Take an Official State-Approved Boater Safety Course
Preparing for the Texas Boater Education course or final exam is straightforward, but having a practice test helps reinforce key safety concepts, navigation rules, and Texas-specific boating laws before you take the official course.
This guide explains what the Texas boating exam covers, what the practice questions look like, how scoring works, and how to prepare effectively.
Texas requires boater education for anyone born on or after September 1, 1993 who operates certain motorized vessels. Successful course completion includes passing a final exam.
Once passed, you receive a Texas Boater Education Certificate, which is valid for life.
The exam tests knowledge across several core boating safety categories, including:
Navigation Rules & Right-of-Way
Vessel Operation
Required Safety Equipment
Emergency Procedures
Trip Planning & Responsibility
Texas-Specific Boating Laws
For full coverage of each category, refer to the Texas Boating Study Guide
This short practice test is designed to help you prepare for the Texas Boater Education exam by reinforcing the most important safety concepts, navigation rules, and Texas-specific boating laws you’ll need to know to pass. It is not a full-length exam, but it mirrors the style of real test questions and highlights the areas most commonly covered on the official course and final test.
To use it, select one answer for each of the five questions, then click Submit Answers at the bottom. Your score will be calculated automatically, and you’ll receive feedback to help you identify which topics to review further.
The Texas Boater Education final exam consists of 60 questions total, structured as 50 national questions plus 10 Texas-specific questions. The exam format aligns to NASBLA (National Association of State Boating Law Administrators) testing standards, meaning the questions are weighted to match the national core curriculum requirements for boater education.
The national portion assesses foundational recreational boating safety topics, while the state portion measures knowledge of Texas-specific boating laws, age restrictions, equipment rules, and enforcement requirements.
The exam is multiple-choice, with four possible answers per question. To pass, students must achieve a score of at least 80%. Students are allowed two exam attempts. If a student does not pass after two attempts, they must restart the course before testing again.
To maintain exam integrity, the test must be taken in a single, continuous sitting. Students cannot exit the exam, open a new browser window, or navigate away during the attempt. Leaving or closing the browser counts as an abandoned attempt, which is recorded as one of the two permitted attempts.
The exam format reflects national expectations for safe recreational boating and ensures that certified operators demonstrate knowledge of both standardized national safety principles and Texas-specific legal requirements.
If you’re comfortable with the practice questions above, you’re ready for the real course. With Recademics, the entire Texas boater education program is 100% online, state-approved, and aligned with NASBLA standards. When you complete the course and final exam, you’ll earn your Texas Boater Education Certificate so you can get on the water legally.
What’s included:
State-approved & NASBLA compliant curriculum
Two final exam attempts included
Instant digital certificate upon passing
Valid for life once issued
Works for both residents and visitors
Pass Guarantee:
If you don’t pass the final exam on your first two attempts, you can retake the course again with Recademics at no additional cost. We’re confident you’ll pass.
Start the course → Get certified → Go boating.
Recademics is a nationally recognized provider of outdoor recreation safety education, offering online certification courses for boating, hunter education, bowhunter education, off-highway vehicles (OHV/off-road), snowmobiles, and personal watercraft (PWC). Our courses are built around nationally established standards and regulatory frameworks, with alignment to NASBLA (boater education) and IHEA-USA (hunter and bowhunter education).
We currently have more than 26 state-approved courses issued directly by state agencies across the United States, including approvals in Texas, New York, Florida, California, Georgia, Alabama plus many more & with additional states pending. Every course is developed and maintained by subject-matter specialists, instructional designers, and state-reviewing authorities to ensure accuracy, compliance, and a high-quality learning experience.
Recademics focuses on clear instruction, accuracy, and straightforward pathways to certification for outdoor enthusiasts across multiple disciplines. Our goal is simple: make it easier to get certified, stay compliant, and enjoy the outdoors with confidence.
