Florida Lobster Season: Is It Open Where You Dive?

Is lobster season open where you dive in Florida, on your day? The two-day mini-season, the regular season, the Keys’ lower limits and the closed areas.

Yes: lobster season is open in Key West on October 4, 2026, the regular season, to March 31, 2027 (178 days left). 6 lobsters a person a dayThe carapace must be longer than 3 inches, measured in the water with a gauge you carry; nets only (landing, dip, bully up to 3 feet, hoop up to 10 feet), nothing that punctures or crushes; landed whole. You need a Florida saltwater fishing license and the $5 lobster permit, unless you are under 16 or on a charter boat.

Lobster seasons in the Florida Keys (Monroe County), 2026–2027

Mini-season · July 29, 2026 and July 30 — 6 a person a day (Monroe County and Biscayne National Park)
Regular season · August 6, 2026 to March 31, 2027 — 6 a person a day
Closed · April 1 to August 5, except the two mini-season days

The rules in the Florida Keys (Monroe County)

Size: the carapace longer than 3 inches, measured in the water; carry the gauge.
“No person shall harvest or possess any spiny lobster with a carapace measurement of 3 inches or less” (rule 68B-24.003)
“Required Gear: Possession and use of a measuring device required at all times.”
Gear: nets only — landing or dip nets, bully nets up to 3 feet across, hoop nets up to 10 feet. Nothing that punctures or crushes, no traps.
“Prohibited Gear: Any device that could puncture, penetrate, or crush the exoskeleton or flesh of the lobster, bleach or other chemical solution, artificial habitat, and traps.”
Limit: 6 a person a day; a child or anyone not diving or unlicensed does not add a limit.
“the harvest from state waters, or possession while on or below such water, of more than 6 spiny lobster per recreational harvester per day, is prohibited.” (rule 68B-24.004)
“People harvesting may not exceed their individual bag limit and take someone else’s bag limit.” (FWC)
“Lobster must be landed in whole condition. Separating the tail from the body is prohibited in state waters.”
“The harvest or possession of eggbearing spiny lobster, or any other eggbearing species of lobster belonging to the families Palinuridae (spiny lobsters), Scyllaridae (slipper lobsters) or Synaxidae (furry lobsters) is prohibited”
“Night Diving: Prohibited in Monroe County (ONLY during sport season).” (FWC)
“By diving at night (from 1 hour after official sunset until 1 hour before official sunrise).” (rule 68B-24.005, Monroe County in the mini-season)
“Prohibited Areas: Harvest of lobster is prohibited in John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park during the sport season. At all times, harvest of lobster is prohibited in Everglades National Park, Dry Tortugas National Park, no-take areas in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, in the Biscayne Bay/Card Sound Lobster Sanctuary, and in the five Coral Reef Protection Areas in Biscayne National Park.”
License and permit: a Florida saltwater fishing license (visitors $17 for 3 days, $30 for 7 days, $47 a year; residents $17 a year) and the $5 spiny lobster permit, unless you are under 16, a Florida resident 65 or older, or on a charter boat.
“Unless exempt, a recreational saltwater fishing license and a lobster permit are required to harvest spiny lobster”
Diving for them makes you a “diver” under Florida law: fly a divers-down flag (20 × 24 inches on a boat, 12 × 12 on a float) and stay within 300 feet of it in open water, 100 feet in a river, inlet or channel.
“All divers must prominently display a divers-down warning device in the area in which the diving occurs, other than when diving in an area customarily used for swimming only.”
“Divers must make reasonable efforts to stay within 300 feet of a divers-down warning device on all waters other than rivers, inlets, and navigation channels.”
FWC: Spiny Lobster (read 2026-10-04)
Rule 68B-24.005, the seasons (read 2026-10-04)
Rule 68B-24.004, the bag limits
FWC’s license and permit prices
The divers-down law, s. 327.331

Seasons, limits, gear and closed areas from FWC’s spiny lobster page and rule 68B-24 of the Florida Administrative Code (read 2026-10-04); the permit and license prices from FWC; the divers-down law, s. 327.331, Florida Statutes. The mini-season is the last Wednesday and Thursday of July each year, by the rule.

Quick answer: Florida’s spiny lobster season opens with a two-day mini-season, the last Wednesday and Thursday of July (July 28 and 29 in 2027), then the regular season runs August 6 to March 31. The limit is 6 a person a day, or 12 on mini-season days outside the Keys and Biscayne National Park. Pick your place and date to check.

How to use it

Pick where you will dive (a Keys town, John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, Biscayne National Park, or Miami to Jupiter) and the day (today is filled in). The answer says whether lobster season is open there that day and which season it is; if it is closed, the day it opens and how many days away that is. Below it: in the Keys during the mini-season, the night hours when diving for lobster is banned, worked out for that town’s sunset and sunrise; that year’s seasons; then the rules in the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (FWC) and the rule’s own words, with the license and permit prices and links.

Where the dates come from

Rule 68B-24.005 of the Florida Administrative Code sets both seasons. The regular season “shall be August 6 of each year through March 31 of the following year”, and the sport season, the “mini-season” for recreational divers, “shall occur during the last Wednesday and successive Thursday of July each year”. FWC reads that as the “last consecutive Wednesday and Thursday of July”, both days in July: in 2024, when July 31 fell on a Wednesday, the mini-season was July 24 and 25. Between them the season is closed, and from April 1 to August 5 the rule forbids even having a lobster “regardless of where taken”.

Year	Mini-season	Regular season
2026	July 29 and 30	August 6, 2026 to March 31, 2027
2027	July 28 and 29	August 6, 2027 to March 31, 2028
2028	July 26 and 27	August 6, 2028 to March 31, 2029
2029	July 25 and 26	August 6, 2029 to March 31, 2030
2030	July 24 and 25	August 6, 2030 to March 31, 2031

The Keys’ own limits

The mini-season limit is 12 lobsters a person a day in most of Florida, but 6 “for Monroe County and Biscayne National Park” (FWC). On the second day you may have twice the limit once ashore: 24 outside the Keys, 12 in Monroe County and in Biscayne National Park. In the regular season the limit is 6 a person everywhere. In Monroe County during the mini-season, no one may take lobster “by diving at night (from 1 hour after official sunset until 1 hour before official sunrise)”; on July 28, 2027 in Key West that is 9:13 PM to 5:54 AM. John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park is closed to lobster for the whole mini-season, and in the regular season no lobster may be taken from its patch reefs. At all times FWC lists as closed “Everglades National Park, Dry Tortugas National Park, no-take areas in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary”, the Biscayne Bay/Card Sound Lobster Sanctuary and “the five Coral Reef Protection Areas in Biscayne National Park”.

Size, gear and the permit

A lobster’s carapace must be “larger than 3 inches, measured in the water”, and a diver must carry a gauge. You may use “Landing nets or dip nets, bullynets with a diameter not exceeding 3 feet, and hoop nets with a diameter not exceeding 10 feet”, never anything that could “puncture, penetrate, or crush” the shell, and recreational traps are banned. Lobsters must be landed whole, and a female carrying eggs goes back. You need a Florida saltwater fishing license ($17 for 3 days, $30 for 7 days or $47 a year for a visitor; $17 a year for a resident) plus the spiny lobster permit, $5 a year, unless you are under 16, a Florida resident 65 or older, or diving from a charter boat that holds a charter license. Diving makes you a “diver” under Florida law: fly a divers-down flag and stay within 300 feet of it in open water.

Worked examples

Key West on October 4, 2026. Open: the regular season, to March 31, 2027, 178 days left. 6 lobsters a person a day.

Miami on July 29, 2027. The second day of the mini-season: 12 a person on the water, 24 once you are ashore.

John Pennekamp on July 28, 2027. Closed for the mini-season; the regular season opens there on August 6, 2027, 9 days later.

Palm Beach on April 1, 2027. Closed: the mini-season opens July 28, 2027, in 118 days.

Marathon on August 1, 2027. Closed: the mini-season is over and the regular season opens August 6, in 5 days.

Common mistakes

Counting the last Wednesday of July when it is July 31. FWC holds the mini-season on the last Wednesday and Thursday that are both in July.
Taking 12 in the Keys on a mini-season day. Monroe County and Biscayne National Park allow 6.

A night dive in the Keys during the mini-season. It is banned from an hour after sunset to an hour before sunrise.
Diving John Pennekamp in late July. The park is closed to lobster for the whole mini-season.
Forgetting the $5 permit. The fishing license alone is not enough.

Wringing the tail off on the boat. Lobsters stay whole until you are ashore.

Plan the rest of the trip

Read our guides to the best month to visit Key Largo, Marathon or Islamorada, kayak fishing in the Florida Keys, the animals to spot in the Keys, where Biscayne National Park is and Key West’s seafood shacks. On the Gulf coast in summer, the Florida Scallop Season checker does the same for bay scallops; for the water and the flags today, see Florida Beach Conditions, and for the tides, Florida Tide Times.

FAQ

When is spiny lobster season in Florida?

August 6 to March 31, by rule 68B-24.005, after a two-day mini-season on the last Wednesday and Thursday of July (July 28 and 29 in 2027). From April 1 to August 5 the season is closed.

When is lobster mini season?

The last Wednesday and Thursday of July: July 28 and 29 in 2027, July 26 and 27 in 2028. Only divers and bully or hoop netters may take lobster on those two days, and the limits are its own.

When is lobster season in the Florida Keys?

The same dates as the rest of Florida, with lower mini-season limits: 6 a person a day, 12 once ashore on the second day, no diving at night, and John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park closed. The regular season limit is 6, as everywhere.

What is the lobster limit in Florida?

6 a person a day in the regular season. On mini-season days 12 outside Monroe County and Biscayne National Park and 6 inside them, with twice that allowed once ashore on the second day. The carapace must be longer than 3 inches.

Do you need a permit to catch lobster in Florida?

Yes: a Florida saltwater fishing license and the $5 spiny lobster permit, unless you are under 16, a Florida resident 65 or older, or diving from a charter boat that holds a charter license.

Can you spear lobster in Florida?

No. FWC prohibits “Any device that could puncture, penetrate, or crush the exoskeleton or flesh of the lobster”. Use your hands with a net, a bully net or a hoop net, and a gauge.