{
  "destination": "french-polynesia",
  "name": "French Polynesia",
  "question": "Do I need a licence to rent a boat in French Polynesia?",
  "answer": "No licence is required by law for a sailing boat in French Polynesia: the territory's official pleasure-craft rules say sailing pleasure craft, even with an auxiliary engine, need no title, which covers a sailing catamaran (our reading; the text concerns French-flag craft). Charter companies can still ask for experience: Anchor says they ask for a sailing résumé, while The Moorings lists Tahiti among regions needing formal certification, so check with your operator.",
  "regime": "none",
  "regime_summary": "No legal title for sailing craft",
  "rests_on": "mixed",
  "rests_on_text": "official and secondary sources",
  "canonical_url": "https://catamaranindex.com/licence-by-country/french-polynesia/",
  "markdown_url": "https://catamaranindex.com/licence-by-country/french-polynesia.md",
  "destination_url": "https://catamaranindex.com/french-polynesia/",
  "best_time_url": "https://catamaranindex.com/best-time/french-polynesia/",
  "fishing_url": "https://catamaranindex.com/fishing/french-polynesia/",
  "api_url": "https://catamaranindex.com/api/licences/french-polynesia.json",
  "book_url": "https://catamaranindex.com/go/samboat?dest=french-polynesia&pos=api",
  "checked": "2026-10-28",
  "summary": {
    "licence_needed": "No legal title for sailing craft; operators may ask",
    "vhf": "Not verified",
    "second_crew": "Not verified",
    "licence_free": "Sailing craft need no title (official)"
  },
  "law": [
    {
      "text": "French Polynesia's rules on conducting pleasure craft (arrêté 668 AM, consolidated) say that conducting \"sailing pleasure craft, even if fitted with an auxiliary engine\" does not require a title, nor does a motor pleasure craft of 6 hp or less. Motor craft above that need a \"carte mer\" or \"permis mer\". The text concerns French-flag pleasure craft; the consolidated file we read was uploaded in 2018.",
      "status": "official",
      "sources": [
        {
          "id": "lic_pf_668",
          "name": "DPAM, Government of French Polynesia",
          "title": "Arrêté n° 668 AM of 8 July 1993 on the conduct of motor pleasure craft (consolidated)",
          "url": "https://www.service-public.pf/dpam/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/03/arrete_no_668_am_du_08.07.93_consolide.pdf",
          "checked": "2026-10-28",
          "note": "Official consolidated text in French (amended 1994 and 2009; file uploaded March 2018, so later amendments are possible). Art. 1: sailing pleasure craft, even with an auxiliary engine, and motor craft of 6 hp or less need no title. It concerns French-flag pleasure craft.",
          "tier": "official"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "certificates": [
    {
      "certificate": "Any certificate",
      "verdict": "accepted",
      "status": "official",
      "detail": "No title is required by this text for a sailing pleasure craft, so no certificate is \"accepted\" or \"refused\" at the legal level. Charter companies set their own requirements.",
      "sources": [
        {
          "id": "lic_pf_668",
          "name": "DPAM, Government of French Polynesia",
          "title": "Arrêté n° 668 AM of 8 July 1993 on the conduct of motor pleasure craft (consolidated)",
          "url": "https://www.service-public.pf/dpam/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/03/arrete_no_668_am_du_08.07.93_consolide.pdf",
          "checked": "2026-10-28",
          "note": "Official consolidated text in French (amended 1994 and 2009; file uploaded March 2018, so later amendments are possible). Art. 1: sailing pleasure craft, even with an auxiliary engine, and motor craft of 6 hp or less need no title. It concerns French-flag pleasure craft.",
          "tier": "official"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "icc_note": {
    "text": "The ICC (International Certificate for Operators of Pleasure Craft, UNECE Resolution 40) is described by the RYA as \"a certificate which is intended to provide evidence of competence when requested by officials in foreign countries\"; whether it is needed and in what form is set by the boat's flag state and, if different, the coastal state, and the onus is on the holder to check.",
    "status": "secondary",
    "sources": [
      {
        "id": "rya_icc",
        "name": "RYA",
        "title": "Evidence of competence abroad (ICC)",
        "url": "https://www.rya.org.uk/knowledge/abroad/icc/evidence-of-competence-abroad",
        "checked": "2026-10-28",
        "note": "No page date shown. The RYA is the UK body that issues the ICC; it is a reference for acceptance by country, not a destination authority.",
        "tier": "reference"
      }
    ]
  },
  "vhf": [
    {
      "text": "We could not confirm a VHF certificate rule for French Polynesia.",
      "status": "not_verified",
      "sources": []
    }
  ],
  "second_crew": [
    {
      "text": "We found no official text on a second crew member.",
      "status": "not_verified",
      "sources": []
    },
    {
      "text": "Anchor, a charter-industry guide, says you \"might need to have at least one other able adult crew member, preferably with a competent crew certificate\". This is general advice, not a rule it ties to any country.",
      "status": "secondary",
      "sources": [
        {
          "id": "anchor_licences",
          "name": "Anchor (formerly Helm)",
          "title": "What qualifications do I need to charter a yacht?",
          "url": "https://www.anchor.yt/article/bareboat-licences",
          "checked": "2026-10-27",
          "note": "Updated 22 July 2026. Charter-industry article, not an official source.",
          "tier": "secondary"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "licence_free_boats": [
    {
      "text": "Sailing pleasure craft (including a sailing catamaran with auxiliary engines, our reading) and motor craft of 6 hp or less need no title.",
      "status": "official",
      "sources": [
        {
          "id": "lic_pf_668",
          "name": "DPAM, Government of French Polynesia",
          "title": "Arrêté n° 668 AM of 8 July 1993 on the conduct of motor pleasure craft (consolidated)",
          "url": "https://www.service-public.pf/dpam/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/03/arrete_no_668_am_du_08.07.93_consolide.pdf",
          "checked": "2026-10-28",
          "note": "Official consolidated text in French (amended 1994 and 2009; file uploaded March 2018, so later amendments are possible). Art. 1: sailing pleasure craft, even with an auxiliary engine, and motor craft of 6 hp or less need no title. It concerns French-flag pleasure craft.",
          "tier": "official"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "what_operators_ask": [
    {
      "text": "Anchor says no licence is required by law in French Polynesia, only a sailing résumé showing you have been in charge of a boat of similar size; some companies still ask for a licence.",
      "status": "secondary",
      "sources": [
        {
          "id": "anchor_licences",
          "name": "Anchor (formerly Helm)",
          "title": "What qualifications do I need to charter a yacht?",
          "url": "https://www.anchor.yt/article/bareboat-licences",
          "checked": "2026-10-27",
          "note": "Updated 22 July 2026. Charter-industry article, not an official source.",
          "tier": "secondary"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "text": "The Moorings lists Tahiti among regions requiring formal certification.",
      "status": "secondary",
      "sources": [
        {
          "id": "moorings_levels",
          "name": "The Moorings",
          "title": "Experience guide: Level 3 sail",
          "url": "https://www.moorings.com/experience-guide/level-3-sail",
          "checked": "2026-10-27",
          "note": "Charter operator guide, not an official source.",
          "tier": "secondary"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "skippered_charter": {
    "text": "Island Sailing, a charter operator, says on its Greece qualifications page that skippered or crewed yacht charters \"are ideal for those with little or no sailing experience\". With a professional skipper in command, the licence question is the skipper's, not yours (our reading; confirm the booking is skippered, not bareboat).",
    "status": "secondary",
    "sources": [
      {
        "id": "lic_island_sailing",
        "name": "Island Sailing",
        "title": "Yacht charter Greece: qualifications",
        "url": "https://www.island-sailing.com/yacht-charter-greece/yacht-charter-qualifications/",
        "checked": "2026-10-28",
        "note": "Charter operator page (footer © 2020, mentions 2026 & 2027 seasons). Not an official source.",
        "tier": "secondary"
      }
    ]
  },
  "skipper_cost_note": "A skipper costs EUR 150-300 per day (The Globe Sailor, Sept 2026); seven days is EUR 1,050-2,100 (our arithmetic: 7 x the listed daily rate).",
  "not_verified": [
    "Whether the 2018 consolidated text is the latest.",
    "A VHF certificate rule.",
    "Whether a second crew member is required.",
    "What each charter company asks for (Anchor and The Moorings disagree)."
  ],
  "status_legend": {
    "official": "Read in an official text (government, ministry, maritime authority or official gazette).",
    "secondary": "From a charter company, marketplace or sailing body; not official and not the law.",
    "not_verified": "We could not confirm it. We leave it open rather than guess.",
    "note": "verdict values: accepted, conditional (accepted within limits in the source), conflict (sources disagree), not_listed, unclear (the text does not name certificates). Our summaries (answer, summary) are written from the labelled facts."
  },
  "caveat": "Rules change and charter companies can be stricter than the law. Check with the operator before you travel.",
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "lic_pf_668",
      "name": "DPAM, Government of French Polynesia",
      "title": "Arrêté n° 668 AM of 8 July 1993 on the conduct of motor pleasure craft (consolidated)",
      "url": "https://www.service-public.pf/dpam/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/03/arrete_no_668_am_du_08.07.93_consolide.pdf",
      "checked": "2026-10-28",
      "note": "Official consolidated text in French (amended 1994 and 2009; file uploaded March 2018, so later amendments are possible). Art. 1: sailing pleasure craft, even with an auxiliary engine, and motor craft of 6 hp or less need no title. It concerns French-flag pleasure craft.",
      "tier": "official"
    },
    {
      "id": "anchor_licences",
      "name": "Anchor (formerly Helm)",
      "title": "What qualifications do I need to charter a yacht?",
      "url": "https://www.anchor.yt/article/bareboat-licences",
      "checked": "2026-10-27",
      "note": "Updated 22 July 2026. Charter-industry article, not an official source.",
      "tier": "secondary"
    },
    {
      "id": "moorings_levels",
      "name": "The Moorings",
      "title": "Experience guide: Level 3 sail",
      "url": "https://www.moorings.com/experience-guide/level-3-sail",
      "checked": "2026-10-27",
      "note": "Charter operator guide, not an official source.",
      "tier": "secondary"
    }
  ],
  "attribution": "Cite \"Catamaran Index\" with a link to the canonical_url of the page the figure comes from, and name the original source listed with it.",
  "affiliate_note": "book_url links go through /go/samboat, an affiliate link: Catamaran Index may earn a commission on bookings, at no extra cost to the traveller. It never changes the data."
}