Dive sites and the rules that govern them.

A famous dive site is usually also a regulated one. A national park commission, a marine park authority, a government agency or a statute decides who may dive there, what they may touch and what they must carry or pay. This section sets out those rules as each authority published them, with the name of the instrument and its number or date, so you can see where a rule comes from and go back to the source.

How these pages are written

• The rule has an owner. Each rule is given with the authority that made it and its number or date, such as the Thingvellir Commission's Rules No. 214/2013 or 15 CFR 922.163 for the Florida Keys.
• Fees are named, not priced. Where a park charges a nature fee, issues a tag or requires a permit, the page says so. Amounts change and are not given; the authority's own page is the place to find them.
• No businesses. These pages do not name or recommend dive operators, shops or resorts. An operator's statement appears only as one side of a disagreement between sources, and is labelled as such.
• No seasons unless an authority publishes one. Our research found no authority statement of a diving season for any of these sites, so none is given.
• Proposals are labelled. A rule that has been proposed but is not yet law, such as the Armed Forces Bill 2026 clause on UK military wrecks, is described as a proposal.
• Disagreements and gaps are shown. Where sources conflict, both versions are given with who says them. Where an authority's page could not be reached or a fact could not be confirmed, the page says so.

Parks and reefs

Start with how dive sites are protected, which compares the tools authorities use: zoning, permits, nature fees, visit rules, closures and moorings. Then come the individual sites. Silfra in Iceland's Thingvellir National Park is governed by three instruments in Iceland's official gazette, including a 2017 amendment that ruled out wetsuits for scuba. Bonaire sets out STINAPA's nature fee and diver rules. The Galapagos covers the national park directorate's visit rules published in September 2026.

The Great Barrier Reef explains the 2003 Zoning Plan and what each zone allows. The Florida Keys walks through the federal sanctuary regulations and the 2025 Restoration Blueprint, which a press report says took different paths in federal and state waters. Red Sea parks lists Egypt's marine protectorates with their decrees and the diving chamber's published depth policy. Cozumel covers the national park and its rotating reef closures, and other protected reefs covers Tubbataha, Sipadan and Raja Ampat.

Wrecks

Wrecks bring a different body of law: heritage protection, war graves and the duty to report anything recovered. Wreck diving and the law gives the overview, with the UNESCO 2001 Convention and the rules in Ireland, Australia, Malta and Chuuk Lagoon. UK protected wrecks covers the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973, the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 and Scotland's Historic Marine Protected Areas. US wreck law covers the Sunken Military Craft Act 2004, the Abandoned Shipwreck Act 1987 and the Monitor sanctuary.

Related reading

For reef conduct guidance from NOAA, Project AWARE and Green Fins, see protecting reefs and marine life. Several sites set rules tied to certification or experience, such as Silfra's dry-suit rule and its check of certification cards for divers without a guide; certification levels and depth limits by certification explain what the agencies publish. Terms used across the site are in the glossary.