the beach operator or MAC where launching is allowed. Launch from a quiet, non-swimming stretch, ride outside the 100 m strip, and treat the Jan Thiel eFoil lessons (helmet and impact vest) as the local benchmark for kit.