Region guide · Inland waterway · 8 places

Okeechobee Waterway: the locks, the lake and the way across Florida

The inland way from Stuart on the Atlantic to Fort Myers on the Gulf of America: five locks, two routes across Lake Okeechobee, and the published clearances that decide the crossing for a sailboat.

Last checked 22 Oct 20265 sources · 5 primary

Illustration, not to scale – the pins mark places, not positions. Depths, seamarks and tides for the whole region are in the app.

154

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

five

navigation locks, all operated by USACE

miles across the open lake, Port Mayaca to Moore Haven

ft, the lowest published bridge clearance, at Mile 38.0

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.

Places in this region

LockChanged

St. Lucie Canal

St. Lucie Lock and Dam

waterway mile: 15.1
lock chamber: 250 × 50 ft

Boatyard

St. Lucie Canal at Indiantown

Indiantown Marina

waterway mile: 29.5
full facility slips: 34

Lock

East side of Lake Okeechobee

Port Mayaca Lock and Dam

waterway mile: 40.0
lock chamber: 400 × 56 ft

Marina

Clewiston, southwest side of Lake Okeechobee

Roland Martin Marina & Resort

waterway mile via Route 1: 65.0
feet of linear floating dock: 600

Lock

West side of Lake Okeechobee

Julian Keen, Jr. Lock and Dam

waterway mile: 78.0
lock chamber: 250 × 50 ft

Marina

Caloosahatchee Canal at Moore Haven

Moore Haven City Docks

waterway mile: 78.5
feet of bulkhead: 300

Lock

Caloosahatchee Canal

Ortona Lock and Dam

waterway mile: 93.5
lift, normally: 7.5 to 8.5 ft

LockChanged

Caloosahatchee River at Olga

W.P. Franklin Lock and Dam

waterway mile: 121.4
lock chamber: 400 × 56 ft

Rules on this water

Life jackets on and engines off in every lock. The lock operator has full authority over the movement of boats in the lock and its approaches, and “operators must require all passengers to wear a Coast Guard approved life jacket and turn off engines”.

Approach only when the locktender says so. Public address systems are installed at all the locks. Craft should approach for passage only upon receiving instructions from the lock tender through the loudspeaker system or by standard light signal.

The posted lock hours depend on which authority you read. USACE publishes 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., 365 days a year, with the last lockage beginning at 4:30 p.m. Coast Pilot 4 says instead that the five locks are operated from 0600 to 2130 daily and that operating personnel are not on duty at other hours. Both are primary sources and both stand; we show the USACE hours, because the Jacksonville District operates the locks. Call the lock before you plan a late lockage.

Locks and bridges are not on the same channel. USACE: “Navigation Locks monitor Marine VHF radio channel 13. Bridges monitor channel 9.” Coast Pilot 4 says instead that the locks monitor VHF-FM channel 16; both are primary and both stand.

The general rules for locks are federal. General regulations governing bridges and locks and the handling of tows are given in 33 CFR 207.160; the drawbridge regulations for this waterway and Taylor Creek are in 33 CFR 117.1 through 117.49.33 CFR 207.160

Fourteen days in thirty at the Corps campgrounds. Camping is limited to 14 days within a 30 day period, and Ortona South and St. Lucie South count together: a camper cannot do fourteen days at one and then fourteen at the other without camping elsewhere for sixteen days.

Manatee speed zones at the Gulf end. Regulated speed zones for the protection of manatees are in the Caloosahatchee River from San Carlos Bay to the Edison Memorial Bridge (U.S. 41), and in Orange River and at its confluence with the Caloosahatchee.

Keep clear of a lock that is discharging. Two standby areas are established at the Julian Keen lock, and Coast Pilot 4: “Under no circumstances shall any craft approach nearer to the lock than the standby areas until discharge has been stopped and the water pool stabilized.”

Passages from here

Okeechobee Waterway

Next regions

South, past MiamiFlorida Keys

Take the Okeechobee Waterway offline.

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Sources & checks

NOAA Coast Pilot 4, ch. 12 (2026) · 18 Oct 2026
USACE Jacksonville – Okeechobee Waterway · 21 Oct 2026
USACE – St. Lucie Lock and Dam · 21 Oct 2026
USACE – St. Lucie South campground · 21 Oct 2026
USACE – Port Mayaca Lock and Dam · 21 Oct 2026

Written by buoya editorial from the sources above. Every figure was checked against its source on 22 Oct 2026. Found something wrong? Report a correction.