Anchoring limitation areas at night
Between one-half hour after sunset and one-half hour before sunrise, anchoring is prohibited in a section of Middle River, in Sunset Lake and in ten listed segments of Biscayne Bay.
The water the statute names
Three places are written into the section itself: a section of Middle River in Broward County, Sunset Lake in Miami-Dade, and ten listed segments of Biscayne Bay. In those, anchoring is prohibited through the night window — between one-half hour after sunset and one-half hour before sunrise.
The list is a list of waters, not of counties. A segment is named by the island or the road it lies against, so the only way to know whether you are in one is to read the subsection and compare it with the chart.
What a county may add
Outside Monroe, a county may establish anchoring limitation areas of its own. The section fences that in three ways: each area is less than 100 acres, a vessel may not anchor in one for more than 45 consecutive days in any 6-month period, and all of a county’s areas together may not exceed 10 percent of the county’s delineated navigable-in-fact waterways.
That last measure is worth reading twice. The cap is not a share of the county and not a share of its water in general, but of the waterways the county has delineated as navigable in fact.
Monroe County: the vessel moves
Monroe is left out of the county scheme and has a subsection of its own, and it asks for something different. No less than once every 90 days, a vessel anchored in the county and within 10 linear nautical miles of a public mooring field or a designated anchoring area must pull anchor and be moved — and the new position has to be no less than one-half linear nautical mile from where it started.
Nothing in that subsection sets up an inspection. The 90 days are the interval at which the boat has to change place; where a pump-out record is asked for, it has to show a pump-out within the last 30 days.
Who enforces it
Since 1 July 2026 a county or a municipality may adopt an ordinance letting its own code enforcement officers enforce these provisions, and that ordinance may not take effect until the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has reviewed and approved it. The penalty itself is a noncriminal infraction under s. 327.73.
Worth knowing
- Monroe County has its own subsection, and it is not a check. The statute does not send anyone out to inspect every 90 days. It puts the duty on the vessel: it must pull anchor and be moved, under the section's own words, and the new place has to be no less than one-half linear nautical mile from where it started.F.S. 327.4108(3)
- The 100-acre, 45-day scheme is for the other counties. Monroe is excluded from it. A county that sets up such an area draws it smaller than 100 acres, and inside it a vessel may not anchor for more than 45 consecutive days in any 6-month period.F.S. 327.4108(2)
- The 10 percent has a measure behind it. The cap is not 10 percent of the county, nor of its surface water in general: the aggregate total of anchoring limitation areas in a county may not exceed 10 percent of the county's delineated navigable-in-fact waterways.F.S. 327.4108(2)
- Since 1 July 2026 a local officer may enforce it. A county or municipality may adopt an ordinance authorising its own code enforcement officers to enforce these provisions. Such an ordinance may not take effect until the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reviews and approves it.ch. 2026-36 What a city or county may regulate
- A breach is a noncriminal infraction. The section sends the penalty to s. 327.73, where the amounts stand.F.S. 327.73
- The night window is not the only clock. This section limits where and how long. A second section asks for a permit once a vessel lies near the same spot long enough, and it counts days, not nights.F.S. 327.4108 The long-term anchoring permit
Where the rules differ by county
| County | What applies on top |
|---|---|
| Broward | The section of Middle River lying between Northeast 21st Court and the Intracoastal Waterway is an anchoring limitation area. |
| Miami-Dade | Sunset Lake and ten listed segments of Biscayne Bay are anchoring limitation areas. |
| Monroe (Keys) | No less than once every 90 days, each vessel anchored within Monroe County and within 10 linear nautical miles of a public mooring field or a designated anchoring area must pull anchor and be moved to a location no less than one-half linear nautical mile from the vessel's starting location. Where a pump-out record is asked for, it must indicate that the vessel was pumped out within the last 30 days. |
| Counties other than Monroe | A county may establish anchoring limitation areas of less than 100 acres each, in which a vessel may not anchor for more than 45 consecutive days in any 6-month period; the aggregate total of such areas in a county may not exceed 10 percent of the county's delineated navigable-in-fact waterways. |
What changed on this rule
- 1 Jul 2026CS/CS/HB 1103 · ch. 2026-36Local enforcement of the vessel rulesin force
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.
State law
- 19 May 2025CS/CS/HB 481 · ch. 2025-39Anchoring distances and Biscayne Bayin force
Increases the prohibited anchoring and mooring distance near public mooring fields, designates specified sections of Biscayne Bay in Miami-Dade County as grandfathered-in anchoring limitation areas, and restricts local regulation of vessels outside the marked boundaries of mooring fields in certain counties. The bill page gives the effective date as 5/19/2025.
State law
Questions
Is the whole of the Florida Keys closed to anchoring at night?
No. None of the areas the section names by water is in Monroe County. What Monroe has instead is a move: within 10 linear nautical miles of a public mooring field or a designated anchoring area, a vessel must pull anchor and be moved at least one-half linear nautical mile, no less than once every 90 days.
How long may I lie inside a county anchoring limitation area?
Not more than 45 consecutive days in any 6-month period. The area itself has to be less than 100 acres, and all such areas in one county together may not exceed 10 percent of the county's delineated navigable-in-fact waterways.
Who checks whether a boat in Monroe County has moved?
The statute writes the duty as the vessel's, not as an inspection round. Since 1 July 2026 a county or municipality may let its own code enforcement officers enforce the provisions, once the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has reviewed and approved the ordinance.
Where does the 30-day pump-out proof come from?
From this section, in the Monroe County subsection: a pump-out record has to show that the vessel was pumped out within the last 30 days. It is not from the marine sanitation section, which asks for a record kept over a year instead.
Sources & checks
- Florida Statutes 327.4108 (2026) – Anchoring of vessels in anchoring limitation areas · 21 Oct 2026
- Florida Statutes 327.73 (2026) – Noncriminal infractions · 21 Oct 2026
- Florida Senate – CS/CS/HB 1103 (2026), Local Administration of Vessel Restrictions, ch. 2026-36 · 21 Oct 2026