Reregistering a Watercraft from a different county in South Carolina

If your watercraft is currently registered in another county in South Carolina and you are looking to pay taxes in Beaufort County, if you have a South Carolina driver’s license, your residence address will first need to be updated to reflect an address in Beaufort County. This can be done through the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). Instructions on how to update your residence address through their website can be found below:

Update Residence Address with DMV

1. Visit DMV's Change My Address or Name page
2. Click the green Change My Address button further down the page
3. Click the green Next button at the bottom of the page
4. Enter your Driver's License number, SSN, and date of birth, then click the Next button at the bottom of the page
5. Update your address information under the "Residence Address" section, then click the Next button at the bottom of the page
6. Review all the updated information, then if prompted submit the changes for processing
7. You should reach a confirmation page indicating the update was successful

If you run into issues updating your driver's license information online, you will either need to call DMV at 803-896-5000 (Columbia), 843-379-8822 (Beaufort) or 843-815-6981 (Bluffton), visit one of their agencies in person, or complete the "Application for Name and/or Address Change (SCDMV Form 4057)" form located on their website: Change My Address or Name

Once your residence address with DMV has been changed, you will also need to update your physical address with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Instructions on how to update your physical address through their website can be found below:

Update Physical Address with DNR

1. Access the site at gooutdoorssouthcarolina.com
2. Select the "Vessel Registration" tile
3. Login to your account using last name, date of birth and last four of SSN. There is a drop down for more options that allows you to enter other information, like customer ID number or Driver's License Number, instead of the SSN.
4. When you login, click the green Update Profile button near the top-middle of the page.
5. Once selected, this allows you to make any changes to your name, contact, and address.  Update the physical address information, then click Update Customer.
6. Once submitted, your physical address has been updated.

If you run into issues with the above instructions, DNR can be reached at 803-734-3857 (Columbia) or 843-953-9301 (Charleston). Alternatively, a copy of their “Address Change” form can be found on their website and mailed to them: Boating – Forms

Once the appropriate departments have been updated, our office will need the following:

• Driver’s licenses of the listed watercraft owners (expired IDs are not accepted)
• The watercraft title or registration

The requested documentation can be submitted using the request ticket form linked below. Copies can be scans or images taken from a smartphone, as long as the information is legible and preferably in PDF or a common image file format (PNG, JPEG).

Please be aware that if the watercraft is flagged through DNR as having outstanding or unpaid taxes within South Carolina, our office will not be able to have a bill created until the delinquent flag has been lifted by the county Treasurer in question.

Submit your information

To have your account created in Beaufort County after updating your address with DMV and DNR, please provide our office the above applicable documentation by filling out and attaching documents to the request ticket form linked here:
Watercraft Request Ticket