Legal frame
Governing: local ordinanze di sicurezza balneare (examples: UCM Piombino 50/2026, CP Palermo 46/2026) under D.Lgs. 171/2005 art. 27(9) and D.M. 146/2008 art. 91-ter; sanctions in Codice art. 53(4) and (9). Builds on: L2.1.
Local rules, national fines
Italy has no single national bathing-zone distance. Each Capitaneria di porto or Ufficio circondariale marittimo issues a summer bathing-safety ordinance for its stretch of coast, setting zones, hours and corridors. The fines for breaking it are national. Your operator must brief you on the local rules (Lesson 2.1); this lesson tells you what to listen for.
The bathing zone
| Piombino (Tuscany) 2026 | Palermo (Sicily) 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Zone reserved for bathers | 200 m from beaches, 100 m from cliffs | 300 m from the shoreline, 100 m from cliffs |
| Boats in the zone | No transit, mooring or anchoring 08:30–19:30 | No navigation or anchoring from 08:00 to sunset, or while bathing is under way |
| Speed just outside | National rules apply (Lesson 3.2) | 8 kn max, in displacement mode, from 300 m to 1,000 m |
The outer limit is often marked by red buoys laid by the beach concessions, about 50 m apart. Do not tie up to them. Where the limit is not buoyed, it still exists: the ordinances require signs on the beach saying so.
Launch corridors
A corridoio di lancio is a lane from the beach through the bathing zone, marked with buoys (orange at Palermo). It is the only way a motor boat or jet ski may leave or reach a beach during the season.
- Go through at 3 kn or less (Palermo adds: in displacement mode).
- Keep a course perpendicular to the shore.
- No anchoring or mooring in the corridor, and the marker buoys are not moorings.
Off steep cliffs with no bathers present, Piombino allows motor and sail boats to cross the 100 m strip at 3 kn or less, perpendicular to the coast, to land or anchor in permitted areas.
Divers and swimmers
A diver's position is marked by a buoy or a flag: red with a white diagonal band, or the boat displaying the signal. Keep at least 100 m away. Passing closer costs a licence holder 1–3 months' suspension (Codice art. 53(9)(b)), and the ordinances apply the same distance to marked long-distance swimmers.
WARNING — Heads in the water A diver's buoy means someone is surfacing within a few tens of metres of it. Slow down, give it a wide berth and keep a lookout for bubbles.
What it costs
A breach of an ordinance, or of harbour and coastal safety rules, costs €276–1,377, halved if you are in a natante (Codice art. 53(4)). Speeding in corridors, near beaches, harbours, buoy fields or anchored boats is a separate and heavier offence (Lesson 3.2). Breaches inside a marine protected area are excluded from this fine; they fall under protected-area law (Lesson 3.3).
Where to find the ordinance
- the local office's page on guardiacostiera.gov.it;
- the notice boards of beach concessions, which must display it;
- your operator, who is required to brief you on local rules.
TIP — Season dates Bathing zones apply during the local bathing season. Piombino, for example, required lifeguard cover from 16 May to 20 September in 2026. Outside the season, ask; do not assume.