Permit· Oahu· Hawaii

Kaneohe Bay Ocean Waters Rules and Sandbar Alcohol Ban

21° 28.0′ N · 157° 48.6′ W · approximate

Kaneohe Bay is one of Hawaii's most regulated ocean recreation areas: designated mooring areas, a bay-wide anchoring clock, commercial zones and a holiday-weekend alcohol ban on the sandbar.

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Position is the centroid of the Ahu o Laka safety zone (Zone H-2) computed from the four corner points in HAR 13-256-73.13. Key rules: (1) Anchoring outside a designated mooring area is limited to 72 hours cumulative in any 14 days and the clock does not restart if you move and come back (HAR 13-235-9); transient vessels can get a temporary permit for up to 90 days; Noodle's Notes says the state treats the whole bay as one anchorage and suggests calling the Heeia Kea harbor agent, 808-233-3603, in advance. (2) Vessels must otherwise lie in designated mooring areas A-D off Heeia Kea and KYC; boats anchored under 72 hours near Ahu o Laka are exempt (HAR 13-235-35). (3) Ahu o Laka safety zone: on the Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day three-day weekends (12 am to 11:59 pm each day) no possession or consumption of alcohol, no entering while intoxicated, no fighting or unreasonable noise (HAR 13-256-73.13; made permanent 2015). (4) No commercial ocean use on Sundays and federal holidays; no anchoring, standing or walking on live coral; slow-no-wake in the mooring areas, zones D, E, F and I, within 200 ft of Kapapa Island and on central-reef shallows of 5 ft or less including the sandbar (HAR 13-256-73). (5) Recreational jet skis only in the recreational thrill craft zone outside the reef north-east of the Sampan Channel range (HAR 13-256-77).

Kaneohe Bay Ocean Waters Rules and Sandbar Alcohol Ban

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