News

The iconic red rectangle with a white stripe seen on so many dive boats will no longer be defined as a dive “flag” under Florida law.

Lawmakers in Florida have reclassified the dive flag as a “divers-down warning device” in an attempt to spur safety equipment ingenuity. It’s a small but a critical detail—the fact that local laws required a “flag” often meant that the warning device was hard to see when blowing directly at boaters.

“We all know the dive flag simply does not work when it gets blown parallel to the wind,” Robert Carmichael, chief executive officer of Brownie’s Marine Group Inc., told FL Keys News. “A lot of other boats can’t see it. There’s nothing good about that.”

Supporters of the law want better devices created to increase safety with divers in boating areas. Examples of such warning devices include 3-sided inflatable buoys displaying the red and white flag.

Concerns about interactions between divers and boaters have increased recently in Florida, notably at the iconic Blue Heron Bridge dive. If you’re looking for specifics on the new regulations for diving with “divers-down warning devices” in Florida, make sure to read this article.