Booking and use
Governing: Decreto 25/2018 art. 7.2–7.4; CAIB buoy-field page; Ports IB booking site; Decreto 44/2025 art. 9.c. Builds on: L4.1.
Booking
The Ports IB booking site (reservas.portsib.es) lists the Pitiusas fields (Badia de s'Alga at s'Espalmador, Es Caló de s'Oli and Platja de ses Salines) with a "Reservar" button. For the Mallorca and Menorca fields, the CAIB page says only that users must follow the regime set by each field's managing body. In practice:
- Check the official web app for the field boundary.
- Check the managing body's booking channel for that field and season.
- Book before you leave, stating LOA accurately; buoys are rated by length.
- Keep the booking confirmation on board (paper or screen).
This course does not quote buoy-field prices or booking windows for the Govern and Ports IB fields: they were not published on the pages reviewed and may change season to season. Cabrera's fees are published and are in L5.1.
Using the buoy
- Approach slowly, into the wind, with a crew member on the bow and a boathook.
- Use your own mooring line through the buoy's eye or pick-up, led back to the boat. Do not hang the yacht off a short strop that snatches.
- Check the buoy's rating against your length and conditions. If the weather is forecast beyond what the buoy is designed for, leave.
- Do not raft onto a buoy unless the field's rules allow it.
- Stay within your booked period. Other boats will arrive.
What you must not do in a field
| Prohibited | Why |
|---|---|
| Drop anchor on the meadow | D. 25/2018 art. 7.2: moor to buoys or use designated sand only |
| Anchor near a buoy "to be close" | Same rule; the whole field footprint is protected |
| Pump bilges or discharge waste | Aggravating circumstance (art. 7.4) |
| Discharge sewage near the coast | Also prohibited in unbuoyed bathing strips (L6.1) |
Charter yachts and buoys
If you run a charter yacht, the Balearic charter decree requires the operator to hold one of: a berth authorisation, a buoy or regulated-anchoring authorisation plus an embarkation authorisation, or an embarkation authorisation (Decreto 44/2025 art. 9.c). A buoy booking for a lunch stop is not the same thing as the operator's authorisation to embark and disembark guests there. See Skippering Charter Guests in the Balearics and Balearic Charter Compliance.
CAUTION — Buoys out of season Art. 7.2 says buoys are removed when not needed, out of season. Arriving in October expecting a field that was full in August may leave you with a meadow and no buoys. The anchoring ban still applies.
TIP — The tender run On a larger yacht that cannot enter the field, anchor legally on sand outside it, or on a buoy rated for you, and run guests in by tender. The field is for the boats it was sized for.
Inspections
A 2026 press report on Govern enforcement (secondary) counted 163 checks in buoy fields in Mallorca alone that summer, among 687 anchoring checks and 234 Posidonia checks. Buoy fields are watched.