Manatee Protection Zones in South Brevard, Florida

State manatee speed zones on the Indian River Lagoon from the Eau Gallie Causeway south past Palm Bay, Malabar and Grant-Valkaria to the Indian River County line come from one state rule, 68C-22.006, Brevard County Zones, in effect since June 24, 2002.

The Florida Administrative Code record for Rule 68C-22.006 gives June 24, 2002 as the effective date of the latest adopted version and lists no later amendment to the Brevard rule that covers Turkey Creek and the Indian River Lagoon south of the Eau Gallie Causeway (Florida Administrative Rules, 68C-22.006, read October 18, 2026). The rule's history runs back to March 19, 1979, with amendments from 1989 to 2002.

The rule says why the zones exist. FWC designated the waters within Brevard County, from the Indian River Lagoon to Turkey Creek and the Sebastian River, as areas where manatee sightings are frequent and where manatees and motorboats use the same areas, and the rule's primary purpose is to protect manatees from harmful collisions with motorboats and from harassment, with protection of manatee habitat as a secondary purpose (Rule 68C-22.006). Each zone also takes in its associated navigable tributaries, creeks, coves, canals and boat basins unless the rule says otherwise, and the rule's list also names lakes, bends and backwaters.

The legal basis is the Florida Manatee Sanctuary Act in section 379.2431(2) of the Florida Statutes, which declares the State of Florida a refuge and sanctuary for the manatee, the Florida state marine mammal (Section 379.2431, F.S.). FWC lists 68C-22.006 for Brevard County alongside a second Brevard rule, 68C-22.029, which covers the Cape Canaveral Energy Center interim warm-water refuge (FWC manatee data and maps; Rule 68C-22.029).

From the Eau Gallie Causeway to Cape Malabar, the lagoon is slow speed all year in shore bands, around both causeways and, south of Castaway Point, west of a marker line.

Rule 68C-22.006 names this zone Indian River, State Road 518 (Eau Gallie Causeway) to Cape Malabar. It covers all waters within 1,000 feet of the eastern shoreline, all waters south of State Road 518 within 500 feet of that causeway and within 500 feet of the State Road 192 Causeway, and all waters within 1,000 feet of the western shoreline south of State Road 518 and north of the easternmost point of Castaway Point, including all waters of the Eau Gallie River and Crane Creek (Rule 68C-22.006).

South of Castaway Point the slow speed water widens. The rule takes in all waters south of the easternmost point of Castaway Point and north of Cape Malabar that lie west of a line running from a point 1,000 feet northeast of Castaway Point to the spoil site west of Intracoastal Waterway marker 14, then to the spoil site southwest of marker 15, ending about 2,400 feet northeast of Cape Malabar (Rule 68C-22.006). Between Castaway Point and Cape Malabar, the zone's outer boundary is that marker line rather than a fixed distance from shore.

Between Cape Malabar and Grant the rule keeps the lagoon slow speed all year along both shores and across the western side of the river out to a line drawn along the spoil islands.

Rule 68C-22.006 calls this the Indian River, Cape Malabar to Grant zone. On the east side of the lagoon it covers all waters within 1,000 feet of the eastern shoreline south of Cape Malabar to a point north of Mullet Creek. On the west side it covers all waters south of Cape Malabar and north of the spoil island between Intracoastal Waterway markers 25 and 27 that lie west of a line from the spoil site between markers 16 and 17 to the spoil island west of marker 22 and on to the spoil island between markers 25 and 27 (Rule 68C-22.006).

South of those spoil islands the Cape Malabar to Grant zone narrows to all waters within 1,000 feet of the western shoreline between the spoil island at markers 25 and 27 and Intracoastal Waterway marker 35, plus all waters west of the channel between markers 35 and 38 (Rule 68C-22.006).

Commercial fishing and professional fishing guide permits can lift the slow speed limit in parts of these Brevard zones. The rule makes permits available only for the zones in subparagraphs (2)(d)1 through 9 and 13 through 18, which include the three lagoon zones from the Eau Gallie Causeway to the county line, and says the permits do not apply on weekends or state holidays; applications come from the FWC office at 1-A Max Brewer Memorial Parkway in Titusville or by calling (850) 922-4330 (Rule 68C-22.006).

From Grant-Valkaria south to the Indian River County line, slow speed covers the whole lagoon west of the Intracoastal Waterway channel and a 1,500-foot band along the eastern shore, while the channel south of marker 59 carries a 25 mph limit.

The rule's Indian River, Grant to the Indian River County Line zone covers all waters west of the channel between Intracoastal Waterway marker 38 and the county line, including the waters east of the centerline of the U.S. 1 Bridge over the Sebastian River (Rule 68C-22.006).

On the barrier island side the same zone covers all waters within 1,500 feet of the eastern shoreline from north of Mullet Creek south to an east-west line through marker 59, including waters within 1,500 feet west of the westernmost edges of the Mullet Creek Islands, the islands south of Mathers Cove, Long Point and Campbell Pocket. South of marker 59 it takes in all waters east of the channel and north of the county line, and west of a line 200 feet southwest of and parallel with the centerline of the State Road A1A Bridge, excluding the marked Sebastian Inlet channel (Rule 68C-22.006).

Two exceptions sit at the south end of Brevard. The Intracoastal Waterway channel from marker 59 to the Indian River County line is a 25 mph zone, the only 25 mph corridor the rule sets in the Indian River south of the Eau Gallie Causeway, and the cove on the north side of Sebastian Inlet commonly known as Campbell Cove is idle speed all year (Rule 68C-22.006). The Indian River County side of the line falls under a different rule, 68C-22.007, which the FWC table lists for Indian River County (FWC).

Idle speed applies all year on Turkey Creek in Palm Bay, on the North Prong of the Sebastian River and on the upper North Fork and C-54 Canal, while motorboats may not use the first 2,500 feet of the C-54 Canal east of the spillway.

Turkey Creek is idle speed from Melbourne-Tillman Drainage District structure MS-1 down to a line at its mouth from Castaway Point to Palm Bay Point (Rule 68C-22.006). The City of Palm Bay lists manatees among the animals seen in the creek from Turkey Creek Sanctuary at 1518 Port Malabar Blvd. NE (City of Palm Bay, Turkey Creek Sanctuary).

At the south end of Brevard County the rule's idle speed Sebastian River Area covers all waters of the North Prong of Sebastian River, and all waters of the North Fork Sebastian River, also known as Sebastian Creek, and the C-54 Canal that lie west of a north-south line at the junction of the North Fork and the North Prong and east of a line 2,500 feet east of the spillway (Rule 68C-22.006). Downstream of that junction, the rule's slow speed Sebastian River Area covers the Sebastian River, the South Fork and the North Fork within Brevard County west of the centerline of the U.S. 1 Bridge.

The C-54 Canal is the only South Brevard water where motors are banned outright. Rule 68C-22.006 lists all waters of the South Florida Water Management District Canal 54 east of the spillway and west of a line 2,500 feet east of it as Motorboats Prohibited all year (Rule 68C-22.006). FWC's definitions rule says a motorboats prohibited zone bars any vessel with mechanical propulsion unless the motor is not in use and, where possible, tilted or raised out of the water (Rule 68C-22.002).

In the South Brevard zones from Melbourne to the Sebastian River, idle speed means going no faster than needed to keep steerageway and headway, and slow speed means the boat is fully off plane, settled into the water and making no excessive wake.

FWC's definitions rule, 68C-22.002, treats Idle Speed and Idle Speed No Wake as the same posted term and says no vessel has to go so slowly that the operator loses control of it or of anything it is towing (Rule 68C-22.002). That is the limit on Turkey Creek in Palm Bay and on the North Prong of the Sebastian River.

Slow Speed, also posted as Slow Speed Minimum Wake, carries no numerical limit because boats of different sizes reach it at different speeds. The rule lists boats that are not at slow speed: one operating on plane, one coming off plane or climbing onto plane, and one making an excessive wake or other hazardous condition (Rule 68C-22.002). Slow speed is the limit Rule 68C-22.006 sets in all three Indian River Lagoon zones from the Eau Gallie Causeway to the county line (Rule 68C-22.006). Maps and written text can differ. Rule 68C-22.006 says its maps labeled Brevard County Manatee Protection Zones are depictions and that the written descriptions prevail when the two conflict (Rule 68C-22.006), and FWC advises boaters to abide by the regulations as posted on the water and notes that other local, state or federal zones may also exist (FWC). Last verified: October 18, 2026, on the Florida Administrative Code and FWC websites.

No federal manatee refuge lies in the lagoon off Palm Bay and Malabar: the three Brevard County refuges in federal rule 50 CFR 17.108 are the Barge Canal, Sykes Creek and Haulover Canal refuges.

The federal list describes the Barge Canal Manatee Refuge as the waters of the Barge Canal and the marked Banana River channel to the Canaveral Locks, about 682.7 acres, with slow speed required all year; the Sykes Creek Manatee Refuge covers about 845.8 acres of Sykes Creek at slow speed all year; and the Haulover Canal Manatee Refuge covers about 22.11 acres of Haulover Canal at slow speed year-round (50 CFR 17.108). FWC's map table matches, listing federal areas 17.108(c)1, 2 and 9 for Brevard County (FWC). None of the three federal descriptions names waters off Palm Bay, Malabar or Grant-Valkaria.

Federal protection still reaches the manatees off Palm Bay and Melbourne. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says manatees are federally protected under the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act, names collisions with watercraft among the human-related threats, and notes that the animals cannot tolerate temperatures below 68 degrees Fahrenheit for extended periods and that in winter cold keeps the population concentrated mostly in peninsular Florida (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service). On the Indian River Lagoon from the Eau Gallie Causeway to the county line, the zones FWC lists for Brevard County are the state ones in Rule 68C-22.006 (FWC).