Random stops on the water will become less frequent this summer, courtesy of the Boater Freedom Act recently greenlit by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. But contrary to some social media discourse on the new law, it’s not a blanket permission to dismiss the blue lights of law enforcement if you think you’ve done nothing wrong.
Signed into law on May 2 and effective July 1, Senate Bill 1388’s marquee provision prevents law enforcement officers from stopping a vessel on the water solely for the purpose of conducting an inspection of safety or sanitation equipment – rather, officers must have probable cause that another violation is occurring to board and search a boat. Violations of safety or sanitation equipment regulations will be moved down to a secondary offense.
“Florida is the boating and fishing capital of the world, and the Boater Freedom Act will ensure that this remains the case,” said DeSantis in a press conference announcing his signature.
The bill governs the FWC and local police forces or sheriff’s offices in state waters, but the mandate to protect Florida’s resources is governed by a separate statute than the one modified by SB 1388 – and that means officers observing fishing gear, spear guns or other harvesting equipment still have probable cause to stop a vessel.
“You can basically break stops down into three categories: safety, resource and operations,” said Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay. “The last two are still normal. … It’s not giving you carte blanche to just do anything you want, unchecked.”
“We’ll be looking at navigation rules, looking at reckless and careless operation – and through those tools, if there’s a need to make a stop to ensure proper operation and that there’s no safety issue with individuals, we will,” said FWC Capt. David Dipre.
The new law also won’t affect safety stops by the U.S. Coast Guard, governed by federal law, in any waters, whether state or federal.
“If you see a Coast Guard boat with blue lights, stop your boat,” Ramsay said. “If they say ‘Let me see your life jackets and flares,’ don’t argue, and don’t say the law has changed – it hasn’t.”
The new legislation also directs FWC to work with the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to provide a “Florida Freedom Boater” decal at the time of a boat’s registration, good for anywhere from one to five years.
Displayed within six inches of the vessel’s registration number, the decal will signal that the vessel’s owner has taken steps to meet safety requirements. Details of how boat owners will prove their compliance with safety standards are still partially unclear, as the bill makes no mention of standards of proof beyond “demonstrated compliance … at the time of registration or renewal.”
“This strikes an appropriate balance between ensuring compliance with boating laws and reducing unnecessary disruptions for law-abiding boaters, making enforcement more practical and effective,” the governor’s press release stated.
DeSantis began drumming up support for the initiative in February, citing cases like a highly-publicized incident in Jupiter in which a captain allegedly driving his boat on full plane through a slow-speed zone was briefly arrested under suspicion of boating under the influence before eventually blowing a 0.0 in a breathalyzer test.
Critics of the bill fear that fewer safety stops could lead to a greater number of unchecked violations, including boating under the influence and resource violations along with boaters pumping their sewage into environmentally-sensitive waters. As currently written, even common-sense provisions such as wearing life jackets while operating personal watercraft (Jet Skis) would be considered a secondary offense, not a legal reason for a stop.
According to FWC, in 2024, 10 counties in Florida accounted for 59% of the reportable boating accidents, with Monroe County coming in second only to Miami-Dade. A total of 685 reportable accidents and 81 fatalities were reported – 26 and 22 more, respectively, than in 2023.
Other provisions in the bill change the threshold of environmental harm needed to establish protection zones for boat operation, along with the “Watercraft Energy Source Freedom Act,” prohibiting restrictions on the sale or use of a boat or jet ski based solely on its energy or fuel source.
