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Boating under the influence costs: Florida's BUI fine schedule

Impaired boating is a separate offense from DUI, with its own statute and its own fine schedule — and in Florida it is priced almost exactly like a DUI, then adds costs no road case has: community service written into the statute and immobilization of the vessel itself. This page works from Florida Statutes § 327.35, the most complete published BUI schedule, and explains which parts do and do not carry over to a driver's license.

The § 327.35 fine schedule

Florida Statutes § 327.35(1) defines boating under the influence the familiar way: operating a vessel while normal faculties are impaired, or with a blood- or breath-alcohol level of 0.08 or more. Section 327.35(2) then prices it. A first conviction fines $500 to $1,000 with up to six months in jail; a second conviction fines $1,000 to $2,000 with up to nine months. A third conviction within 10 years of a prior conviction is a third-degree felony, and a third conviction more than 10 years out is a misdemeanor fined $2,000 to $5,000 with up to 12 months.

Section 327.35(4) applies the same enhancement logic as Florida's DUI law: a level of 0.15 or higher, or a passenger under 18 aboard, raises a first conviction to a $1,000 to $2,000 fine and up to nine months. Causing harm escalates the charge itself under § 327.35(3): damage to the property or person of another is a first-degree misdemeanor, serious bodily injury is a third-degree felony, and a death is BUI manslaughter, a second-degree felony. Those felony fine ceilings come from Florida's general felony fine statute, § 775.083, not from § 327.35 itself.

Costs a road DUI does not have

A Florida BUI conviction also carries conditions written into § 327.35(6): probation of up to one year for a first offense, at least 50 hours of community service, completion of a substance-abuse course and evaluation with any recommended treatment, and impoundment or immobilization of the vessel for 10 days. The immobilization is the distinctively boating cost — the expense is not a published state fee but the practical cost of losing the boat for 10 days plus any marina, storage or immobilization-device charges, which are local and commercial, so this page does not put a statewide dollar figure on them.

A substance-abuse course and evaluation are priced by the approved provider, in the same way DUI program fees work on the road (see DUI classes and program fees). If probation supervision is imposed, its monthly fee follows the supervision schedules covered on our DUI probation costs page. Attorney fees for a BUI are market prices with no official schedule, as with a DUI.

BUI component	Published figure
Florida BUI — first conviction (§ 327.35(2))	Fine $500–$1,000; up to 6 months jail
Florida BUI — second conviction (§ 327.35(2))	Fine $1,000–$2,000; up to 9 months jail
Florida BUI — third within 10 years (§ 327.35(2)(b))	Third-degree felony
Florida BUI — 0.15+ or passenger under 18, first (§ 327.35(4))	Fine $1,000–$2,000; up to 9 months jail
Florida BUI — first-conviction conditions (§ 327.35(6))	50 hours community service; substance-abuse course; vessel immobilized 10 days
Florida BUI — causing serious bodily injury (§ 327.35(3))	Third-degree felony; death = BUI manslaughter, second-degree felony

Sources: Florida Statutes § 327.35 (Online Sunshine / Florida Legislature); Florida Statutes § 775.083 (general felony fines); Texas Penal Code § 49.06 (boating while intoxicated, cited for structure only). Last verified: October 2026.

What a BUI does — and does not — do to your driver's license

A common and costly misunderstanding is that a BUI automatically suspends a Florida driver's license the way a DUI does. Section 327.35 is a vessel statute: its penalties are fines, jail, probation, community service and vessel immobilization, and a BUI conviction counts as a prior conviction for later BUI and, in defined circumstances, DUI sentencing — which is where a 'cheap' first BUI becomes expensive years later, by moving a future case into a higher fine tier.

Other states price impaired boating differently — some fold boating while intoxicated into their general intoxication statutes (Texas, for example, has a standalone boating-while-intoxicated offense in Penal Code § 49.06), and federal waters add Coast Guard enforcement. Because schedules differ this much, this page publishes Florida's complete schedule and does not average it with other states. If your case is outside Florida, the figure to look up is your state's vessels or intoxication statute — the structure of § 327.35 is a good checklist of which components to look for.

Common questions

Is a BUI the same price as a DUI in Florida?: Close, by design: the first- and second-conviction fine ranges in § 327.35 match Florida's DUI ranges in § 316.193. The BUI then adds vessel immobilization and a statutory 50-hour community service minimum that the standard first DUI also carries.
Does a BUI suspend your driver's license?: Section 327.35 does not impose a driver's license suspension as a DUI does. Its license-like consequence is forward-looking: the conviction counts as a prior for later impaired-operation cases, raising future fine tiers.
What does the 10-day vessel immobilization cost?: There is no published statewide fee. The cost is whatever immobilization, storage or marina charges apply locally, plus 10 days without the vessel — which is why this page lists it as a condition, not a dollar figure.

Related cost guides: total cost of a first DUI, towing & impound costs, DUI probation costs, and Texas DUI costs.

Sources: Florida Statutes § 327.35; Florida Statutes § 775.083; Texas Penal Code § 49.06. Last verified: October 2026. This page is educational information about costs only — not legal advice. Laws and fees change; confirm current figures with your court and your state's driver-licensing agency.