Life jackets for a small boat in Dubai and Abu Dhabi

This guide does not replace training, current charts, or weather checks.

Steps

The list below is the Dubai guide. This page does not invent a matching Abu Dhabi lifejacket law. The Abu Dhabi document checked with it is a safety map of speed and zones, not a lifejacket code.

How many, and who wears one the whole time

• The Dubai boating safety guide says an approved life jacket must be provided for every person on the marine craft, to SOLAS 74, plus 10 percent for children. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• The Dubai guide says children under 10 must wear life jackets at all times while the marine craft is sailing. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• The Dubai guide repeats that children under 10 years old wear life jackets at all times. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• The Dubai guide asks whether the life jackets are in good condition and whether there are enough for everybody. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)

What the Dubai guide says a jacket is

• The Dubai guide describes a first type with a high level of flotation that holds the wearer in a safe floating position, in a bright colour, with reflective strips. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• The Dubai guide describes a second type, a life vest that keeps the head above the water, again in a bright colour. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• The Dubai guide says a life jacket can be put on within one minute. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• The Dubai guide says a life jacket remains intact when the wearer jumps into the water from 4.5 metres. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• The Dubai guide says a life jacket floats above the water surface. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• The Dubai guide says a life jacket is provided with a whistle, a light and reflective tape. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• The Dubai guide says to make sure life jackets are well maintained, especially inflatable ones. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)

When the Dubai guide says to use them

• The Dubai guide says to use life jackets in an emergency. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• The Dubai guide says to use life jackets in bad weather. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• The Dubai guide says to use life jackets in restricted visibility. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)

If someone is in the water

• The Dubai guide says to throw the life buoy toward the person in the water. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• The Dubai guide says to reduce the speed of the marine craft. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• The Dubai guide says to keep a visual lookout so the person stays in sight. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• The Dubai guide says to stop near the person at a safe distance and pull the person in with the life buoy. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)

Abu Dhabi

In Abu Dhabi, the checked document still governs speed where no other limit is marked. It does not add a lifejacket sentence to quote.

• Abu Dhabi Maritime prints general speed rules for where the speed is not otherwise restricted. A marked zone on the current safety map overrides the general rule. (source, Abu Dhabi, checked 2026-10-28)

A practical example

This is a decision story. It names no beach and no route.

A boat is leaving a Dubai marina with two adults and a child of eight. The child is wearing a life jacket before the lines come off, and stays in it. There is a jacket for each adult, plus the extra child allowance the guide requires, and the inflatable jackets have been checked, not left in the sun all season. The adults put jackets on when the wind rises and the visibility closes in, which is when the Dubai guide says to use them, rather than waiting for someone to fall.

The same group in Abu Dhabi does not treat silence in the safety map as permission to skip jackets for the child. The map simply does not answer that question.

Common mistakes

• Counting seat cushions as life jackets.
• Having enough jackets, and leaving the child's jacket in a locker until the boat is outside the marina.
• Stowing inflatable jackets in the sun or in spray and still counting them.
• Throwing a life buoy and then steering the propeller toward the person.
• The Dubai guide says children under 10 must wear life jackets at all times while the marine craft is sailing. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)

Checklist

• The Dubai guide asks whether the life jackets are in good condition and whether there are enough for everybody. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• The Dubai boating safety guide says an approved life jacket must be provided for every person on the marine craft, to SOLAS 74, plus 10 percent for children. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• The Dubai guide says children under 10 must wear life jackets at all times while the marine craft is sailing. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• The Dubai guide says a life jacket is provided with a whistle, a light and reflective tape. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• The Dubai guide says to make sure life jackets are well maintained, especially inflatable ones. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• Everyone knows where the life buoy is, and which side of the boat it is on.

When to stop or seek help

Do not leave if a child under 10 has no jacket on, if you are short of jackets for the people actually on board, or if an inflatable jacket is damaged. If someone goes in the water, throw the buoy, keep watching the person, and keep the propeller away.

The Dubai guide says to throw the life buoy toward the person in the water. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)

The Dubai guide says children under 10 must wear life jackets at all times while the marine craft is sailing. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)

Sources checked for this guide

• https://pcfc.ae/en/DMA/Marine%20Guides/Boating%20Safety%20Guide.pdf — Dubai, checked 2026-10-28.
• https://www.admaritime.ae/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/abu-dhabi-maritime-safety-maps-general-updated.pdf — Abu Dhabi, checked 2026-10-28.