Lake Powell's blue water, winding red-rock canyons and sandy beaches form a vacation paradise for nearly 2 million visitors a year. But beware.

More serious recreational boating accidents occur there than at any of the Great Lakes, the Mississippi River or even the Pacific Ocean's U.S. coast.

In fact, Lake Powell recorded the sixth highest rate of boating accidents of any body of water in America since 1995. Half of all Utah boating accidents occurred there, too.

If that is not eye-widening enough, here is another worrisome fact for Utahns as they begin heading for lakes this spring: Utah has the nation's fourth highest rate for accidents per registered boat.

In other words, Utahns are America's fourth-worst boaters.

Most Utah accidents occur as boats hit one another, or other objects, when water is calm and visibility is good — but caution and lookout are apparently poor. The vast majority of operators in accidents have no formal boating training, which is required by many states, but not for most boaters in Utah.

And then Utahns sometimes make tragically foolish choices. Among the 44 people who drowned in Utah boating accidents between 1995 and 2005, 35 were not wearing a personal flotation device (life vest). And 27 of them did not know how to swim but went boating without wearing a flotation device anyway.

"I think that with just a little bit more caution and education, most of the accidents and deaths here could be prevented," says David Harris, boating coordinator for the Utah Division of Parks and Recreation.

Those findings come through a Deseret Morning News analysis of the U.S. Coast Guard's database of U.S. boating accidents between 1995 and 2005. The database tracks recreational accidents that involve any deaths, injuries requiring more than first aid, or property damage greater than $2,000.

Accident rates

Utahns are three times more likely to be in a serious boat accident than the typical American boater.

Between 1995 and 2005, Utah had an accident rate of 16.4 per 1,000 registered boats. That is three times higher than the national average, data show.

Utah's rate was fourth highest among the states, behind only Nevada (24.5 per thousand), Arizona (19.5) and Maine (18.7).

In 2005, the last year for which national comparisons are currently available, Utah still had the fourth-worst rate that year behind Nevada, Arizona and Alaska.

While it is not gaining on other states, Utah's accident rate has dropped sharply over the decade — by 55 percent, 13th best among the states.

However, Harris, who provides Utah data to the Coast Guard, warns that apparent drop may come largely because of a change in what accidents are reported.