Manaus Travel Forum

Hello,
Just got a hint, that a license is needed to buy/use, a boat in the rivers of Brazil. I am not after a yatch, just one that is big eneough to fit 2 people in hammocks on board. Not very fast neither ( slower the better ) about 15 hp.
Milk boat style :)

Does any one have some more information on this? IE ) if a license is required,
can a international driving license do?
All information on this topic, will be welcomed :)

Thanks

You need a license, it´s called "arrais amador" to sail anything that´s not a row boat. It´s not a drivers license, it´s a boating license. If you have one from europe, with some paperwork you can have it validate here. It´s required by law.

" Para navegar ou alugar uma embarcação, inclusive um jet ski, a Marinha do Brasil exige que a pessoa esteja devidamente habilitada. Na categoria de Arrais Amador você estará apto a conduzir embarcações de esporte e recreio em águas interiores, como lagos, lagoas, rios, canais e praias.

A habilitação de Arrais Amador é válida em todo o território nacional e não precisa ser renovada durante os próximos 10 anos. Aproveite, confira o programa do curso e faça sua inscrição agora mesmo."

To buy a boat you need to verify the sales and purchase contract in a cartorio. You need to change the ownership in the capitanaria. To run the boat you can use your international driving license. We advise you just to rent a boat for the time you need. Feel free to contact me any time amazonwildtour.com.

Hello,

It has been a long time since I looked at this site. I noticed your thread. Here in Manaus boats are the main form of transporatation as there are few roads. In order to legally operate the boat it does have to be registered with the authorities and you do need proper documents. That does not mean that everyone does though. My main observation is that if you intend on cruising the rivers in our area you definately should not do that without and experienced captain that knows the waters and their dangers. Boats sinking are far from uncommon. The river levels are constantly changing as are sand bars and other problems. And, the weather can be treacherous. Storms can come out of nowhere and out on our rivers which are very large in many cases trouble can come up very quickly. I have travelled a lot on boats in the interior of Amazonas and have had more than one problem and have seen boats sunk. There is very little or no support network in the interior and experienced help is critical. That is my experience anyway.

dk