A few decades ago, Sea-Doo invented the personal watercraft–a fast and fun way to get around on the water. Fast forward a few decades, and Sea-Doo’s offshoot has a diverse range of small, powerful, watercraft people can use recreationally.
There’s a fun fact I can include in this piece. “Jetski” is a brand name, a bit like “Coke” or “Google,” or “Heroin.” It refers to a particular line of waterborne vehicles produced by Kawasaki. For the purposes of this piece, I was riding most of Sea-Doo’s 2025 lineup, so at no point did I sit on a Jetski. Instead, I was ripping around on a “personal watercraft” or PWC.
During that time, a few things went through my mind. “This is great” was one of them. “It’s going to really hurt if I fly off this at 60” was another. But the prevailing thought is how accessible these thrills are. You might have a side-by-side on your shopping list, but there’s a fair argument that you should ditch the trails and get out on the water instead.
Learning isn’t difficult
Using a personal watercraft is pretty easy, at every stage. You may need to complete some kind of course. In Florida, this was a non-resident boating safety course in my case, but that was not particularly difficult or expensive. You essentially hand over around $8 and take as many goes as you need to nail the multiple-choice test.
Then you have the watercraft itself. Getting used to the throttle, and how the current affects the craft, probably takes around 30 minutes. But if you rent one you’ll be comfortable enough to ride on a lake or other fairly mild water source in an afternoon.
There’s a little bit of overlap with cars too. The one time a watercraft threw me off, I was turning from a standstill and gave it a little too much throttle while being a touch off balance. Just like how hitting the gas too hard in a corner can result in an oversteer-related mishap. It was also confirmation that it’s easier to come flying off a watercraft than it is to capsize one, which seems safer.
It is worth noting taking a watercraft over 30 foot high waves in the open ocean is more difficult, but that’s still something you can work your way up to. And there are plenty of pretty mild bodies of water to have fun on before then.
Personal watercraft are pretty multi purpose
On the testing day, we had a pretty solid run through of what you could use a personal watercraft for, and had a chance to experience a lot of that ourselves. First, there’s the basic fun factor.
If you head to Miami or a similar city with lots of water, good weather, and a vacation crowd, you’ll see people zipping around on a PWC. Spend a few minutes on one and it’s easy to see why. They’re fast and fun. Blasting around in a loop like a wet dog chasing a hypothetical tail is enough to keep you amused on its own. Pick a clear, straight, line. Go as fast as you can (in the non-speed restricted sections). Turn around. Do it again.
Then there’s transport, again Miami is ideal for this. You can get around in an oddly efficient and pretty unique way, seeing a new side of a place in the process. In Miami’s case, you get some excellent views of yachts, islands, downtown, and the port. You can also access all of those islands that don’t have their own bridges.
Finally, a PWC is a solid replacement for a traditional boat. Sea-Doo has its “FISHPRO” line, with the “FISHPRO APEX 300” sitting at the peak. These craft are more stable than their sportier siblings, and feature things like clip-on coolers and places to park your rod. It even has radar, if you want to find fish that way. If you’re going fishing alone or with one other person, it’s a viable option. You also have single-seat models that are good for stunts, and larger units available for family adventures.
Certain locales are better for it
Just like certain areas of the country are better for side by side ownership, you’ll get more out of a personal watercraft in specific bits too. Miami, with its canals, access to the sea, and numerous other waterways is probably the equivalent of living close to Glamis. Living near a good lake is the equivalent of living somewhere with solid and diverse trails.
This isn’t a dealbreaker, but it is a consideration. In its favor, something like the Sea-Doo Spark weighs less than 500 pounds and can be towed along by most vehicles without issue. So you can travel a little to find good water. On the other hand, if you aren’t hitting that water often then renting may make more sense.
Going flat out is pretty intense
PWCs are electronically limited to 68mph, and not everything in Sea-Doo’s lineup is capable of that with many models capping out at around 50 mph. However, if you’re not too experienced 68 is plenty.
It took some effort to hit the limiter. First, you need to find a piece of water without a speed limit lest the authorities get a little upset. Then that water has to be pretty calm. Bouncing off waves is good fun, but if your craft isn’t in the water it isn’t accelerating.
Models like the GTR-X have a “Sport Mode,” much like the sport mode in your vehicle. However, the PWC goes out of its way to ensure you actually want to engage “Sport Mode,” and when you use it you’ll see why. The acceleration is far more aggressive, and it takes some effort to hold on. There’s no seat backing you, and I had to keep a slightly pudgy 200 pounds attached to the handlebars as the PWC zipped off at what may as well be light speed.
Like all thrills, you will eventually get used to it. But the first few times you open the taps on one of these things is remarkably intense.
Entry level isn’t particularly expensive
A PWC can be a surprisingly inexpensive way to get on the water. Sea-Doo’s entry-level “Spark” starts at less than $7,000. You don’t need to worry about mooring fees either, as these things sit comfortably in a garage. If you aren’t storing one on a trailer, it probably takes up about the same amount of space as a large motorcycle.
Don’t just take my word for it. You can rent a watercraft in places that are ideal for this kind of thing quite easily. Do that, get a bit wet and mildly sunburned, then you’ll see what I mean and probably buy your own.
