Specific PFD Requirements
Florida law requires the following with respect to life jackets.
- All vessels must carry one USCG–approved wearable life jacket for each person on board.
- In addition to the above requirement, vessels 16 feet in length or longer must have one USCG–approved throwable device on board and immediately available.
- Children under six years of age must wear a USCG–approved life jacket at all times while on any vessel less than 26 feet in length that is underway upon Florida waters. (“Underway” means any time except when the vessel is anchored, moored, docked, or aground.) Life jackets must be used in accordance with the USCG approval label.
- Each person on board a PWC, and anyone being towed behind a vessel, must wear a USCG–approved life jacket. Inflatable life jackets are not to be worn on PWC or while water-skiing.
- All life jackets must be in good and serviceable condition and legibly marked showing the USCG approval number. The life jackets must be of the proper size for the intended wearer. Sizing for life jackets is based on body weight and chest size.
