Cheapest place to go is Rockingham Voluntary Sea Rescue. They do a 1-day course, they're fairly thorough and the money goes to a good cause. It only costs $160 per person.

when i got mine done it cost $220 but i found this company organise 3 ppl and get yours free

sounds like a good deal to me http://perth.gumtree.com.au/c-Boats-Jet-Skis-boats-jet-skis-other-FREE-Recreational-Skippers-Ticket-W0QQAdIdZ187282133

good luck with it ron

i did mine in dec last yr through a guy named jim ph 0437514596 i used his boat and cost me $140 i believe he does it a little cheaper for 2 or more ppl.i found him in the quokka! hope this helps!

done mine today cost me $198 using there boat whole course took 1 hour yes 1 hour @maylands boat ramp ,perth boating school

1hr, how pointless, they might as well make it a rubber stamp.

Yep, bloody silly.

Should have been made a standard short course that everyone had to pass by THEMSELVES.

Probably 50% of people who i have spoken to that have their ticket, basically had it given to them.

For interests sake does anyone know of anyone that failed and had to repeat.  Pls no names. 

i think 1 hr is enough for people with experiance, but if you have never driven,launched, etc,etc a boat before i think it should be a day course at least.

my dad for instance has had boats all his life and  knows just as much as me (aint much, but hey), he feels a little bit ripped of having to sit this course with somebody that has never been in control of a boat before,

i have been a water skier for many many years now and owend a few ski boats as well as fishen rigs, the thing that gets me is you see many fishen rigs these days in the ski area and the drivers have not got a clue how to drive the boat let alone tow a skier.

i would still rather put my son,s (maybe not dad) through an all day course than 1hr and they have been fishen/skiing with me for years and have some experiance in driving boats, they used to drive my ski boat towing a skier(with me next to them of cours) and also launch/retrevie the fshen rig.

you cant beat experiance.

Dunno, if they made most car drivers redo their licenses, I'm sure they would fail. I pretty much look at it the same way. You might think you already know best, but its never a bad thing to spend a day brushing up and who knows, you may learn something.

that have been going out for decades, you cant learn everyting in one day, but you  cant get taught everyting either, its easy to tell when someone hasnt been around boats before and someone who has

but the most important thing with boating is commonsense and you defineltly cant beat experience

we did ours at rocko sea rescue. top people down there and profits go into sea rescue not someones pocket. support the guys that support us boaties 

one hour is rediculous?? when i did mine it was 3hrs in the classroom and 3hrson the boat.  i reckon they should also add reversing trailers at boat ramps and launching/retrieving boats?

I did mine at Rocko Sea Rescue - agree it's better the money goes to those that are there to help you out if you need it!

Reversing on the ramp and launching yes saw one the other day took him 30min + to get the boat of the trailer and tied up wiht one rope around the front cleat ... was pain full to watch him reverse ... nice shiny new ski boat too. I think my course was 3 hours therory and a quick harbour  trip on how to dock and mob drill, the course did go though almost all the book except maintenance so that was good but the theory was pretty basic and at that point I was still very green on the gills  I coulda done with better practical but as u said nothing beats experiance. There were also some very scary people getting their ticket one lady in particular had me scared of getting her hands on the wheel in the boat which was only a 30 footer the questions she asked the practical she did ... shivvver oh she passed...

As i always say the Skippers ticket is to give you a good understanding of rules, and show some basic requirements. They rally won't show you all that much. An hour really is heaps.

I recommend Perth Boat School and have found them to be very good.

My wife did hers with Two rocks sea rescue at Mindarie. I have not seen it any harder anywhere. Having said that they were expected to read the book and know it back wards. 30 min revision on a few points and then the test. Fail it and that was your money done.

Then on the water. The instructor asked her to show a skill that he first demonstrated, fail it and you've done your test. She was on the water for 45 minutes driving her self. So maybe one and half hours all up and done. As i said i have never seen a harder example so for a person with experience 1 hour is nothing really.

Get a skipper ticket don't come to me and tell me your a good boater, Give it 100 hours on the water in all sorts of conditions and your on your way.

I agree i wish they would teach ramp work but that's not required by law. SO they don't. 

The X and I did our TL3 at Rockingham Sea Rescue took three nights,now my daughter wants to get her's though the Navy cadets TS Anzac here at Rocko..

she will have have her's cheaper.

TT ( karl )

the CPBA, as we had a member that was a intructor and all done within 2 weeks of it being a regulation.  But old fart only had to do the written as he'd had boats for 50yrs in his fathers then his own boat.  He's teaching me at the moment, god it feels different to steering a car he he he

Yes must agree seeing some of the twits down our ramps  and the public ramp is a joke, speeding in the outer/inner marina.  Your trying to put your boat on the trailer and twit comes in doing 12knots, duh wonder why their is a bow wave and find it hard to retrieve your boat bouncing around.  Noticed though nobody has commen sense or manners anymore.  No wonder there is fights on the public ramp at woodies. 

We are lucky having a Bosun to direct and calm people down and if they don't get a infrigement ticket, 2or 3 infringements and I think you're called before the Committe, Please explain.

I'm not a huge fan of lots of theory.     I learn best when I'm thrown into tha shit.   That being said COMMON SENSE doesn't get handed out  everyone.

Is probably one of the best ways to ensure a skipper knows what he/she is doing. I got my 'speed boat' ticket in Qld when I was 14, and have been involved with boats ever since. When the RST came in and they had the period where you could have other qualifications 'recognised' it still took 3 hours of theory and boat work before the instructor would accept the other quals.

My two boys (13 and 14) both want to do theirs and are not really liking me atm, - chart work, markers, colregs, basic boat handling and dare it say it seamanship, but I am hoping that they will suck it all in and become competent skippers in their own right.

The RST in is current form is a joke in my opinion.

You just have to spend a Sunday afternoon at the boat ramp to see that .But its always great free entertainment.

There needs to be different requirements for what type of vessel you are trying to operate.

Jet Ski , Ski Boats , tinny or 50 plus foot pleasure cruiser ......all have different aspects that the user needs to be aware of to operate in a safe manner.

Yes ...all the rules and regulations on the water are all the same ......but to issue a licence where a jet ski or tinny owner has the same legal ability to operate a larger vessel with a heap of guests on board is wrong. 

Each year there are boating mishap's caused by boat owner operators ...exceeding there knowledge and  skills. I have no doubt that this summer will be no different with boats being parked of reef's at Rotto , breaking down due to little or no maintenence , tipped over because of rogue waves (too close to reef breaks) and so on ..........

Yep ....hour and a half course ....no worries skipper !

RST is like doing a forklift ticket, no one ever fails, the "instuctor" walks you through the things you got wrong and away you go, it happens with most coarses I have done. I had to redo my dangerous goods license last week, some of the chemicals that are transported around the state are pretty nasty, 2 days of other people copying other peoples answers instead of doing the work and finding the answers and information themselves so they know how to do it and understand what they are transporting. Everyone passed with most people not having any idea what a UN number is or what an EIP is or what the information on the EIP means let alone knowing what to do if something goes wrong. Had to do my Worksafe "high risk" forklift ticket 2 weeks ago, most of the people on the "half day experienced operators" coarse had never been on a forklift before but they all passed, in fact the lovely lady in the office had all the certificates printed before we went out for smoko! I wouldn't let most of them load my truck! 

Yes, you are quite correct in that there are many 'tickets' out there given to people who really shouldnt have them. Lets not just say forklift and chemicals - how about cars? If we got rid of all bad drivers - 60% of the people with car drivers licences would be walking to work. And since I am at the boat ramp every single day, I would say about the same % of boat drivers havent a clue how to berth their boat or even depart the jetty properly - and dont get me started on launch and retrieve. But none of that is part of the RST.

So far as how we train and how we assess for the RST. All we are 'allowed' to assess is what the DoT say we are allowed to assess, and they are very strict with what we can and cannot look at and what we can and cannot find fault with. They insist its not a skill test - its a safety test. It's like an "L" plate for boats.

So far as 'extra' training, over and above the minimum needed to pass the RST - we find that the best skippers are the ones who come to us later on for more training and more boat handling lessons. There seem to be a group who think they are experts, and they seem to be the same ones who winge about the cost, who leave it all to the last minute, who dont study their Workbook, who think its all BS, who seem to be the most dangerous and worst at boat handling of all. Funny that....

Personally I would LOVE to take people out all day and train them properly - but so long as there are cheapie backyard blokes slapping them out, we have to compete, or go broke - and then the only ones left will be the cowboys. Already some of the best trainers in the state have left the industry simply because too many corners are being cut by far too many competitors.