How to start a jet car rental business: eight steps and three scenarios.

A high price with few operators is room: Jeddah, Turks and Caicos, the Maldives resorts, Doha. Many operators prove that the ride sells, and warn you: Miami's weekday rate has fallen to USD 175 an hour. An empty row can mean opportunity or a price ceiling. Country detail: Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Maldives.

Step 2: secure the berth and the permit before the craft.

A jet car without a permit is a private toy. The rule differs on every coast, so get it from the authority, in writing, first.

• Dubai: rentals need a Maritime Activity Permit from the Dubai Maritime Authority and must stay in permitted zones. A July 2025 enforcement campaign issued 431 fines (Khaleej Times).
• Saudi Red Sea coast: the Saudi Red Sea Authority licenses the operator and, separately, each rental boat, after a technical inspection. Rentals run only through licensed marinas and licences last 12 months (Arab News; Clyde & Co).
• Turks and Caicos: jet cars may not enter Grace Bay or the Princess Alexandra National Park, and renters stay within about half a mile of base (visittci.com).

Ask the marina or the hotel for a written term, the low-season cost and a boarding pontoon. Our model assumes about USD 12,000 a year for a Gulf berth or hotel-beach agreement.

Step 3: landed cost and set-up.

The R series costs USD 24,490 (R Premium), USD 26,990 (R Ultimate) or USD 28,990 (R Elite) for the craft without engine. The engine is quoted separately, because the builder fits Yamaha inboard power or an outboard configuration. A complete craft comes to about USD 50,000 per the builder's catalogue.

Our estimates of the landed and launched cost for one craft:

• Dubai: no import step. Landed USD 50,000, set-up USD 22,000, total USD 72,000.
• Jeddah: landed about USD 58,500 with road freight, duty and 15% VAT. Set-up USD 22,000, total USD 80,500.
• Maldives resort: landed about USD 60,000, set-up USD 8,000, total USD 68,000.
• Miami: landed about USD 62,000, set-up USD 20,000, total USD 82,000. A US import also needs an EPA-certified engine and a US Coast Guard hull identification number; ask for the certificate status with the quote.

Duty rates were not confirmed at line level for most countries, so verify them with a customs broker. Road delivery inside the Gulf takes 2–5 days by road. Elsewhere the craft travels in a container; freight from the Gulf has been volatile in 2026, so every shipment is quoted. See jet car price, delivery and importing a jet car.

Step 4: staff and the guided ride.

Almost every jet car rental we found sends a guide on a jet ski with the guests. The escort ski is part of the set-up cost and its fuel part of every ride.

Our model uses 1.5 full-time people: a guide and part of a booking person. That is about USD 30,000 a year in Dubai or Jeddah and USD 52,000 in Miami. A resort shares staff it already has. These are our assumptions; use your own payroll.

Before each ride: life vests on all four seats, the kill-switch lanyard on the driver and a briefing on the riding zone.

Step 5: design the slots.

The brochure for this class of craft speaks of USD 500–700 an hour. That holds only as a list price for 20–30-minute slots in a few places. The slot rate is never paid for sixty minutes, and most guests do not want sixty minutes anyway.

The price lists show it. In Dubai the same operators list 30 minutes at AED 1,190 and 60 minutes at AED 1,690, so the second half-hour costs AED 500.

So build the menu around 20 and 30 minutes, with the hour as an option. What you collect per booked engine-hour sits between the hour price and the slot rate multiplied up. Our reading of the lists: USD 270–500 per booked hour in Dubai, USD 300–520 per booked hour in Jeddah, USD 175–350 per booked hour in Miami, USD 450–560 per booked hour at Maldives resorts and USD 110–190 per booked hour in South-East Asia. The number that decides the year is how many slots you sell per day.

Steps 6 and 7: channels, commissions and the season.

Booking platforms and hotel concierge desks typically keep 20–30% of what they sell. Our model takes 25% on half of sales in Dubai, on 30% of sales in Jeddah, and nothing at a resort that sells to its own guests.

Discounting is the other leak. Miami lists USD 350 an hour and USD 175 on weekdays. Decide your floor price before the first slow week.

Then the calendar, as we read it. In the Gulf the season runs from October to May, and demand and prices drop in summer. On the Saudi Red Sea, weekends from Thursday to Saturday, school holidays and Eid carry the year. The Mediterranean gives 100–150 days.

Other markets in the same model: the Jeddah base case pays back in about 20 months and a resort-owned craft in the Maldives in 7–8 months. Miami shows no payback at base prices for a stand-alone craft, and South-East Asia needs more than five years. Dubai received 6.97 million visitors from January to August 2026, against 19.59 million in all of 2025 (The National), so anyone opening there now should plan on the weak row. Change any input in the ROI calculator.

Stand-alone, add-on, or a jet car business for sale.

Stand-alone. You pay for the crew, the berth and the permit from one craft's sales. Operating costs in our scenarios run USD 75,000–180,000 a year, against a gross of USD 65,000–190,000 a year in a typical Gulf year.

Added to an existing fleet. A jet ski or boat operator already pays those fixed lines. Costs fall to USD 40,000–145,000 a year and the Dubai base case pays back in about 6 months. This is the strongest starting position; see the operators page.

Buying an existing operation. People search for a 'jet car business for sale'. Check three things first: whether the permit passes to a new owner (permits rarely transfer), how long the berth lease runs, and the engine hours on each craft.

Owning without operating. You buy the craft and a licensed operator runs it for a share of sales, on terms you agree between you. See the investors page.