Jet Ski Rental on Amelia Island

Two operators rent jet skis on this island, and the useful thing to know before you ring either is that they launch into different water.

The river side

One is on the downtown waterfront at 3 South Front Street, which puts you into the Amelia River and, north of that, Cumberland Sound and the St Marys inlet. Sheltered from ocean swell. Not sheltered from current: the tidal range here is 6 to 7.4 ft and the water moving through those inlets runs hard, hardest around mid-tide.

It is also working water. The shrimp fleet lands here, the Port of Fernandina takes ships, and the marina channel is busy. That is part of what makes the ride interesting — you pass the docks, the fort at the north end and the undeveloped shoreline of Cumberland Island opposite — and it is also why you keep your head up.

The ocean side

The other is at 5 North Fletcher Avenue, at Main Beach on the Atlantic. Open water, so you are dealing with whatever swell is running and a shorebreak on the way in and out. Offshore conditions are usually modest — the buoy 17 km ENE read 0.9 m at 8 seconds on 10 September 2026 — but modest is not flat, and a following sea on the return is a different problem from a flat river.

When to go

Morning, in summer especially. Afternoon thunderstorms are near-daily from June to September and they build fast on this coast; being a mile offshore on a jet ski when one arrives is the situation to avoid entirely.

Water temperature runs from about 58°F in February to 85°F in August at the nearest NOAA sensor, 30 km south at Mayport. Comfortable from roughly May to October without a wetsuit. See conditions for the tide, the forecast and the buoy.

What we have not confirmed

Prices, minimum ages, licence requirements, whether either operator guides or lets you go unaccompanied, and the size of their boundary. All of that varies by operator and by Florida rule, and all of it is a question for the telephone.

Other water on this island: paddleboarding and kayaking for the marsh, boat tours if you would rather someone else drove.

We publish no prices, times or durations for any operator on this site, because we have confirmed none. The address, telephone number and official website below were checked against each operator’s own listing on 10 September 2026 — ring them.