Manatee Protection Zones in Sebastian, Florida

Sebastian boaters follow FWC Rule 68C-22.007, whose last published zone text (2002, before the June 30, 2026 amendment) sets idle along the mainland shore, slow on the St. Sebastian River and most lagoon water, a winter slow zone off Duck Point, and 30 mph channels.

Rule 68C-22.007, the Indian River County Zones rule adopted under the Florida Manatee Sanctuary Act, sorts the county's waters into idle speed, slow speed, seasonal, no entry, 30 mph and unregulated areas, each fixed by shorelines, bridges and numbered channel markers (Rule 68C-22.007). The rule was amended again effective June 30, 2026 (Florida Administrative Code), and the table below follows the published zone text that was available to read on October 14, 2026, so the posted signs on the Sebastian waterfront are the final word.

In the pre-amendment rule text, the idle speed water in Sebastian is the band within 1000 feet of the lagoon's western shoreline, and the St. Sebastian River upstream of the US 1 Bridge is slow speed all year.

In that published text, the Indian River, Sebastian River Area covers all waters within 1000 feet of the westerly shoreline of Indian River, south of a line through the northernmost point of the peninsula carrying US Highway 1 and north of a line from a point 700 feet northwest of where County Road 505 meets the shoreline (Rule 68C-22.007). That band is the mainland edge of the lagoon in Sebastian near the mouth of the St. Sebastian River. The March 6, 2026 notice of proposed rule would amend subparagraph 68C-22.007(1)(a)1., this zone, from Idle Speed (All Year) to Slow Speed (All Year) (Florida Administrative Register notice 30603420), so the idle limit described here may no longer match the adopted rule or the markers on the water.

The river itself is slow speed. The rule covers all navigable waters of the St. Sebastian River, which it notes is also known as Sebastian River, San Sebastian River and Sebastian Creek and which includes San Sebastian Bay, together with the South Fork within Indian River County, west and southwest of the US 1 Bridge and north of the S.R. 512 Bridge (Rule 68C-22.007). Every zone in the rule also takes in its associated tributaries, creeks, coves, canals and boat basins unless the rule says otherwise, so the canals off the river carry the same limit.

Across the lagoon, the Indian River, Sebastian Inlet Area is slow speed year-round for all waters of the Indian River and Sebastian Inlet east of a line 100 feet off the Intracoastal Waterway channel and southwest of a line 200 feet from the State Road A1A Bridge, excluding the marked inlet channel (Rule 68C-22.007). South of Red Intracoastal marker 64, the Coconut Point to Big Slough Area keeps slow speed within 600 feet of the eastern shoreline, and the broad Indian River Area west of the channel buffer is slow speed from the Brevard County line to the St. Lucie County line except where another zone applies.

In the published pre-amendment text, the seasonal zone at Sebastian is the Sebastian Inlet Marina to Duck Point Area, slow speed from November 1 through April 30 and unregulated from May through October.

That text lists it as a Slow Speed Zone (November 1 through April 30)/Unregulated Remainder of Year (Rule 68C-22.007). It covers open Indian River water east of a line 600 feet off the western shoreline and west of the Intracoastal channel buffer, between Red Intracoastal marker 66 and Green marker 75, plus a strip east of the channel up to 1600 feet from its centerline. For a Sebastian boater heading south toward Wabasso, it is the nearest stretch where the limit depends on the calendar.

South of Green marker 75, the published rule lists the Indian River north of the Wabasso Beach Road (County Road 510) Bridge, outside the 600-foot western shoreline band, the channel buffer and a band around Wabasso Island, as an Unregulated Area (Rule 68C-22.007). The county's seasonal No Entry Zone, November 15 through March 31, sits far to the south in the canals north of the Vero Beach Municipal Power Plant, and FWC named that zone as one of the three it set out to amend in 2026 (FWC).

On Sebastian waters, idle speed is the slowest speed that keeps a boat steering, slow speed means fully off plane with minimal wake and no set number, and 30 mph is a hard cap in the marked channels.

Rule 68C-22.002 defines Idle Speed, also posted as Idle Speed No Wake, as a speed no greater than that which will maintain steerageway and headway (Rule 68C-22.002). Slow Speed, also posted as Slow Speed Minimum Wake, means the vessel must be fully off plane and completely settled into the water, then move at a reasonable and prudent speed that avoids an excessive wake. The rule states there is no specific numerical speed assigned to slow speed, and a vessel on plane, or coming off or onto plane, is not at slow speed. On the St. Sebastian River, that means no planing at all between the US 1 and S.R. 512 bridges.

In the published pre-amendment text, two Sebastian channels carry a Maximum 30 MPH Zone year-round (Rule 68C-22.007). The first is the main marked channel of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, with the water 100 feet on either side, from the Brevard County and Indian River County line south to Flashing Green marker 67. The second is the Sebastian Inlet Channel Area, which runs northeast from the Intracoastal Waterway about 3000 feet toward the inlet. The rule warns that the exact inlet channel boundaries depend on dredging and on how the channel is actually marked.

The Indian River County manatee rule that governs Sebastian was amended effective June 30, 2026, its first change since December 2002, after FWC proposed amending the Sebastian Inlet Idle Speed Zone and two zones farther south.

The Florida Administrative Code record lists the rule history as new on March 19, 1979, amended in 1987, 1990, 1991, 1992 and December 12, 2002, and amended again effective June 30, 2026 (Florida Administrative Code). The same record traces the 2026 process: a notice of rule development on September 11, 2025, a public workshop on January 13, 2026 at the Indian River County Commission Chambers, a proposed rule published March 6, 2026, and a notice of change on May 19, 2026.

In a release dated February 4, 2026, FWC reported that its Commissioners had voted to approve the proposal for advertising. FWC named three amendments, the Sebastian Inlet Idle Speed Zone, the Vero Beach Power Plant No Entry Zone and the Prang Creek Unregulated Area, after a review with Indian River County from the Sebastian Inlet to the St. Lucie County line that included two public workshops (FWC, February 2026). The St. Sebastian River, Duck Point and 30 mph channel zones were not among the three named. The March 6, 2026 proposed rule summary spells out the three changes: subparagraph (1)(a)1. from Idle Speed to Slow Speed all year, the seasonal No Entry zone in paragraph (1)(e) to Idle Speed all year, and a southward extension of about 1.25 miles of an existing year-round slow speed zone to take in the unregulated Prang Creek area (Florida Administrative Register).

Two cautions apply on the Sebastian waterfront. The free online copy of the rule text checked on October 14, 2026 still shows a history ending in 2002, so its zone wording predates the June 2026 amendment, and the May 19, 2026 notice of change means the adopted text may differ from the February proposal (Cornell LII copy). FWC also states that adopted zones are not enforceable until signs are posted on the water (FWC); its manatee zone news feed shows a June 18, 2026 marker installation in Levy County but no Indian River County marker release as of October 14, 2026 (FWC news). Until new markers appear near the Sebastian Inlet, the signs on the water are the rule a boater is held to.

Qualifying commercial fishermen and professional fishing guides in Indian River County may apply for exemptions up to 20 mph in listed zones, and FWC offers other permits, including one for waterfront property owners.

Rule 68C-22.007 allows year-round exemptions at speeds not to exceed 20 MPH in several lagoon slow speed zones, and seasonal exemptions from November 1 through April 30 in the Sebastian Inlet Marina to Duck Point zone and its southern counterpart (Rule 68C-22.007). Exemptions granted will not apply on weekends, sunrise Saturday through sunset Sunday, or on state-recognized holidays, in any Indian River County zone.

FWC lists permit categories under Rule 68C-22.003 for research and education, construction, maintenance and repair, commercial fishing, professional fishing guides, waterfront property owners or residents, vessel or motor manufacturers, and boat races (FWC manatee protection zones). Where another government also regulates speed, FWC says the most restrictive regulation applies and is what is posted. A distressed or dead manatee in the Indian River Lagoon at Sebastian is reported to FWC at 888-404-FWCC (888-404-3922), or #FWC or *FWC by cell phone (FWC).

Last verified: October 14, 2026, on the FWC and Florida Administrative Code websites, for the Indian River County rule.