How far must a jet ski stay from swimmers in Lebanon?

There is no published Lebanese national distance we have been able to cite. The 300 m / 5 knot figure widely quoted online is French coastal practice. The campaign asks Lebanon to adopt it; until it does, the binding obligations are the COLREG duties of lookout and safe speed.

What should I do if a jet ski comes into a swimming area?

Get out of the water, note the time and place, and call the emergency numbers first if anyone is hurt. Then file a report with whatever you have — a photo, a video, or just a written account. Reports are moderated before anything is published, and no operator is named publicly without evidence.

Reference

Jet ski rules on Lebanon's coast

What exists today, and what is only a proposal

Jet skis are the single most reported hazard to swimmers on this coast. This page separates three different things that are often mixed up: Lebanese law, international rules that bind any craft at sea, and the near-shore distance standards this campaign proposes.

Lebanese law: the shore belongs to the public

Lebanese law

Decree 4810/1966 places the shore and the sea up to the highest winter wave line in the public maritime domain. Public access and swimming are the baseline right. Jet ski hire and launching operate inside that public domain, not above it. We have found no published Lebanese text that fixes a national jet ski exclusion distance from swimmers — if you can produce one, send it and we will publish it with its source.

International rules that already apply

International standard

A jet ski is a power-driven vessel. The COLREGs require a proper lookout at all times and a safe speed for the visibility, traffic and proximity of hazards — a swimmer's head in the water is exactly such a hazard, and it is low, small and often invisible from a planing hull. Where a channel is buoyed, Lebanon is in IALA Region A: red to port and green to starboard when entering from seaward.

What the campaign asks for: 300 m and 5 knots

Campaign proposal

France caps every craft at 5 knots inside a 300 m band from the shore. Safe Sea Lebanon asks Lebanon to adopt the same near-shore band, with jet skis excluded entirely from marked swimming zones and admitted to the water only through buoyed corridors at least 30 m wide, marked to IALA Region A. These are campaign figures, not Lebanese law, and we label them that way everywhere.

Sources

Safe speed and lookout — COLREGs Rules 5 and 6

The international collision regulations require a proper lookout at all times and a safe speed for the visibility, traffic and proximity of navigational hazards — which includes people in the water.

IMO — Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREG)

Lateral marks — IALA Maritime Buoyage System (Region A)

Lebanon lies in IALA Region A: entering a channel from seaward, port-hand marks are red and starboard-hand marks are green. Every corridor gate in a plan must carry both.

IALA — Maritime Buoyage System (IALA-AISM)

Comparative practice — 300 m shore band at 5 knots (France)

French coastal rules cap all craft at 5 knots inside the 300 m shore band. The campaign uses the same figure as a reference point for Lebanon; it is comparative practice, not Lebanese law.

Légifrance — Code des transports, navigation dans la bande littorale des 300 mètres

Lebanese baseline — Decree 4810/1966

The shore and the sea up to the highest winter wave line are public maritime domain. Public access and swimming are the baseline right any corridor must protect.

Decree 4810/1966 — Lebanese public maritime domain

Questions

How far must a jet ski stay from swimmers in Lebanon?: There is no published Lebanese national distance we have been able to cite. The 300 m / 5 knot figure widely quoted online is French coastal practice. The campaign asks Lebanon to adopt it; until it does, the binding obligations are the COLREG duties of lookout and safe speed.
What should I do if a jet ski comes into a swimming area?: Get out of the water, note the time and place, and call the emergency numbers first if anyone is hurt. Then file a report with whatever you have — a photo, a video, or just a written account. Reports are moderated before anything is published, and no operator is named publicly without evidence.