Manatee Protection Zones — Sebastian, Florida

Boat speeds in the Indian River Lagoon and the St. Sebastian River around Sebastian are governed by Florida Administrative Code Rule 68C-22.007, the Indian River County Zones rule adopted by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) under the Florida Manatee Sanctuary Act. The rule sorts Indian River County waters into idle speed zones, slow speed zones, seasonal slow speed zones, a seasonal no-entry zone, maximum 30 mph channels and unregulated areas, each described by shorelines, bridges and numbered channel markers. The zones include all associated tributaries, creeks, coves, canals and boat basins unless the rule excludes them.

For the Sebastian waterfront, the most relevant entries are the Indian River, Sebastian River Area idle speed zone along the western shoreline, the St. Sebastian River slow speed zone, the Indian River, Sebastian Inlet Area slow speed zone, the seasonal Sebastian Inlet Marina to Duck Point slow speed zone, and the 30 mph channels in the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and Sebastian Inlet. This page summarizes those rules as written; the zone signs posted on the water and the rule text are the controlling sources.

Rule 68C-22.007 lists an Idle Speed Zone (Year-round) called the Indian River, Sebastian River Area. It covers all waters within 1000 feet of the westerly shoreline of Indian River, between a line running through the northernmost point of the peninsula carrying US Highway 1 and a line 700 feet northwest of the County Road 505 shoreline intersection. That band of water lies along the mainland shore at Sebastian.

The St. Sebastian River is a Slow Speed Zone (Year-round). The rule describes it as all navigable waters of the St. Sebastian River (also commonly known as Sebastian River, San Sebastian River and Sebastian Creek, and including San Sebastian Bay) and the South Fork St. Sebastian River within Indian River County, west and southwest of the US 1 bridge and north of the S.R. 512 bridge.

Across the lagoon, the Indian River, Sebastian Inlet Area slow speed zone covers all waters of Indian River and Sebastian Inlet, exclusive of the marked Sebastian Inlet channel, south of the Indian River County and Brevard County line, east of a line 100 feet east of the Intracoastal Waterway and southwest of a line 200 feet from the State Road A1A bridge. A further year-round slow speed zone, Coconut Point to Big Slough, covers waters within 600 feet of the eastern shoreline of Indian River south of Red Intracoastal Waterway marker 64. Most of the remaining Indian River west of the Intracoastal Waterway, from the Brevard County line to the St. Lucie County line, is also a year-round slow speed zone except where the rule designates otherwise.

One zone near Sebastian is seasonal. The rule lists a Slow Speed Zone (November 1 through April 30)/Unregulated Remainder of Year for the Indian River, Sebastian Inlet Marina to Duck Point Area. It covers open lagoon waters east of a line 600 feet off the western shoreline and west of the Intracoastal Waterway buffer, between Red Intracoastal Waterway marker 66 and Green marker 75, plus a strip east of the channel between marker 66 and Flashing Green marker 67. From May through October that water is unregulated under the manatee rule.

South of Sebastian, the Indian River north of the Wabasso Beach Road (County Road 510) Bridge, outside a 600-foot western shoreline band and the channel buffer, is listed among the rule's Unregulated Areas. The rule's only seasonal closure in Indian River County is the No Entry Zone (November 15 through March 31) in the canals north of the Vero Beach Municipal Power Plant, a former warm-water discharge site.

The definitions in Rule 68C-22.002 apply to every Indian River County zone. Idle Speed (also posted as Idle Speed No Wake) means a vessel must proceed at a speed no greater than that which will maintain steerageway and headway. Slow Speed (also posted as Slow Speed Minimum Wake) means a vessel must be fully off plane and completely settled into the water, then proceed 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 that a vessel operating on plane, or coming off or onto plane, is not at slow speed. Some local reporting on the 2026 Sebastian Inlet proposal has given approximate mile-per-hour figures, but the rule itself sets no number.

Two channels near Sebastian carry a Maximum 30 MPH Zone (Year-round): the main marked channel of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and the waters within 100 feet of it from the Brevard County and Indian River County line south to Flashing Green marker 67, and the Sebastian Inlet Channel Area running northeast from the Intracoastal Waterway toward the inlet. The rule notes that the exact boundaries of the Sebastian Inlet channel depend on dredging and the actual marking of the channel.

Rule 68C-22.007 provides exemptions for qualifying commercial fishermen and professional fishing guides in Indian River County. Year-round exemptions, with speeds not to exceed 20 MPH, may be considered in several of the lagoon slow speed zones, and seasonal exemptions from November 1 through April 30 may be considered in the Sebastian Inlet Marina to Duck Point and Hobart Lodge to Grand Harbor seasonal zones. Separate exemptions cover setting nets to encircle fish. Exemptions do not apply on weekends (sunrise on Saturday through sunset on Sunday) or on state-recognized holidays, and each vessel needs its own exemption.

The FWC manatee protection zone page lists other permit categories under Rule 68C-22.003 that may apply in Indian River County waters, including research and education, construction, maintenance and repair, waterfront property owners or residents, vessel or motor manufacturers and boat races. FWC also states that where an area is regulated by other governments or for other purposes, the most restrictive regulation applies and is what is posted on the Indian River Lagoon signs.

The rule notes show the Indian River County zones were first adopted on March 19, 1979 and amended in 1987, 1990, 1991, 1992 and 2002. Sebastian Daily reported in January 2026 that the zones had last been revised in 2002. On February 4, 2026, FWC Commissioners voted to approve proposed rule amendments to manatee protection zones in Indian River County 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 from the Sebastian Inlet to the St. Lucie County line that included two public workshops.

CBS12 reported the staff recommendations: convert the existing Idle Speed All Year Zone near Sebastian Inlet into a Slow Speed All Year Zone, change the seasonal no-entry canal near the former Vero Beach Power Plant to an Idle Speed All Year Zone, and extend a Slow Speed All Year Zone over higher-risk, currently unregulated waters of Prang Island Creek. The same report said FWC asked the Indian River County Commission in July 2025 to address possible changes and that a local committee submitted proposals.

WQCS reported that FWC scheduled a public hearing from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on April 28, 2026, at the County Commission Chambers, 1801 27th Street in Vero Beach. Sebastian Daily reported that the existing Indian River County restrictions stay in place until final rulemaking. Under the process described by FWC, the Commissioners decide on adoption at a final public hearing, and adopted zones near Sebastian become effective 20 days after adoption but are not enforceable until signs are posted on the water. The sources reviewed for this page, as of October 2026, do not report a final adoption.