Florida Diving and Snorkeling Guide

Florida divers and snorkelers can use Florida's Coral Reef from the Dry Tortugas to the St. Lucie Inlet, the state's freshwater springs, and public artificial reefs and shipwreck preserves.

The reef system Florida DEP calls Florida's Coral Reef reaches from the Dry Tortugas north to the St. Lucie Inlet in Martin County, a span of over 350 nautical miles (Florida DEP). Over 6 million people live in the five Florida counties that border the reefs (Florida DEP). The Florida DEP Coral Reef Conservation Program manages the northern stretch, from the St. Lucie Inlet to the northern border of Biscayne National Park, which is the Kristin Jacobs Coral Aquatic Preserve.

Biscayne National Park is 95 percent water and includes the northernmost Florida Keys (National Park Service). The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary protects 4,539 square miles of water around the Florida Keys, from south of Miami westward to the Dry Tortugas, excluding Dry Tortugas National Park (NOAA).

Away from the reef, Florida is home to more large first- and second-magnitude springs than any other state, and Florida DEP lists swimming, kayaking and diving among the uses of Florida springs (Florida DEP). Offshore, more than 4,548 planned public artificial reefs have been placed in state and federal waters off Florida since the 1940s (FWC), and the Florida Department of State keeps twelve shipwreck preserves open to the public (Florida Department of State).

Florida law requires every diver or snorkeler to display a divers-down flag or buoy where the diving happens, except in areas customarily used for swimming only, and sets 100 and 300 foot distances for divers and boats.

Section 327.331, Florida Statutes, defines a diver as a person wholly or partially submerged in the waters of the state and equipped with a face mask and snorkel or underwater breathing apparatus, so the Florida rule covers snorkelers as well as scuba divers (s. 327.331, F.S.). The divers-down symbol is a red rectangle or square with a white diagonal stripe.

Divers must make reasonable efforts to stay within 300 feet of the device on Florida waters other than rivers, inlets and navigation channels, and within 100 feet on those narrower waters (s. 327.331, F.S.). A boat that comes closer must proceed no faster than is necessary to maintain headway and steerageway (s. 327.331, F.S.).

FWC spells out the size rule: on the water the symbol must be at least 12 by 12 inches, and on a vessel it must be at least 20 by 24 inches, flown from the highest point of the boat so it is visible from every direction (FWC). A flag must carry the symbol on each face and have a wire stiffener or be otherwise constructed to stay fully unfurled with no wind. The flag must come down once all divers are aboard or ashore, and a violation of the Florida statute is a noncriminal infraction (s. 327.331, F.S.). Last verified: October 15, 2026, on the Online Sunshine (Florida Legislature) and FWC websites.

In the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, diving or snorkeling without a dive flag and removing or injuring coral are prohibited sanctuary-wide, and touching or standing on coral and fishing by any means are prohibited in the preservation areas marked by 30-inch round yellow buoys.

The Florida Keys sanctuary was designated on November 16, 1990, following a series of boat groundings on the reefs and concern about the decline of the reef ecosystem, and it is jointly managed with the state of Florida (NOAA). It protects more than 6,000 species of marine life along with shipwrecks and other archaeological sites.

The sanctuary-wide list of prohibited acts includes diving or snorkeling without a dive flag, removing or injuring coral or live rock, and having a vessel anchored on living coral (NOAA sanctuary regulations). In the sanctuary preservation areas and conservation areas, fishing by any means, collecting, and touching or standing on living or dead coral are prohibited, and these zones are marked by 30-inch round yellow buoys (NOAA). Catch and release trolling is allowed only in the Conch Reef, Alligator Reef, Sombrero Reef and Sand Key preservation areas.

A change is coming for Keys boaters: NOAA lists a ban on anchoring in the sanctuary preservation areas and nursery restoration areas, and the regulations page states that this prohibition will not take effect until 2027 (NOAA). The practical alternative is the mooring buoy, a Keys tool since the first mooring buoys were installed at French Reef in 1981 to reduce anchor damage to coral, seagrass and wrecks (NOAA). The full text of the sanctuary rules is 15 CFR 922 Subpart P.

Dry Tortugas National Park sits almost 70 miles west of Key West and is reached only by boat or seaplane, while Biscayne National Park near Miami is 95 percent water and is explored by boat.

Dry Tortugas National Park is a 100-square mile park, mostly open water with seven small islands, and Fort Jefferson stands on Garden Key (National Park Service). The Dry Tortugas has over 300 sunken ships, one of the most accessible of which can be dived or snorkeled, and the park home page links to snorkeling and diving (National Park Service).

The entrance fee for Dry Tortugas National Park is $15.00 per person and is good for 7 consecutive days; any person 15 years old and under is exempt, and ferry tickets include the entrance fee but not camping fees (NPS fees page). The fees page conflicts on payment: it says the park does not accept cash, yet the same page says private boaters may pay cash or check at the Garden Key main dock. Lobster harvest is prohibited at all times in Dry Tortugas National Park and in Everglades National Park (FWC).

Biscayne National Park protects reefs within sight of Miami, and loggerhead, green and hawksbill turtles are all commonly observed in park waters (National Park Service). Biscayne has five Coral Reef Protection Areas where FWC prohibits lobster harvest at all times, along with the Biscayne Bay and Card Sound Lobster Sanctuary (FWC). Last verified: October 15, 2026, on the National Park Service website.

Florida runs twelve free Underwater Archaeological Preserves on historic shipwrecks and has more than 4,548 planned public artificial reefs placed off its coast since the 1940s.

In 1987, Florida began to develop a statewide system of underwater parks featuring shipwrecks and other historic sites, run by the Florida Department of State Division of Historical Resources (Florida Department of State). The parks are open to the public year round, free of charge, and there are twelve at present, with others under development. Each Florida preserve site is interpreted by an underwater plaque, and the Bureau of Archaeological Research invites nominations for new preserves in inland or offshore state waters.

FWC describes Florida as having one of the most active artificial reef programs among the 15 Gulf and Atlantic coastal states involved in reef building (FWC). The FWC Artificial Reef Program gives financial and technical help to coastal local governments, nonprofit corporations and state universities to build, monitor and assess reefs, and it publishes reef locations for download.

FWC was awarded $11,463,587 for reef building in the five counties most affected by the BP oil spill, in a project that includes the deployment of at least 3,000 prefabricated artificial modules within 48 different permitted areas located in state waters (FWC). Private reefs are limited: only a program restricted to Escambia, Bay and Okaloosa counties lets private individuals deploy their own unpublished reefs in a county-held permitted area.

Florida spiny lobster sport season for 2027 is July 28 to 29, the last consecutive Wednesday and Thursday of July, and the regular Florida season runs Aug. 6 to March 31.

During the two-day sport season the daily bag limit is 6 per person in Monroe County and Biscayne National Park and 12 per person for the rest of Florida (FWC). Night diving is prohibited in Monroe County during the sport season only, and harvest of lobster is prohibited in John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park during the sport season (FWC). NOAA records Pennekamp off Key Largo as the first underwater park in the United States (NOAA).

In the regular season, Aug. 6 to March 31, the bag limit is 6 per person, and the carapace must be larger than 3 inches, measured in the water with a measuring device carried at all times (FWC). Unless exempt, a recreational saltwater fishing license and a lobster permit are required to harvest spiny lobster in Florida, and lobster must be landed whole. Harvest is also closed year round in the no-take areas of the Florida Keys sanctuary.