Fleming Key anchoring area

Fleming Key Anchoring Limitation Area covers 100 acres of Man of War Harbor west of Fleming Key, at the north-west corner of Key West. It is one of the seven areas FWC designated in Monroe County under Fla. Admin. Code 68D-14.002(1)(a), in force since 3 October 2023; the position above is boundary point A of the rule.

The eastern boundary is the naval restricted area off Fleming Key, so the designated water stops where the restricted water begins. For Man of War Harbor as a whole the Coast Pilot gives 14 to 26 ft, and it reports wrecks in the harbor, visible and submerged.

Entering the naval restricted area is prohibited. How far it reaches is given differently by the two sources: 33 CFR 334.610 puts it at 100 yards off Fleming Key, while Coast Pilot 4 speaks of about 150 yards from the shoreline. We show both figures and do not decide between them – plan on the larger one and read the regulation itself before you set an anchor near that edge.

Fleming Key Cut runs along the east side of the key and carries about 6 ft to the junction, with a current the Coast Pilot reports as very strong; the bridge over the cut has 18 ft. Calda Channel, on the other side, was 3 ft when it was last reported in 1983. Depths and clearances change – the current chart decides, not this page.

Inside the area the rule caps vessel draft at 6 ft. That is a limit on the boat, not a statement about the water: 68D-14.003 leaves the depth under your keel to the operator. And because all of Monroe County is an anchoring limitation area, a boat lying here has to move at least 0.5 nm, or into another designated area, after 90 days.