After some time of using hire canoes 🛶, I soon realised that I wanted to buy one because canoeing makes me feel alive. I didn’t want to be restricted by hire times or nervous because I wouldn’t know the stability of the canoe we would hire. I turned to Tim and said, “How do we know if we need a license 🪪? How do we know how to get one?”. Tim’s answer was simple, saying we needed to find out! So, now I’m going to share our experience with you.

“A river licence, aka waterways licence, is a licence you might need to paddle some waterways in England and Wales. It’s not like a driving licence, where you have to take a test to get one. Anyone can get a licence, but it’s something you should probably buy if you paddle on inland waterways in England and Wales.” - Go Paddling

Does it matter what paddle craft I use?

It doesn’t matter what your choice of craft is, whether you have a stand-up paddleboard, canoe or kayak. You need to be licensed to use most of the waterways in the UK.

So what are the consequences?

The consequences of not being licensed could be that you are asked to leave the waterway that you are paddling or you may be fined.

You can be fined up to £1,000 if you are caught on an inland waterway without a license or being registered and there are rules around membership as well.  

You are meant to display your license 🪪
You must follow the terms and conditions 📃 of your license

So, considering the waterways licence only costs around £47 annually, it would be silly to risk it!

The types of waterways where you’ll need a license:

If you’re paddling a Canal & River Trust waterway, the Norfolk Broads, or waterways in Wales you will need a license. Any paddling books you read should tell you for each trip whether you need a license for a specific journey.

Scotland has a ‘right to roam’ ruling in place which means you don’t need a license to paddle there. You can still sign up to membership if you want to but you do not have to but you can only sign up if you live in Scotland or not in England.

In Northern Ireland you don’t need a license for your watercraft for use on inland waterways but there are many facilities that you will need to register for, so make sure you do some reseach.

Not sure I agree to paying for a waterway license!?

First things first, we don’t judge you and know paddler’s that don’t agree with or have a license. Difference of opinion is life.

The cost of the license itself is relatively small and good value for money over a year. The Canal & River Trust and other authorities, such as the Norfolk Broads Authority, use the funds that you pay for your paddling pleasure. For example, repairing floating pontoons, reacting to any damage from flooding, carrying out weed 🌿 maintenance and putting in new pontoons to launch from. Personally, I don’t mind the cost because of the enjoyment I get from the activity.

It’s always a good idea to get a license because then they will be able to know the volume of people on the waterways, which is good. After all, it allows them to plan for scheduled maintenance and predict how it will be needed.

The data can also be used in other ways such as understanding how many people are using UK waterways to see the interest levels in the watersport. This can affect things like tunnels that aren’t currently open to paddlers and make change to allow them to be on certain days in the year they are closed to motorboats 🛥️ e.g. The Dudley Tunnel.

When I’ve bought a license, then what?

Once you’ve bought your license, you’re ready to go out on the water! Just remember to carry your license with you, as there are times when you might be stopped by a ranger to check your license.

The good thing about getting the waterways license is it should come with liability insurance, and they offer craft insurance for £60 for two crafts, which is never a bad thing, in case the unexpected happens, such as theft of your paddleboard or canoe.

We opted for a British Canoeing licence, which is the awarding body for the sport in the UK. We thought that this would be the most suitable because it gives us access to all UK waterways including, the Norfolk Broads and Wales, this way we don’t have to buy multiple licenses to be covered.

How do I go about getting a waterway license?

If you’re not sure about how to go about purchasing a British Canoeing membership waterways license, then just click on the link below. This will take you to the relevant page where you can pay the annual fee and input the information required to get your license.

CLICK HERE

It’s as easy as that, you’ll then get membership logins, and you’ll be able to print your license from your home.

Top Tips

One trick that we use is to print the license and cover it and sellotape. It is a cheap way to protect the license from ripping and we store it in our Aquapac dry map pouch.
If you don’t get out on the water very often there are options to purchase licenses for one day at a time. Although, I think that the annual price is great even if you’re not going out weekly and it could avoid any hassle of having to log in and pay for a specific day that you want to go out on the water.
The actual license itself will cover one person in the craft of their choice. E.g. I could go paddle boarding on a family board with a couple of us and it would cover the board because I am on it and therefore no one else on the board needs a license.
If you are thinking of joining a canoe club, it can be a requirement of that club for you to have British Canoeing membership. In addition, it can make your club membership cheaper per year so it’s definitely worth doing a bit of research before deciding or not whether to go for a day license.
Once you’re on the water, remember to follow the paddler’s code 📃 and please keep the environment beautiful for everyone.
If you’re hiring a paddle craft from a hire place on the water, then you won’t need to buy a license because it will be covered in your hiring fee - but always check.
It’s always worth checking the internet for discount codes because sometimes you can find codes that will give you money off.
If you’re self-hiring from a local canoe shop, you might need to check whether you are covered for the license as you could be under different terms and conditions.

Pros

Insurance
No risk of fines
You can report an incident easily online
You can print your license to have it straight away
You can pay slightly extra for other insurance e.g. craft insurance
Membership gives you access to some online retailer discounts 💷
Need membership to undertake any formal qualifications
Maintenance for our waterways 🌊
Need membership for access to specific events
Discounts for canoe club membership

Cons

You could be fined
You won’t have insurance for your craft
You might not have individual insurance
You might have to leave the waterway if you’re asked for your license and cannot produce it
You won’t have access to some of the retailer discounts
You have to pay for your membership anyway if you want to do any qualifications

River Licence: Do I Need a UK Waterways License to Paddle?