State guide · 11 regions · 65 places

Sailing Florida: harbors, anchorages, bridges and the rules

From Fernandina to Pensacola and down to the Dry Tortugas. Every figure on these pages names the source it came from and the day it was read.

Choose a region Florida in five lines

Last checked 22 Oct 2026194 sources · 177 primary

Schematic, not to scale – the pins mark regions, not positions. The dashed blue line is the Intracoastal and Okeechobee waterways.

Depths come from operators, the Coast Pilot, cruiser reports or a seabed model. This is not a nautical chart and does not tell you whether you will get through – use official charts and Local Notices to Mariners.

Before you go

Florida in five lines

The state rules that catch visiting boats most often. Each line links to the full page with the statute.

1
Keep your distance when you anchor.
Not within 150 feet of a marina, boat ramp or boatyard, not within 500 feet of a superyacht repair facility, and not within 300 feet outward from the marked boundary of a public mooring field. The exception for mechanical failure and weather in subsection (2) still names 100 feet for the mooring field.
F.S. 327.4109
2
Staying put needs a free permit.
Anchoring within one linear nautical mile of a documented anchorage point for 14 days or more within 30 days is long-term anchoring: the commission issues the permit at no cost, for one vessel, for each anchoring location, and it expires one year after it was issued. No permit at a dock or on a permitted mooring buoy.
F.S. 327.4111
3
In the Keys, move every 90 days.
Monroe County is an anchoring limitation area. Within 10 linear nautical miles of a public mooring field or a designated anchoring area a vessel must pull anchor at least once every 90 days, move under its own propulsion and reanchor no less than half a linear nautical mile away.
F.S. 327.4108(3)
4
Born in 1988 or later? Carry the card.
A person born on or after 1 January 1988 may not operate a vessel powered by a motor of 10 horsepower or greater without photographic identification and a Florida boating safety identification card, a temporary certificate, an International Certificate of Competency, another state's boating safety card or a Canadian Pleasure Craft Operator Card aboard.
F.S. 327.395
5
No raw sewage, and lock the valve.
Raw sewage may not be discharged from any vessel in Florida waters. A vessel plumbed so that it could discharge must have the valve set to prevent it and locked or otherwise secured against resetting. A live-aboard keeps a record of the date and place of each pumpout for one year.
F.S. 327.53

Regions, coast by coast

1Atlantic coast

Northeast Florida: Fernandina to Ponce Inlet

4,000 ft Alongside dockage at Fernandina Harbor Marina

5 places

2Atlantic coast

Space Coast & Indian River Lagoon

846.1 Intracoastal Waterway mile at New Smyrna Beach

4 places

3Atlantic coast

Stuart, Jupiter & the Palm Beaches

14 numbered day-use slips at Peanut Island Park

5 places

4Atlantic coast

Fort Lauderdale, Miami & Biscayne Bay

over 250 city moorings at Dinner Key

7 places

5Keys

Florida Keys

144 NOAA chart cells read for the app

16 places

6Gulf coast

Everglades, Florida Bay & Ten Thousand Islands

one, at Flamingo marinas in Everglades National Park

4 places

7Gulf coast

Naples to Charlotte Harbor

89 town mooring balls at Fort Myers Beach

4 places

8Gulf coast

Sarasota & Tampa Bay

over 85 moorings in the Sarasota Bay mooring field

10 places

9Gulf coast

Nature Coast & Big Bend

coming

10Gulf coast

Florida Panhandle

105 mph, Isaias at landfall near Destin on 9 October 2026

After Hurricane Isaias the State of Florida reported on 13 October 2026: “All seaports are open and operational.” and “All state-owned bridges have been inspected and are open for travel.” The same update says the state was conducting assessments in Destin Harbor and surrounding areas and working to identify derelict vessels in Santa Rosa, Okaloosa and Walton counties.

2 places · coming

11Inland waterway

Okeechobee Waterway

154 miles from the Atlantic at Stuart to the Gulf at Fort Myers

8 places

Passages and the numbers that limit them

Passage	Project depth	Source
The Big Bend: Anclote River to Carrabelle	navigable for drafts of 4 to 5 ft	NOAA Coast Pilot 5, ch. 5 (2026)
GIWW: Caloosahatchee River to Anclote River	9 ft deep, 100 ft wide	NOAA Coast Pilot 5, ch. 12 (2026)
GIWW: the Florida Panhandle	12 ft deep, minimum 125 ft wide	NOAA Coast Pilot 5, ch. 12 (2026)
Crossing the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas
ICW: Fernandina Beach to Fort Pierce	12 ft	NOAA Coast Pilot 4, ch. 12 (2026)
ICW: Fort Pierce to Miami	10 ft	NOAA Coast Pilot 4, ch. 12 (2026)
Miami to Key West: inside route and Hawk Channel	7 ft	NOAA Coast Pilot 4, ch. 12 (2026)
Okeechobee Waterway	8 ft	NOAA Coast Pilot 4, ch. 12 (2026)

Project depth is what the channel was built for, not what it carries today. Controlling depths are published in the Local Notice to Mariners – use official charts and current notices.

More in Florida

The year on this coast

Hurricane season runs from 1 June to 30 November, and its climatological peak is 10 September. In the Florida Keys, December through April is the dry season and June through October the wet season; May and November are transition months, and they stay empty here because that is what the forecast office says.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Hurricane season						Season	Season	Peak	Peak	Peak	Season
Dry season, Keys	Season	Season	Season	Season								Season
Wet season, Keys						Season	Season	Season	Season	Season
Water, Key West °F	72.5	73.8	75.9	78.9	83.1	86.3	87.6	88.7	87.2	83.7	78.3	75.3
Water, Pensacola °F	56.9	59.1	65.4	71.9	79.0	84.1	86.3	86.6	83.3	75.7	66.6	60.2
Air, Key West °F, normal high 1991–2020	75.8	77.4	79.6	82.6	85.9	88.7	90.2	90.6	89.0	85.8	81.0	77.7
Air, Pensacola °F, normal high 1991–2020	62.7	66.4	72.0	77.6	85.1	90.0	91.6	91.0	88.5	81.1	71.8	65.1

PeakSeasonSources: NOAA National Hurricane Center – Tropical Cyclone Climatology · NOAA NWS Key West – Florida Keys Climate Data · NOAA NCEI – Coastal Water Temperature Guide, monthly averages for all coastal regions · NOAA NCEI – Monthly climate normals 1991–2020, Key West Intl AP (USW00012836) · NOAA NCEI – Monthly climate normals 1991–2020, Pensacola Rgnl AP (USW00013899)

What changed in boating law

1 Jul 2026Local enforcement of the vessel rules Lets a county or municipality adopt an ordinance authorising code enforcement officers to enforce the at-risk vessel and long-term anchoring permit provisions. Such an ordinance may not take effect until the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reviews and approves it. Approved by the Governor on 20 April 2026, chapter number assigned 21 April 2026, effective date 7/1/2026.
1 Jan 2026Long-term anchoring permit Section 3 of the act carries its own date: "Effective January 1, 2026, section 327.4111, Florida Statutes, is created to read:". It is the only section of the act with a 2026 date; the rest took effect on 1 July 2025.
1 Jul 2025Probable cause for a vessel stop Prohibits an officer from performing a vessel stop or boarding a vessel without probable cause, makes safety and marine sanitation equipment violations a secondary offence, and creates the "Florida Freedom Boater" safety inspection decal. The bill page gives the effective date as 7/1/2025.

From the magazine

Guide · Florida Keys

Anchoring in the Florida Keys: rules, mooring fields and good spots

8 min read

Guide · Florida Keys

Designated anchoring areas in the Florida Keys: all seven, with their draft limits

5 min read

Guide · Florida

Florida anchoring laws in 2026: the distances, the days and the permit

7 min read

Take Florida offline.

Depths, seamarks, tides and wind for the whole region on your phone – plan a passage here, sail it without signal.

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Sources & checks

Written by buoya editorial from the sources above. Every figure was checked against its source on 21 Oct 2026. Found something wrong? Report a correction.