With hundreds and hundreds of miles of coastline, California is well known for its beautiful beaches that can be found from top to bottom. Another benefit of this huge state is that there are many large cities right on the coast, offering a variety of activities both at and away from the beach.
San Diego is one of these popular cities to visit, and jet skiing is a fun activity to do in the waters of the bay. But in a state as well known for its high prices as for its beaches, where can you find the best deal when it comes to renting jet skis?
The best prices for jet ski rentals in the San Diego area can be found at Luxury Jet Ski Rentals, where prices range from $49 to $75 for an hour of riding. Other locations include SD Adventures, San Diego Bay Adventures, Surf City, and San Diego H2O SeaDoo Rentals.
Despite San Diego being an expensive city to live in, there are actually a number of good deals on jet ski rentals. Luxury Jet Ski Rentals has the lowest starting price, but we’ll take a look at a couple of other companies as well to see what they have to offer.
Luxury Jet Ski Rentals
Luxury Jet Ski Rentals has 2 locations in the San Diego area. One is located right by the San Diego International Airport, and the other is located in National City which is just south of the city of San Diego. the southern location is the one that we will focus on, as it has the better prices of the two.
Despite the fancy sounding name, this company focuses on quick and fuss-free riding. Their goal is to get you out onto the water for your ride and back in when you are done.
Basically, they want you to show up right at your reserved time. There is no need to be very early. The jet ski or jet skis will be on the water waiting for you and you can take off right away.
Luxury Jet Ski Rentals Price Breakdown
Luxury Jet Ski Rentals offer a great hourly rate at their National City location. As mentioned above, prices start as low as $49 per hour. This hourly rate includes fuel, and there is no safety deposit required if you are only renting for a few hours.
Another potentially really good deal that Luxury Jet Ski Rentals offers is their all day rental of jet skis. For only a couple hundred dollars, you can rent a jet ski for 6 hours. That takes the hourly rate down to almost just $30!
If you do choose to go the all-day route, you will have to pay for more fuel when you run out. But jet skis are pretty economical when it comes to fuel usage, so as long as you ride on the more conservative side you will be able to go far on each tank.
There is also a required safety deposit of a few hundred dollars when renting all day. As long as you don’t cause any damage to the machine then you will see all of this money returned to you without a problem.
It is important to note that the prices above are for weekdays. From Friday to Sunday, hourly rental prices increase by about $20, and daily rentals increase by about $100.
Other Activities Offered
By way of powered water sports, Luxury Jet Ski Rentals also offers boat rentals and fly board rentals. Renting a boat might be a good option if you have a large group and don’t want to pay for multiple skis, as they only fit 2 people each. Up to 6 people can be on a boat at once.
Flyboarding is a fun and exciting activity that is becoming more popular and more widely available. It’s something that not a lot of people have tried so it could be fun to give it a shot.
If you are looking for something more physically challenging, Luxury Jet Ski Rentals has kayaks, paddle boats, and stand up paddle boards available to rent. These activities are also much cheaper, but of course, you will not be going quite as far as you would on a jet ski.
Rules for Renting a Jet Ski or SeaDoo
You must be at least 18 to rent and drive a jet ski. Up to two people can ride on a jet ski, but the passenger must be at least 10 years old. Children under this age will not be allowed to ride. Children under 10 are allowed to ride on the boats but must weigh at least 50 pounds.
Life jackets must be worn by all jet ski riders and are provided by Luxury Rentals, so there is no need to bring your own.
San Diego Bay Adventures
San Diego Bay Adventures is another company in that offers some good deals for renting jet skis. Like Luxury Jet Ski Rentals, one of their main focuses is getting you on the water as quickly as possible.
San Diego Bay Adventures is located up by Luxury Rental’s north location, near the airport.
Jet Ski Price Breakdown
San Diego Bay Adventures is somewhat unique because they offer riding blocks of 75 minutes and two hours. Their regular rates are from about $85 to $95 for 75 minutes and $145 to $155 for two hours. However, throughout the year they have various special deals that they run.
For example, there is an early bird special going on right now that if you reserve your rental for their earliest time slot at 9 am, you will pay about $70 to $75 for the 75-minute session and $140 to $150 for 2 hours. Those are pretty good deals!
These prices all include fuel, so there is no extra charge for that.
Other Activities Offered
San Diego Bay Adventures does not offer quite as many rental options as Luxury Jet Ski Rentals, but they do offer kayak and stand up paddleboard rentals at a slightly lower price.
Rules of Renting
The same rules apply here as above. Renters and drivers must be at least 18 years old and must provide a valid ID to prove their age. Life jackets are required and provided. Wet suits are also provided at no extra cost if you want one.
H2O Jet Ski Rentals, San Diego
H2O Jet Ski Rentals is located further north than the other companies in this article, and instead of riding in the San Diego Bay, renters get to glide through Mission Bay or along La Jolla, depending on what they choose.
Jet Ski Price Breakdown
Prices at H2O are not much higher than at the other companies we’ve seen so far. They start from around $85 to $90 per hour, and they increase at a regressive rate as the ride time goes up. That means that the longer you ride, the lower the hourly rate will average out to be.
The longest time you can rent for is 8 hours, and that will cost from about $500 to $530. That’s not a bad deal for an all-day rental. Also, fuel is included in all rentals, so there’s no need to worry about paying extra for that.
You can have up to 2 people per jet ski, and while there is an extra charge to bring that extra passenger, it isn’t very much.
Other Activities Offered
If you want to get out and see a bigger area, consider purchasing a guided tour of La Jolla. An H2O staff member takes a group up along the shore north of San Diego. There are many sights to see, and the guides know the best ones.
The guided tours last about 90 minutes and have a cost of about $190 to $210 per person. There is also an extra fuel charge associated with this option.
Besides jet skis, H20 offers pontoon boat rentals and stand up paddle board rentals. They also have bicycles available to rent if you feel like seeing the city from the street instead of the water.
Rules of Renting
Once again, you must be 18 years of age to rent and drive these jet skis. Something different is the minimum age. H2O allows passengers of ages 5 and up to ride with a parent or legal guardian. This would be the company to choose if you have younger children that you want to take with you.
Life jackets are, of course, required and provided.
Surf City San Diego Jet Ski Rentals
Surf City San Diego SeaDoo Rentals offers jet ski rentals and five-person jet boats.
If you want to rent only one jet ski, it is $99 for an hour, $179 for two hours, and $250 for three hours. If you decide to rent two jet skis, then you’ll notice to get a deal. For one hour, it is $175, $300 for two hours, and $450 for 3 hours.Â
They do require a $300 security deposit on all of their jet ski and boat rentals.
Rules of Renting
To rent and drive any of their equipment, you must be at least 18 years of age and have a valid driver’s license. A credit card must be on file with the facility as well. For more information, you can call or text them at 619-786-7465.
SD Adventures
SD Adventures is located at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina at 1380 Harbor Island Drive. This company mainly received 5-star reviews and offers several different water activities, including jet ski rentals.
They recently purchased new Yamaha WaveRunners with some great new features and technologies. Each WaveRunner can seat 1 to 2 people, and the rental time is 75 minutes for $99. This was something that made SD Adventures stand out from other companies.
Rules of Renting
To rent and drive their WaveRunners, you must be at least 18 years old and sign all appropriate waivers.
They ask that you arrive 30 minutes before your scheduled time slot to get signed in and set up. You must wear a life jacket the entire ride, and they ask that you have not been drinking any amount of alcohol before driving.
Other Activities Offered
As mentioned, SD Adventures offers more than SeaDoo rentals. Other water activities they offer are power boat rentals for $169, electric boat rentals for $219/hour, kayak rentals for $35, paddle board rentals for $25, and a chili boat for $40
Making the Right Choice
With these and even more options available, you will have to assess your own unique situation to see which best fits your needs. But if it is just the lowest hourly rate you want, then Luxury Jet Ski Rentals has the best regular price for you!
How Far Can a Jet Ski Go?
Once you’ve found the place nearest to you to rent jet ski in San Diego, there are some things to remember before you go out. You’re instructed will likely go over many safety items with you before sending you out on the water, but just to be sure, let’s touch on some of them now.
First, how far can a jet ski go offshore? Considering your jet ski only has small fuel tank, you don’t want to go so far offshore that you don’t have enough gas to get back to shore. No one wants to be stranded in the middle of the ocean.
The average SeaDoo can hold about 16 gallons of gasoline. So, you can never use more than 8 gallons of gas before having to turn around and come back to shore.
It’s often difficult to keep track of how far you have been riding, so many people prefer to keep track of how long they have been riding instead. So, you will often hear people speak abut GPH, gallons her hour, rather than MPG.
The typical GPH of a jet ski is 6.5 to 8 GPH when cruising at 35 MPH. If going full throttle, a jet ski will use significantly more fuel, 20-25 GPH.
To be safe, you have about an hour out on the water. So, if you have been going straight offshore for 30 minutes, it’s time to turn around and head back to shore.
To read more on how far a jet ski can go, click here!