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Here is a copy of the question and answer I got from the CA Departement of Boating and Waterways:
A question about the required use of a life jacket:
On your website it states:
"...anyone being towed behind a vessel (such as skiing) and anyone riding a personal watercraft must wear a life jacket."
If I read this correctly and translate it literally, a person who is wake surfing behind a boat, without a tow line or any assistance from the boat other that the boats wake, would not be required by law to wear a life jacket.
Can you please confirm or clarify this.
Thank you
RE: Harbors and Navigation Code 658.3 (Requirement to wear a lifejacket when wake surfing)
Dear Mr. Green:
In order to answer your question concerning the need to wear a life jacket per the requirements specified in Harbors and Navigation Code Section 658.3, it is necessary to review the definition of water skiing, as found in Harbors and Navigation Code section 651 (bb), which states:
(bb) "Water skis, an aquaplane, or a similar device" includes all
forms of water skiing, barefoot skiing, skiing on skim boards, knee
boards, or other contrivances, parasailing, ski kiting, or any
activity where a person is towed behind or alongside a boat.
The main issue to examine in your question is where did the wake-surfer start from?
(a) Starting from the vessel you must wear a life jacket:
If the wake surfer started from the boat and then left the boat on a wake board either from releasing a tow rope, releasing ski pole alongside the vessel or by stepping off the swim step to commence the wake boarding activity, then the wake boarder would be required to wear a life jacket because their point of origination was from the vessel and they would be considered as water skiing, at some point, as defined.
(b) Starting away from the vessel you are considered a bather and do not need a life jacket
If the wake boarder was never in the boat and did not start from the boat, but was able to paddle under their own muscle power to get up to the speed of the boat to be able to surf in its wake, then they are considered bathers and would not need a life jacket.
However since the most likely and realistic scenario is that the person relied on the boat to get up to speed to be able to wake surf. Therefore, in answer to your answer the wake surfer would need to be wearing a life jacket because they would be considered as having been water skiing at some point in time, because they started from the vessel and at some point they left the confines of the vessel, they released a tow line or they released a ski pole attached to the side of the vessel or they stepped off the swim platform of the vessel to commence wake surfing, but primarily it's because they relied on the vessel for their impetus and their safety or rescue.
Please let us know if you have any further questions.
Mike Sotelo
Regulations Unit
CA Dept of Boating and Waterways
(916) 263-0787
Dear Mr. Green:
After I replied to your e-mail, I was asked to provide further clarification to my response. While the law addresses the requirement to wear a life jacket only while you are in the act of water skiing, as defined in 651 (bb) of the Harbors and Navigation Code, it does not require that the wake surfer wear a life jacket after he or she begins the act of wake surfing.
If you have any questions regarding this clarification, please let me know, I apologize for any misunderstanding my response may have caused.
Mike Sotelo
Regulations Unit
Dept of Boating and Waterways
(916) 263-0787
I think it is pretty cool that it only took 1 day to get an on point answer.
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