Mooring Buoys at the reefs. Please use the available Mooring Buoys when visiting our fragile coral reef ecosystem. These are now being maintained by the sanctuary. There are approx 116 standard White and blue mooring buoys at many of the most popular reefs in the lower keys - key west area. Most of the Zones are fairly small and each of the zones corners are marked with yellow boundary buoys which create imaginary lines marking the zone boundary.
Larger zones have more buoys so that the lines are easy to understand.
Do Not tie your boats to the Yellow boundary buoys. The NO TAKE Zones in the Lower Keys at Sand Key, Rock Key, Eastern Dry Rocks, are all small well defined areas. When inside of the No Take zones fishing Equipment should be removed from deck and secured below. Hawk Channel It is not my intention to discourage anyone from visiting the Keys. Locals are just as likely to be inspected or get a ticket.