Recreational Boating Safety: 2024 in Review
The U.S. Coast Guard released its 2024 Recreational Boating Statistics Report on July 1, 2025, and the headline shows improvement: 556 boating fatalities nationwide, the lowest annual total since the Coast Guard began keeping statistics more than 50 years ago. The fatality rate was 4.8 deaths per 100,000 registered recreational vessels — a 2% drop from 2023, and dramatically lower than the 20.6 per 100,000 recorded in 1971, the year the Safe Boating Act was passed.
Within that good news, one trend stands out for our area: paddle craft accounted for 26% of recreational boating deaths in 2024 — second only to open motorboats (46%) and ahead of every other vessel type. Kayaks alone accounted for 16% of fatalities; standup paddleboards and canoes made up the rest. Deaths on standup paddleboards increased over 2023.
The 26% figure is partly a story about the explosive growth of paddle sports — roughly 38 million Americans paddled at some point during the year, far more than power-boated — and partly a story about who is dying. Coast Guard data analyzed by the Water Sports Foundation indicates that nearly 75% of paddle craft fatalities involve paddlers with less than 100 hours of experience. The pattern is consistent: an inexperienced paddler in cold water without a properly worn PFD, often without a means of summoning help. That cluster of risk factors describes a some of the paddlers in our AOR — kayaks are easy to launch in Bellingham Bay, Chuckanut, and Drayton Harbor, and some paddle craft owners don’t prepare to handle accidents.
The other 2024 statistics that drive everything we do as Vessel Examiners, Program Visitors, and Public Education instructors haven’t changed:
- Drowning was the cause of death in three-quarters of fatalities, and 87% of those who drowned were not wearing a life jacket. Check that the boats you examine carry one for every person aboard, properly sized and serviceable.
- Roughly 70% of fatalities occurred on vessels operated by people who had never taken a boating safety course. Boating safety education works — recommend a course at every interaction.
- Alcohol contributed to 92 deaths, 20% of all fatalities. Boating Under the Influence remains the single leading known contributing factor in fatal accidents.
- The top five primary contributing factors in incidents: operator inattention, improper lookout, operator inexperience, machinery failure, and failure to follow navigation rules.
The Coast Guard’s recommendations remain: wear a life jacket, take a boating safety course, attach the engine cutoff switch lanyard, get a Vessel Safety Check, and boat sober. For paddlers, add: dress for immersion, carry a means of summoning help (handheld VHF with DSC, PLB, or satellite messenger), and file a float plan.
The full report is available at uscgboating.org.
Source: U.S. Coast Guard 2024 Recreational Boating Statistics Report; Water Sports Foundation analysis.