Flower Garden Banks

Before Entering

• Read actual NOAA offshore forecast and near-bank wind/wave sensors. The calendar month is not a safety assessment.
• Explain recent ocean experience, fitness, buoyancy, current and depth comfort to the operator. Arrange night-diving or nitrox competence where applicable.
• Confirm the captain's procedures for lost divers, mooring-line use, buddy separation, SMB deployment, oxygen and medical evacuation.
• NOAA describes multi-directional and changing currents, variable waves and potential difficulty reboarding. Abort a dive beyond your competence.
• Respect no-decompression dive limits, breathing gas and repetitive-dive exposure. The operator says its offered scuba dives are within recreational NDL.
• Avoid lionfish spines and touching coral or wildlife. Sources: NOAA dive preparation; operator certifications and safety; NOAA reef etiquette.

The sanctuary is remote; NOAA warns that more than a hundred miles separate divers from the nearest medical facility. Offshore oxygen, communications and emergency response plan should be confirmed with the vessel before departure. In an emergency, notify the captain and U.S. Coast Guard via marine VHF-FM Channel 16; use 911 when telephone emergency access is available. Divers Alert Network provides 24/7 assistance at +1-919-684-9111, after initiating local emergency response. Do not presume a nearby recompression chamber or a specific evacuation time. Review dive-accident and evacuation insurance exclusions before sailing. NOAA remoteness warning; USCG SAR instructions; DAN emergency assistance.

Flower Garden Banks is a U.S. National Marine Sanctuary. Anchoring is forbidden in all sanctuary areas, and vessels exceeding the mooring length limit must not use sanctuary public moorings. Divers and snorkelers should keep fins, cameras and hands off reef habitat, leave shells and coral in place, and avoid stirring sediments. NOAA prohibits attracting, pursuing or touching rays and whale sharks, along with harassment of sea turtles and marine mammals. Spearfishing and many non-hook-and-line fishing methods are prohibited. Follow any current area notices and report wildlife observations without disturbing the animals. NOAA regulations; reef etiquette.