Boating in Sebastian

Boaters from Sebastian run the Indian River Lagoon along the Intracoastal Waterway, head up the St. Sebastian River, or cross the lagoon to Sebastian Inlet, the only charted inlet between Cape Canaveral and Fort Pierce (Sebastian Inlet District).

The riverfront ramps put boats straight onto the waterway. The City of Sebastian says its Yacht Club ramp at 820 Indian River Drive gives quick access across the waterway to Sebastian Inlet and the deep waters of the Atlantic (City of Sebastian), and the Main Street Boat Ramp sits at the center of the riverfront district (City of Sebastian). The Sebastian Inlet District adds that the inshore sand bar is a well-known weekend destination and that the inlet's link to the Intracoastal Waterway opens the whole 156-mile lagoon. Ramp details are on the Sebastian boat ramps page; the numbers that shape trips through the inlet are below.

The Sebastian Inlet District calls Sebastian Inlet a local knowledge, fair-weather inlet used largely by smaller recreational fishing boats, reached from Sebastian across the Indian River Lagoon.

The district keeps the approach channel open and marked. Its FAQ says the channel to the Intracoastal Waterway was designed at a minimum of 150 feet wide and 9 feet deep, that some areas were dredged to -12 feet during the most recent maintenance, and that the district received authority to create the channel and install navigation markers in 2007 and has maintained them since (Sebastian Inlet District FAQ). Missing or downed channel markers can be reported to the district at (321) 724-5175; markers on the Intracoastal Waterway itself belong to the U.S. Coast Guard.

Because sand keeps moving into the Sebastian Inlet system, the district posts semi-annual bathymetric survey maps on its website as an aid to navigation, from surveys run with Florida Tech. It dredges and bypasses sand on average every 4 to 5 years, when the sand trap inside the inlet fills to about 200,000 cubic yards. Boaters also see the conditions directly: the district's navigation page links to real-time wind and wave data and a three-day inlet conditions forecast.

FDOT's $111.7 million replacement of the Sebastian Inlet bridge began mobilizing in May 2026 and is scheduled to finish by 2031, with a new span 12 feet taller than the 1964 bridge (Sebastian Inlet District).

The current James H. Pruitt Memorial Bridge carries A1A for 1,548 feet across Sebastian Inlet at the Indian River and Brevard county line. FDOT lists its vertical clearance at 37 feet and horizontal clearance at 120 feet, and rated it structurally deficient after a November 14, 2018 evaluation, with a sufficiency rating of 51.6 (FDOT). FDOT bridge policy calls for replacing structurally deficient bridges within six years. The Sebastian Inlet District's navigation page lists the existing clearance at 39 feet and FDOT at 37 feet.

Boat speeds on the lagoon and in Sebastian Inlet are set by FWC manatee and boating zones, and in February 2026 FWC advanced a new Sebastian Inlet Idle Speed Zone toward adoption (FWC).

On February 4, 2026, FWC commissioners approved advertising three amendments to Indian River County manatee protection zones: the Sebastian Inlet Idle Speed Zone, a Vero Beach Power Plant No Entry Zone and a Prang Creek Unregulated Area. The review covered waters from Sebastian Inlet to the St. Lucie County line, and the proposals go to a final hearing after a comment period and public meetings. The Sebastian Inlet District notes that FWC sets and enforces the speed zones and that signs visible on the water mark the transitions between zones.

The Sebastian Inlet District reminds boaters that it is unlawful to feed, touch or disturb any manatee, with state penalties up to a $500 fine and up to 60 days, and asks boaters to stay at least 50 feet from manatees and stay in deep channels. In Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, east of Sebastian, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service posts manatee slow speed zones along Spratt Creek and near shorelines and islands, and the buffer around Pelican Island itself is closed year-round (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service).

Anyone born on or after January 1, 1988 must carry boating safety education documents to operate a boat with a motor of 10 horsepower or more on Sebastian waters, under section 327.395 of the Florida Statutes (Florida Statutes).

The statute applies statewide, so it covers the Indian River Lagoon, the St. Sebastian River and the ocean outside Sebastian Inlet alike. The Sebastian Inlet District's navigation page links to FWC boating regulations and boating safety courses. Last verified: October 11, 2026, on the Online Sunshine statutes site and the Sebastian Inlet District website.

Closest to the ocean, Sebastian Inlet State Park has boat ramps on both sides of the inlet, including a four-ramp launch on the south side open 24 hours, with a $4 plus tax fee on top of park admission (Florida State Parks).

Florida State Parks says boaters there reach the brackish Indian River Lagoon, the Intracoastal Waterway, the freshwater Sebastian River and the Atlantic. A non-motorized launch at Coconut Point on the south side takes canoes, kayaks and sailboats. The district notes day rentals at the state park marina. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lists boat launching facilities in the city of Sebastian, at Wabasso Causeway and at Sebastian Inlet State Park for reaching the refuge waters.

Inside Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, the lagoon east of the Sebastian riverfront, the Service keeps refuge waters open year-round except the posted buffer around Pelican Island itself. Recreational clamming is open north of Spratt Point except in a posted aquaculture use zone, and manatee slow speed zones apply along Spratt Creek and near shorelines and islands. Boaters anchoring off the refuge islands on a weekend are inside a federal refuge, not a city park, and the Service's rules apply.