How to be a good passenger on a jet ski

Chances are, if a jet ski owner ever invites you along for a day out on the water, you’ll jump at the chance.

But if you’ve never been on a jet ski before, what can you expect?

Key points:

Here is the boatsales.com.au guide to being a better jet ski passenger so that both you and the skipper have an enjoyable day out on the water.

Communication between the skipper and the rider should start even before anyone steps onto a jet ski. 

Make sure the jet ski’s driver knows exactly how fast they should go. If it’s your first time on the back of the ski and the rider plans on heading out into a rough bar, it pays to speak up if you’re not comfortable jumping straight into the deep end.

Once on the water, the noise of the jet ski may even make shouting difficult. In this instance, it’s probably better to use hand signals. A good system is to borrow from the hand signals that water skiers use to signal the boat that tows them; thumbs up for go faster, thumbs down for go slower. A safe way to signal stop is to tap the driver repeatedly with your hand while you hang on. 

The rider should also have a signal to indicate when they plan on amping up the fun, such as tapping the leg of the passenger. This allows the passenger to anticipate what is coming and brace.

Riding a jet ski is like riding a motorbike. That means where your weight is distributed has a big influence on how a jet ski performs.

You’ll help the jet ski skipper by leaning into turns, shifting your weight forward, leaning back – everything the skipper does, you will need to mimic it.

Jet skis need to lean so the edge of the hull can bite into the water and help them turn properly without skipping across the water like a flat stone, so be prepared to hit some pretty radical angles.

An easy way to sense if you’re doing it right is to always shift your head into the turn. 

Spills happen. Even the best jet ski riders have their offs, and carrying passengers increases the chance of someone coming unstuck.

It pays to spend a bit of time before you jump on the ski working out how you’re going to get back on it. You also may have to turn the ski back upright if it has fully inverted; look for a sticker on the back that tells you which way to turn it so you don’t draw water into the engine.

The best way to reboard is via the stern, or back, of the jet ski. Some of the bigger skis also have platforms behind them that help with reboarding. 

If the ski has large footwells, you can board over the side of the ski with the rider balancing the weight on the opposite side. If the rear seat of the ski has hand grips, use them to pull yourself up.

While the jet ski operator has plenty of solid anchor points to hold onto the jet ski – the handlebars, seat and footwell – the passenger is a lot less secure.

When cornering a jet ski at high speed, the experience will be very different for the skipper and the passenger. While the skipper is firmly planted at the front, the passenger who is relying almost solely on the rider in front of them to anchor to the ski will be experiencing much more of the cornering forces.

The same goes for fast starts and stops. As the ski takes off, its nose will rise, tipping the passenger backwards. If the rider drops the throttle quickly or the jet ski falls off the crest of a wave, the passenger will be pitched forward.

Most of the injuries involving more than one person on a jet ski come from when the ski jumps out of the water and lands. While a car has springs and shock absorbers to smooth out a bump at speed, a jet ski only has a few centimetres of seat foam to absorb it. And jet skis go as fast as cars.

Likewise, sudden changes in speed can be dangerous, especially if they’re unintentional. Even slowing down by backing off from full to half throttle can result in a dramatic reduction in speed.

All these instances heighten the risk of injury to the passenger.

Work out how you’re going to hang on while the jet ski is going slowly. Think about the best way to do this, as there’s no point in working out that holding onto the back of the seat doesn’t give you enough stability.

Don’t hang onto the straps of the jet ski skipper’s life jacket, either. The straps can come loose, leaving you vulnerable to being thrown around and even becoming unstuck.

Children are more vulnerable than adults on the back of a jet ski. If you’re a parent, ensure the jet ski’s skipper knows to take it easy and not push too hard out on the water.

Jet skis lose stability as they lose speed. That means at low speeds, the ski may become quite unsteady.

Be aware that some places have special restrictions in place that require a jet ski to travel at no more than a brisk walking pace, and in a straight line, for up to 500 metres from the shore before the operator can open the throttle and speed up.

Because the jet ski is long and narrow, and most of its weight is up high, staying balanced can be a bit tricky, and more so if there are two adults aboard.

As a passenger, don’t make any sudden movements that will upset the balance of the ski. As it speeds up, the momentum of the hull cutting through the water helps the ski gain more stability, in turn making it more stable to move around on.