any recommendation for Free VS $30-50 California Boating "card" courses?

Courses Information – California Boater Card https://californiaboatercard.com/courses-2/#boatsmart

some are free, some want money. are the free ones a big PIA vs the ones that charge "big money"?

Any general comments?

 

Usually the exam for a state boater card is free. They are on-line and can be taken from home on your computer and if you pass (they aren't very difficult) they send you the card in the mail. Why would anyone pay good money to take an exam that the sate offers for free? Having never taken one of the pay for courses I have no idea what they include, but you can take a course from BOATUS or the state for nothing. I know quite a bit about the BOATUS course because the USCG office of Boating Safety helped develop it as well as the state courses. The state courses were developed primarily by the National Association Of State Boating Law Administrators in conjunction with the USCG. Approved Boating Courses - NASBLA https://www.nasbla.org/education/approved-boating-courses Each state adds in some state specific laws, such as, how far must a PWC stay away from other boats/docks/etc, do you need to have a bailing device (required in some states) etc. As for the tests themselves, anyone with years of boating experience can take it and pass without breaking a sweat. I missed two questions on the Washington State test without reading the study guide and they were both State specific laws.

But then I haven't answered your question about the pay for courses? Maybe someone else will chime in.

PS: The pay for courses have to be approved by the state for them to be equivalent to the state course, so they have to contain the same material as the free courses, which doesn't mean they can't contain more, just not less.