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New
Jersey Dive Regulations
NEW
JERSEY REGISTER, MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2002
(CITE 34 N.J.R. 2997)
I. General Provisions are that:
1.
Underwater diving with or without an underwater apparatus is permitted
in all navigable waters of New Jersey unless otherwise prohibited
herein.
2. Any person while diving shall mark his position with a buoyed
flag approved by the Boat Regulation Commission:
a. Such flag shall be displayed from a buoy, float, boat or other floating object,
b. Such flag shall be a minimum of fourteen (14) by sixteen (16) inches, shall be rigid to enhance visibility and shall be a red background with a white diagonal stripe running from one corner to the other.
3. No person may operate a vessel within 50 feet of a buoyed flag.
4. No person shall display a flag at times other than when diving is in progress.
5. No person may swim or dive in a narrow, confined or improved channel or in a marked fairway, under a bridge or impede, obstruct or interfere with passage of watercraft therein.
6. No diver shall surface more than 25 feet from his buoyed flag except in an emergency.
II. Provisions for Manasquan Inlet are:
1.
Underwater diving shall be permitted in the Manasquan Inlet only
within 50 feet from the stone jetties and bulkheads.
2. Underwater diving is permitted only in the area east of an
imaginary line drawn from Ocean Avenue, Point Pleasant Beach,
extended to a point across the inlet at First Avenue, Manasquan.
III. Provisions for Barnegat Inlet are:
1.
Except as hereinafter provided, no person or persons shall, while
engaged in gogglefishing, spearfishing or skin diving, enter into
any navigable channel or approach within 200 feet of any boat
anchored or underway within the water adjacent to the land areas
of the Borough of Barnegat Light.
2. No person shall dive in any of the waters of the Barnegat Inlet
channel.
3. No person shall dive in any of the waters between the south side of the north jetty and the Barnegat Inlet channel.
4. Diving shall be permitted over the top of that portion of the north jetty which is submerged and in all waters on the north side along the entire length of the north jetty.
5. Diver must mark his position with a float and skin diver's flag.
6. Only "buddy diving" will be permitted in this inlet.
IV. Provisions for Shark River Inlet are:
1.
Underwater diving is permitted in the Shark River Inlet in that
area which lies east of a line extending from the northwest end
of A Street in Belmar to the southeast end of First Avenue in
Avon.
2. Divers must stay within 25 feet of the jetties and bulkheads
in the area described.
3. Diver must mark his position with a float and skin diver's flag.
4. No diver shall surface more than 15 feet from his buoyed flag except in an emergency.
5. No underwater diving shall be permitted in Shark River Inlet between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. during the period each year commencing May 1st and terminating October lst.
Distributed by the NEW JERSEY COUNCIL OF DIVING CLUBS
DIVER FLAG RULE CLARIFICATION
(as per U.S Coast Guard 1st District Special Notice to Mariners 1999)
There
has been some confusion over the status of the traditional sports
divers'flag because of a change to the U. S. Inland Navigation
Rules concerning the use of one meter high rigid replica of the International Code Flag Alpha (a blue and white flag).
The Alpha flag is to be flown on small vessels engaged in diving operations whenever these vessels are restricted in their ability to maneuver if divers are attached to the vessel. But in sports diving, where divers are usually free swimming, the alpha flag does not have to be shown and the Coast Guard encourages the continued use of the traditional sports diver flag.
The
sport diver flag is an unofficial signal that, through custom,
has come to be used to protect the diver in the water. It is the
responsibility of the operator of a diving vessel to determine
if his crafts movements are restricted. To be most effective,
the sport diver flag should be exhibited on a float in the water
to mark the approximate location of the diver.
Information on this page courtesy of the New Jersey Council of Diving Clubs.
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