Missouri Boating Laws for Safe Boating at Lake of the Ozarks

As the Lake area gets busier, we thought it would be a good time to remind everyone about some of the Missouri Boating Laws.  These laws are put in place to encourage safe boating for ALL.   We believe these laws create a safe and FUN environment for all and we encourage you to review and follow them!

1. Operating a boat while intoxicated is a criminal offense subject to a fine and/or time in jail.
2. The minimum age for operating any watercraft in the State of Missouri is 14 years.
3. Children under the age of 7 years must WEAR a Personal Flotation Device (PFD) at all times unless confined in a fully enclosed area.
4. All persons born after January 1, 1984 must possess a Missouri boating safety ID card, along with a photo ID to operate a boat or PWC.  Visit the MSWP website for more information.
5. Riding on the bow, gunwales, railing, top of seat, back and decking over the back of a motorboat is prohibited. 
6. It is illegal to operate a boat or PWC at speeds greater than "idle speed" with 100 feet of a dock or pier, an occupied anchored vessel or a buoyed restricted area.
7. The speed limit at night is 30 mph.  Night time speed limits begin 1/2 hour after sunset and continue through 1 hour before sunrise.
8. Everyone on board a PWC while underway must wear a U.S. Coast Guard-approved personal floatation device (PFD).
9. It is illegal for PWC operators to:
• Weave the PWC through congested waterway traffic.
• Jump the wake of another motorboat when visibility is obstructed.
• Become airborne while crossing the wake of another motorboat and within 100 feet of the motorboat creating the wake.
• Operate at greater than "slow, no wake" speed within 50 feet of any other vessel, PWC, or person in the water
• Operate in a manner that requires swerving at the last possible moment to avoid collision.

For more information about Missouri boating laws and safety, please contact Missouri State Water Patrol at 573.751.3333 or visit www.mswp.dps.mo.gov/.


Join us at the best waterfront restaurant at Lake of the Ozarks!  Enjoy great food, live music, and flowing drinks at Bulldog'S Beach House.  We are located on the 33 mile marker or at 121 Teton Lane in Camdenton, MO.  We are currently open Thurs-Sun at 11AM!!  

Come Sniff around... and while you're here be sure to..

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Located at the 33 mile marker of the main channel on the Lake of the Ozarks. Lake Road 5-65 by land.

OPEN Thursday-Sunday AT 11AM!!