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LET’S KILL A FEW MYTHS about five flags in Canada

We’ve all heard it.

“Boats have to stay 100 feet from a dive flag.”

Or 200 feet.

Or 50 metres.

Nope.

Canada’s Collision Regulations do not create a universal legal exclusion zone around a recreational dive flag.

And here’s another one:

🔴⚪ The red-and-white diver-down flag and 🔵⚪ Alpha are NOT the same flag.

The red-and-white flag is the one most recreational divers recognize.

But when the diving-vessel requirements of Canada’s Collision Regulations apply, the regulations specifically name International Code Flag A — Alpha.

Not the red-and-white diver-down flag.

Shore diving? Canada’s Collision Regulations don’t generally require recreational shore divers to tow either flag.

Diving from a boat? Having divers in the water does not automatically mean the boat must display Alpha. Whether the vessel is restricted in its ability to manoeuvre because of the diving operation matters.

There is a lot of dive-flag folklore out there.

So I went through the actual Canadian regulations.

Read “The Bottom Line About Dive Flags in Canada” on the UB Diving blog.

Be excellent,

Sean

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