Swimming zones, channels and hired craft
1The lesson in plain words
Stay outside buoyed swimming zones unless a rule allows access. Use only a beach channel authorised for your craft, at the lowest speed. Check local rules.
Swimming zones
Many beaches are marked with a line of floating buoys. Inside the buoyed area, motor craft, private or hired, may not move or anchor unless a rule says otherwise. This was restated in the July 2026 amendment of ΓΚΛ 20. For carboats (car-shaped motorboats), private or hired, the 2026 carboat rules require at least 200 m from the usual swimming limit where there are no buoys. Check the rules for your craft.
Channels
Before approaching a beach, check that landing is permitted and that the marked channel (διάδρομος) is authorised for your craft. Use it at the lowest possible speed. Keep clear of swimmers. If the channel is blocked, wait safely outside or choose another permitted landing place.
Local port rules
Port authorities publish extra rules for busy coasts. In 2024 Lefkada, for example, kept boats 300 m away from some named beaches and set narrow access lanes by the hour. Before a trip, ask the port office or read the local regulation; the fines are real.
Hired jet skis and boats
For a hired jet ski or speedboat, the company must check your required operator licence and refuse an unqualified driver. It must explain safety rules and keep watch. It must attach the kill cord (the safety link that stops the engine if you fall away from the controls) to you. Since July 2026, hire companies may not give driving lessons. From late December 2026, hired jet skis must have satellite tracking and remote control from the hire base.
2Key data
- Buoyed swimming zone
- No motor movement or anchoring, except where a rule permits
- Carboats, no buoys
- At least 200 m from the usual swimming limit
- Access to the beach
- Use only a channel authorised for your craft, at the lowest speed.
- Hired jet skis
- Satellite tracking required from late Dec 2026
- Latest ΓΚΛ 20 change
- ΦΕΚ Β' 4559, 24 July 2026
3Key points
- 1
Stay outside buoyed swimming zones except in an authorised channel or where a rule allows.
- 2
Use only a channel authorised for your craft, at the lowest speed.
- 3
Carboats, private or hired: at least 200 m from the usual swimming limit where there are no buoys. Check rules for your craft.
- 4
Local port regulations may add bigger distances on specified beaches.
- 5
Hire companies must check operator licences where required; they may not give driving lessons.
4Frequent mistakes
Wrong: Inside the buoys is fine if I go slowly.
Right: Motor craft may not move or anchor inside the buoyed swimming area at all, except where a channel or rule allows.
Wrong: The same distances apply on every Greek beach.
Right: Local port regulations add their own limits, sometimes 300 m on specified beaches. Check the port authority's rules.
5Practice case & exam keys
You are licensed to drive a hired motorboat. Swimmers are blocking a marked beach channel authorised for your boat. Your passenger suggests crossing the buoy line slowly to land. What do you do?
Show the answer
Wait safely outside the swimming zone until the channel is clear, or choose another permitted landing place. Do not cross the buoy line or anchor inside the swimming zone. When the channel is clear, use it at the lowest possible speed. Check local port rules before approaching.
Exam keys
- Buoyed swimming zones: no moving or anchoring motor craft unless a rule allows it (ΓΚΛ 20 art. 26).
- Use only a channel authorised for your craft, at the lowest speed.
- Carboats (private or hired): at least 200 m from the usual swimming limit where there are no buoys; check craft-specific rules.
- Local port regulations can add limits; hire companies must check required operator licences.
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