Cautionary Buoys mark dangerous areas due to the existence of underwater pipelines, seaplane bases, firing ranges, race courses and areas where no through channel exists.

Anchorage Buoys mark the perimeter of designated anchorage areas.

Mooring Buoys are the only buoys that are legal to tie-up to. They are used for mooring of vessels that cannot come right in to shore including keeled sailboats.

Information Buoys are useful in that they provide much needed information such as the existence of nearby marinas, campgrounds, fuelling stations, etc.

Hazard Buoys are located directly above a hazard to navigation and may or may not state the nature of the hazard within the open diamond. (Eg. Rocks, Shoal, etc.)

Control Buoys are used to mark areas where boaters should reduce speed to a level marked within the open circle; normally 10km. It should be noted that, even at this reduced speed, some hull designs still cast a wake. Boaters should slow to the point where no wake is created.

Often the circle located between the two horizontal orange lines will be shown with an arrow indicating the direction of the “No-Wake” zone. When this arrow points in the direction of your travel, you are entering a “no-wake” zone and you should reduce your speed accordingly until you encounter another control buoy where the arrow is pointed in the direction opposite to your direction of travel. At that point, you are leaving the “no-wake” zone and are free to increase to a speed that is safe for the conditions.

Boaters should also be aware that, whenever travelling parallel to the shoreline within 100 feet, they are obligated to slow to “no-wake” speed to prevent shoreline erosion and damage to boats at dock.

Keep Out Buoys are used to signify areas where boat traffic is not allowed.

Diving Buoys signify that people are engaged in diving within this vicinity and boaters should stay at least 100 ft. Away. Boaters should also be familiar with a Code Alpha flag which should be flown on the boat associated with the diving activity.

Swimming Buoys are used to denote the boundary of a designated swimming area. Boaters should stay well clear as swimmers may still venture beyond the markers.

Ocean Data Acquisition System (O.D.A.S.) are used to collect weather and other related statistics.