Take the helm yourself.

Self-drive boat hire

If you hold a valid skipper's licence and the experience to match, you can take one of the boats out yourself.

From R4,500 per day, excluding fuel.

Multi-day hire is available at a lower day rate, from R4,000 a day. Ask when you enquire.

This is a different arrangement to a skippered charter, with its own terms, its own deposit and its own requirements. Read the conditions below before you enquire. We check all of them, and we would rather tell you now than at the slipway.

The boats

These are the vessels we hire out. They are simple, robust and forgiving, and they are the boats we are comfortable handing over.

• El Barco: Ballistic 650 RIB, 6.5 m, 200hp Mercury Verado, seven aboard. Langebaan
• El Fresco: 520 Supercat, 5.2 m, four aboard. Simon's Town. Daylight hours only
• El Libre: Ballistic 650 RIB, 6.5 m, 150hp Suzuki, seven aboard. Simon's Town
• El Zorro: Gemini 600 RIB, 6 m, 130hp Yamaha, six aboard. V&A Waterfront, Cape Town

The rest of the fleet is not available for self-drive. Those boats are bigger, more complex, and they go further offshore than a hire arrangement should.

What you need

All four are non-negotiable:

1. A valid skipper's licence for the category of vessel and water you intend to use
2. Relevant experience. A licence and no sea time is not enough: we will ask what you have run before, and where
3. The right driver's licence for towing, if the boat is being towed or driven anywhere: your licence must cover the vehicle-and-trailer combination
4. Full payment upfront to confirm the booking

What is and is not included

Included: the vessel, all statutory safety equipment aboard and operational, and a handover briefing.

Not included: fuel, launching and retrieval. You return the boat clean and fully fuelled, in the condition you took it.

The parts people miss

You are liable for loss, damage or theft during the rental. We carry insurance on the vessel, but you are responsible for any shortfall, and for the excess.

Only you may operate the boat: the person named on the agreement, whose licence we checked. Not a friend, not a family member with more experience.

We can cancel the hire if the terms are breached, or if there is a real risk of damage or loss. That includes a forecast we are not prepared to send our boat out in, whatever your plans are.

If it breaks down, the vessel comes back to us.

Rental cancellations

Different from charters, and stricter:

• Cancel 8 to 14 days ahead: 25% fee
• Cancel within 7 days: 50% fee

Full terms are in the rental agreement, which we send with the quote.

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Kayak hire

R575 for two hours.

No licence needed, and no experience beyond being comfortable in the water. Sit-on-top kayaks, buoyancy aids included.

The kayaks run from the Simon's Town side of False Bay: sheltered water, close inshore, and the penguins at Boulders a short paddle away. Best done on a calm morning. The wind decides the day, and we will tell you honestly if yours looks wrong.

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Enquire

Neither of these is bookable online, deliberately. Self-drive needs a licence check and an experience check, and kayaks need a look at the forecast.

Phone +27 64 621 0795, or email info@ecmarine.co.za with the date, how many of you there are, and, for self-drive, what you have skippered before.

If you would rather someone else did the driving, our charters come with a skipper and crew, and the price includes fuel.