Marine PWC Personal Watercraft Manuals

Currently, the three main brands of personal watercraft (PWCs) are Kawasaki, Sea-Doo and Yamaha, along with many other less popular or newer less known brands. PWC is the generic term for all personal watercraft, but Jet Ski is the trademark for Kawasaki PWC's, Sea-Doo is the trademark for PWC's from BRP (Bombardier Recreational Products), and WaveRunner, WaveJammer are trademarks for PWC's from Yamaha. Other brand names for PWCs that are no longer manufactured include Aquatrax from Honda, Tigershark from Arctic Cat (ARTCO), and Polaris personal watercraft.

Additional past and present PWC brands include: Wetbike, AlumaSki, American Hydro Ski, C-and-J-Marine, Comet Boats, Conquest Boats, Hover Dynamics, Jet N Spray, Krash Industries, Laser Jet Performance, Nar Water Products, Neoteric Hovercraft, Nichols Watercraft Lp, Osprey Hovercraft USA, Pro Jet Zodiac, S O S Express, Scat Hovercraft, Scram Jet Inc, Sonic Jet Performance, Surfjet Enterprises Inc, T and T Ind, Wet Bike Ultra Nautics, Wetjet by Mastercraft, Wetjet International, Wildthing Watercraft.

Types of Personal Watercraft

The term personal watercraft generally dictates straddle operator seating, with two main types, including, sit-down and stand-up. Sit-downs (or runabouts) are designed for riders to sit on the vessel while driving. Stand-ups, on the other hand, require the rider to stand while driving.

Stand-Up Personal Watercraft require the rider to stand while operating and are often preferred by experienced riders for challenging water-sports activity like tricks and racing.
Sit-Down Personal Watercraft are the most popular and are designed to be driven much like a motorcycle, but are designed to hold one to four riders at a time depending on model.

Inflatable Personal Watercraft

Inflatable personal watercraft are made of durable materials like Hypalon and can be easily inflated and deflated for storage and transport. Inflatable PWCs are designed with a straddle operators seat unlike larger offshore inflatables offering normal boat style seating for everyone.

Electric Personal Watercraft

Electric personal watercraft are becoming more popular due to advancing battery technology, their eco-friendliness and quiet operation. They are powered by batteries and electric motors.

Hovercraft Personal Watercraft

Hovercrafts are a unique type of personal watercraft that use a cushion of air designed for the ability to navigate over both land and deep or shallow water. Like inflatables, they have straddle operator seating but also come in larger military and commercial models with normal seating.

Submersible Personal Watercraft

Submersibles are personal watercraft that can dive underwater and are ideal for exploring water bodies and marine life. Types of submersibles include human-occupied vehicles (HOVs) and remotely-operated vehicles (ROVs) or uncrewed/unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs).