SKIN AND SCUBA DIVERS

Warning Flags

Any person scuba diving, skin diving, or snorkeling in an area where power or motorboats are operated, must:

• Place a warning flag on a buoy at a place of his or her submergence, the flag to be at least twelve by twelve inches (12" x 12") with a white stripe running from the diagonal corners which stripe shall be one quarter (1/4) as wide as the flag, or
• Conspicuously flown upon a boat which he or she is then using in the area, in which case the flag shall be at least eighteen by eighteen inches (18" x 18") and with a white stripe running from one upper corner to a diagonal lower corner, which stripe shall be one quarter (1/4) as wide as the flag itself.
• The flag shall be in place only while diving operations are in progress
• From sunset to sunrise, this flag shall be illuminated by a light shining on the flag.

50-foot rule

Operation of vessel prohibited within fifty feet of vessel displaying diver down flag; diving prohibited within fifty feet of vessel whose occupant is fishing.

• A person may not operate a vessel within fifty feet of another vessel when a diver is displaying a diver down flag (red with a diagonal white stripe) to mark the location of the diver. When the flag is being displayed in a water body too narrow to allow passage of another vessel other than within fifty feet, a vessel operator may proceed only past the displayed flag at a no-wake speed and allowing as much clearance between his vessel and the displayed flag as is safe and practical.
• A person may not engage in diving activities within fifty feet of a vessel whose occupant is fishing.
• A person does not violate this section if he fishes or displays a dive flag in an area before another person subsequently engages in diving activities or operates a vessel within fifty feet of a displayed dive flag.