Mooring Buoy Locations | Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary

Mooring Buoy Locations

Mooring buoys, which are 18 inches in diameter with a blue stripe, have been used in the Keys since 1981 as an alternative to anchoring, which can break and damage the coral reef. There are nearly 500 mooring buoys available for use within the sanctuary on a first-come, first-served basis at no cost to the boater.

This map shows the location of mooring buoys throughout Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary waters. Scroll or use the + and - symbols to zoom in and out on the map and use your cursor or keyboard arrows to navigate. Click on a map feature to learn more about it.

Mooring buoys displayed in the map above are associated with the following zones, features, and points of interest within the sanctuary:

Artificial Reefs

Adolphus Busch, Amesbury, Benwood, Bibb, Cayman Salvor
Duane, Eagle, Spiegel Grove, Thunderbolt, U.S.S. Vandenberg

Ecological Reserves

Western Sambo

Existing Management Areas

Looe Key Existing Management Area

Sanctuary Preservation Areas

Alligator Reef Sanctuary Preservation Area, Carysfort Sanctuary Preservation Area, Cheeca Rocks Sanctuary Preservation Area, Coffins Patch Sanctuary Preservation Area, Conch Reef Sanctuary Preservation Area, Davis Reef Sanctuary Preservation Area, Eastern Dry Rocks Sanctuary Preservation Area, The Elbow Sanctuary Preservation Area, French Reef Sanctuary Preservation Area, Grecian Rocks Sanctuary Preservation Area, Hen and Chickens Sanctuary Preservation Area, Key Largo Dry Rocks Sanctuary Preservation Area, Looe Key Sanctuary Preservation Area, Molasses Reef Sanctuary Preservation Area, Newfound Harbor Sanctuary Preservation Area, Rock Key Sanctuary Preservation Area, Sand Key Sanctuary Preservation Area, Sombrero Reef Sanctuary Preservation Area

Shipwreck Trail Sites

Adelaide Baker, Amesbury, Benwood, City of Washington, Duane, Eagle, North America, San Pedro, Thunderbolt

Wildlife Management Areas

Cottrell Key Wildlife Management Area, Pelican Shoal Wildlife Management Area

Other Locations

Archer Key, Carysfort Trench, Crocker Reef, Horseshoe Reef, Marker 32, Marker 48, Mule Key, Nine Foot Stake, North Dry Rocks, North North Dry Rocks, North East Patch, Pickles Reef, Sand Island, Snapper Ledge, Three Sisters, Turtle Rocks, Turtle Shoal, Western Dry Rocks, White Banks, Wolfe Reef

List of mooring buoys and their coordinates (PDF, 85 kb)

GPS eXchange File of Latitude/Longitude Locations of Mooring Buoys (GPX, 38 kb)