Rent a boat, sloep or SUP near you
Rent a sloep, motorboat or SUP from owners in the Netherlands — most sloepen need no skipper licence.
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Search all of the Netherlands- List your boat or SUP
Rent out your boat, SUP or kayak
If your sloep, kayak or SUP sits still most of the year, here you set the day price and the deposit yourself: Huurmarkt collects the payment and pays you out, minus the service fee (usually 10%, minimum €2).
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Search by location, rating and availability near you.
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You pay through Huurmarkt with iDEAL or credit card, never in cash.
Pick up and cast off
Take photos at pick-up and return, and check the life jackets before you sail.
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All about renting watersports
A sloep — the small open motorboat you see all over Dutch canals and lakes — for a Sunday on the water, a canoe to paddle through the reeds with the kids, a SUP for one weekend. On Huurmarkt you rent a boat directly from the owner in the Netherlands — a private owner with a sloep at the jetty, or a rental company that rents out through Huurmarkt — and you pay per calendar day instead of per hour: boat rental without a counter and without a membership. You agree the details in the chat and pay through Huurmarkt; where a listing has Huurmarkt protection switched on, you verify your identity or you book without protection — then only the deposit applies.
Read the guide
The six subcategories cover the water: sloepen, motorboats, sailing boats, canoes and kayaks under Boats & Watercraft; SUP, surf, windsurf and kite boards under SUP & Board Sports; sails, lines and rigging under Sailing Equipment & Rigging; towables, banana boats and inflatable islands under Water Recreation & Activities; wetsuits, drysuits and snorkel sets under Diving & Snorkeling Gear, and whatever falls outside that under Other Watersports Items. You search on the map, at the water where you want to sail: the Frisian lakes, the Loosdrecht and Vinkeveen lakes, the Veluwemeer, the Biesbosch, the canals of Utrecht and Amsterdam, or the waterways of Giethoorn. Some listings book instantly, others after the owner approves. The day price counts per calendar day — Friday through Sunday is three days — and where the owner offers half a day, you book part of a day on the water at a separate fixed price.
A boat trailer to move a boat sits under Trailers & Transport Equipment at Vehicles & Mobility; a roof rack for your canoe, a tent or a cool box for the shore at Outdoor, Travel & Sports; a party tent or standing tables for a party by the water at Events, Parties & Hospitality. Staying overnight on or by the water — a houseboat, a cabin by the lake — is under Living Spaces & Accommodations; there a booking counts nights instead of days and Huurmarkt protection does not apply. Wetsuits and drysuits do belong here, under Diving & Snorkeling Gear. How deposits, cancellations and payments work is explained on the Rent page.
Which boat suits your day on the water
A sloep is the safe middle ground for a day out with friends or family: open, low to the water, easy to steer and usually slow enough to sail without a skipper licence. A bigger motorboat takes you further and faster, and it is exactly that speed that decides whether a licence comes with it. An electric boat is the choice for quiet sailing and for water where a combustion engine is not welcome — ask about the range and where you can charge along the way. A sailing boat asks for experience, or a skipper who comes along. For reed beds and narrow waterways you take a canoe or kayak: an open canoe for a family with luggage, a kayak if you want to move faster.
Pick the subcategory Boats & Watercraft first, then filter by Boat type (Motor, Sail, Paddle or Other), Max passengers, Skipper license required and Skipper included; those attributes are not shown on the search card, so open the listing to read them. How many people may come along is not a detail: that number is fixed per vessel, and every person on board should have a life jacket that fits.
SUP, diving, sailing: what else you rent on the water
Renting a SUP is the easiest way to get onto the water. Under SUP & Board Sports you filter by Board type (SUP, Surf, Windsurf or Kite); with a paddle board, ask about length and volume — a wider all-round board is steadier for a beginner, a narrow touring board is faster — and whether paddle, leash and pump come along. A wetsuit makes the season longer; it sits not with the boards but under Diving & Snorkeling Gear.
Diving & Snorkeling Gear runs from a snorkel set and a drysuit to a buoyancy jacket, regulator and tank. For scuba diving the owner may ask for a certification; that is the Certification required attribute. Ask the owner beforehand which certificate they expect, and agree who fills the tank and at what level it comes back.
Sailing Equipment & Rigging is the category for people who already have a boat: a mainsail, a jib or spinnaker, lines, blocks, a spare halyard or a trapeze harness — useful for one race or one holiday week instead of buying a second wardrobe of sails. Under Water Recreation & Activities sit the things that come along behind or beside the boat: a banana boat or other towable, an inflatable island, water skis or a wakeboard. Always ask about the tow eye, the line and the speed it may be used at, and about the jackets. Whatever fits none of those — from a boat seat to a VHF radio — sits under Other Watersports Items.
What to check when you rent a boat or SUP
- Boat type and Max passengers: Motor, Sail, Paddle or Other, plus the number of people allowed on board.
- Skipper license required and Skipper included: attributes the owner states. Huurmarkt does not check them and they are not shown on the search card — so open the listing.
- Board type: SUP, Surf, Windsurf or Kite; ask about size, paddle and leash.
- Certification required: diving gear may need a certificate — ask the owner beforehand which one they expect.
- Included accessories and Usage limitations: free text per listing, not filterable. This is where paddles, an anchor or a cabin cover are listed, and whether the boat may only be used on inland water or up to a certain wind force.
- Sailing area and weather: you stay within the agreed sailing area and follow the navigation rules, speed limits and tides; you do not set out when heavy weather or a warning from the water authority is announced.
- Who steers: the renter steers, and someone else only if the owner has accepted that person by name beforehand — agree it in the chat. At the helm the same alcohol limits apply as on the road.
- Fuel and fees along the way: fuel or charging is for the renter, returned at the same level; so are tolls and bridge, lock, mooring and parking fees during the rental. The boat goes back clean, inside and out.
Rent a boat or buy one?
Buying a boat is the purchase, and then the year that follows: a mooring, winter storage, antifouling, an engine service, insurance. Someone who sails ten good days a year pays for the other three hundred and fifty-five as well. Renting turns that around — you pay for the days you sail, and for the rest of the year someone else looks after it. Do buy what you touch every time: a life jacket that fits, a wetsuit in your size, a paddle you are used to. The boat itself lies at someone's jetty, ready for the weekend you have free.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a skipper licence for a sloep or motorboat?
For most sloepen, electric boats, canoes and SUP boards, no. In the Netherlands a skipper licence (vaarbewijs) is required for vessels longer than 15 metres or able to go faster than 20 kilometres per hour; stay under both limits and you sail without one, which is the case for most rental sloepen. Whether a listing needs one is stated by the owner with the Skipper license required attribute; it is not shown on the search card, so read the listing itself. Huurmarkt does not check skipper licences: the owner asks for it at handover. A driving licence is a different thing — an owner can set that as a hard requirement, and then the booking only goes through with a driving licence verified through Huurmarkt. Steering a vessel also comes with an age requirement separate from the 18 years needed for a Huurmarkt account, and the listing may state its own age; that, and the rest — safety on board, sailing area, who may steer — is set out in Bijlage C — Voertuigen, vaartuigen en gemotoriseerde tweewielers (Dutch).
What does it cost to rent a boat or sloep per day?
The owner sets the day price, so it is shown per listing — and you pay per calendar day rather than per hour: pick up on Friday and return on Sunday and that counts as three days. For orientation: at a Dutch commercial boat rental company a sloep for an eight-hour sailing day costs roughly €255 to €350, plus a deposit (market figure, not a Huurmarkt price) — but there you hire a boat in fixed time blocks and often only from age 25. Here you pay the day price × the number of days plus the deposit and any delivery cost, and you see that total before you pay; where the owner offers half a day, that is a separate fixed price counting as one day, with no length discount. How rental days, deposits, cancellations and payments work is explained on the Rent page.
How far does Huurmarkt protection reach if something happens on the water?
Where a listing has Huurmarkt protection switched on, that is not insurance but a protection system run by Huurmarkt with two layers: first the deposit, then a risk pool that can top up damage to the rented vessel itself, up to €2,000 per report and for an item value up to €10,000. Huurmarkt assesses every report and there is no right to a payout; the conditions are photos at departure and on return, damage within the rental period, and a verified renter — if you do not verify, you book without protection and then only the deposit applies. On the water the limits matter more than elsewhere: the protection never covers injury, damage to other vessels or to third parties, or salvage, towing and repatriation costs. Running aground — damage to the underside — does not count as normal wear either. So ask the owner before you book whether the boat carries liability or hull insurance and which sailing area that covers. See Liability and Huurmarkt Protection System (HPS).
Are life jackets, fuel or a skipper included?
The owner makes sure the vessel carries the legally required safety and rescue equipment — life jackets in the right sizes, a fire extinguisher and navigation lights — and you check at handover that it is there and that every person on board has a jacket that fits. If something is missing, you do not set out; children and non-swimmers wear a jacket on board. Fuel or charging is for the renter's account, and the boat goes back at the same level as at departure. A skipper is not included by default: that is the Skipper included attribute the owner can switch on. What else comes along — paddles, an anchor, boat cushions, a cabin cover — is listed per listing under Included accessories, and what is not allowed under Usage limitations; ask in the chat. See Item pick-up.
Do I pick the boat up myself, or can it be delivered?
Picking up from the owner is the norm, and with a boat that usually means the jetty or marina where it lies — ask in the chat where exactly, and whether the boat is in the water or on a trailer. Some owners offer delivery, as a base amount plus an amount per kilometre; the listing page does not show that, so ask in the chat before you book — in the booking step you choose pick-up or delivery and see the cost before you pay. A SUP or canoe is easier to move yourself: a roof rack sits under Roof Boxes, Carriers & Travel Accessories at Outdoor, Travel & Sports, a boat trailer under Trailers & Transport Equipment at Vehicles & Mobility. Tolls and bridge, lock, mooring and parking fees incurred during the rental are for the renter's account.
About rental days, cancelling, paying and verification: all answers about renting through Huurmarkt.