How Far Can A Jet Ski Go On A Tank Of Gas?

How Many Miles Can A Jet Ski Go?

A jet ski can go anywhere from 60 to 120 miles on a tank of gas.

This number can go up or down depending on what you ride and how hard you ride it.

A jet ski in sport mode and going full throttle everywhere is going to use more gas than the jet ski in cruise control mode doing 30mph.

How Many Hours Can You Ride A Jet Ski?

You can get 1 to 3 hours out of a jet ski before you need to refuel.

Just like mileage, the number of hours you ride your jet ski depends on what you ride, how hard you ride it, and what you carry.

MPG and GPH

To give you an idea of how long you can ride your jet ski, I’ll show you a few examples.

The Sea-Doo Spark is the most fuel-efficient watercraft on the market. At wide-open throttle (WOT), it uses 2 gallons of gas per hour (GPH). The fuel tank on the Spark is 7.9 gallons, so you can get 3.95 hours before it runs out.

3.95 hours is the worst-case scenario.

You’ll end up getting more than that, maybe even closer to 4.5 hours for one simple reason – Not everyone drives a jet ski at wide-open throttle. People slow down, cruise, park, float/anchor, and do many other things to increase ride time.

To be perfectly honest, after about an hour of riding, I find my self tired, especially on a Spark. A jet ski can wear you out, and you’ll find yourself taking breaks often.

High performance jet ski Mpg

Then you have the supercharged jet skis that can use 18 to 25 gallons of gas per hour and only have a 16 or 20-gallon gas tank. As you can see, for those, you won’t last an hour if you go full throttle all the time.

Average Jet ski MPG

For the more middle ground jet skis like the Yamaha VX, it can burn 8.5 gallons of gas per hour at (WOT) and has an 18-gallon gas tank. That means you can get a little over 2 hours out of a VX, but this is going full throttle all the time.

If you stick to around 30MPH, you can expect a Yamaha VX to consume 3.4 GPH, which means you can ride for about 5 hours.

A mixture of both cruising and riding hard, as this is what most people do, we can assume you’ll get about 3 hours before needing to refuel on the middle of the road jet ski like the Yamaha VX. But this ignores water condition and what you’re carrying so your mileage may vary.

What Affects How Far You can Go

  1. Engine Efficiency: The efficiency of the jet ski’s engine can impact how much fuel is consumed during operation. Modern engines are generally more fuel-efficient than older models.
  2. Fuel Tank Capacity: The size of the fuel tank directly determines how much fuel the jet ski can carry. A larger tank means a longer potential range, given similar consumption rates.
  3. Riding Style: How you ride the jet ski can make a significant difference. Rapid acceleration, frequent stopping, and high-speed cruising can consume more fuel than steady, moderate-speed riding.
  4. Water Conditions: Calm waters are better fuel efficiency. Rough or choppy waters, on the other hand, can decrease the jet ski’s range because the craft has to work harder to maintain stability and forward momentum.
  5. Weight and Load: The weight of the jet ski, including the rider(s), gear, and any added accessories, can influence fuel consumption. A heavily loaded jet ski will consume more fuel than one that’s lightly loaded.
  6. Maintenance: A well-maintained engine and propulsion system will generally operate more efficiently than a poorly maintained one. Regular maintenance, such as cleaning the carburetor (on models that have one), changing the spark plugs, and ensuring the jet pump is free of debris, can positively impact range.
  7. Hull Design: The design of the jet ski’s hull can affect its hydrodynamic efficiency, which in turn can influence fuel consumption. Some hull designs are optimized for speed, while others are designed for stability or maneuverability.
  8. Environmental Factors: Temperature, altitude, and humidity can all impact engine performance and efficiency. For instance, jet skis may perform differently in high-altitude lakes compared to sea-level oceans.
  9. Fuel Quality: The quality and type of fuel used can impact engine performance and efficiency. Always using the recommended fuel type and ensuring it’s free from contaminants will help maintain optimal range.
  10. Mechanical Issues: Any underlying mechanical problems, such as a faulty fuel system, inefficient combustion, or drag from a damaged impeller, can negatively impact the range.

What Jet Skis Have The Longest Range?

This is a hard question to answer.

The jet skis with the biggest gas tanks are the Kawasaki Ultra’s with 20 gallons. But they’re also the heaviest and those supercharged engines love to consume gas.

Then you have the Sea-Doo Spark as we talked about earlier. They’re the most fuel-efficient jet skis on the market, and if done right, you could travel longer on that than the Kawasaki. But the Sea-Doo Spark is a horrible jet ski for long trips, the seat sucks and won’t hold up to the abuse that many long-distance drivers face.

For long-distance driving on jet skis, what matters the most is who can carry more fuel beyond what’s in the gas tank. The only one that seems to have mastered this well is Sea-Doo.

Sea-Doo Gas Can Accessory Attached Using LinQ

With Sea-Doo, you can buy accessories that easily attach to the LinQ that is already on most Sea-Doo today. It makes adding and removing accessories like gas cans easy.

The Latch For LinQ Is Easy To Use

If you’re going to do any long-distance jet ski riding, I would go with a Sea-Doo GTX or similar body as they already have the accessories to help increase your ride time.

Here is an excellent video with someone on a Sea-Doo GTX going from Texas to Florida in one day. That’s quite impressive!