Venice Port Procedures and Regulations - Tender Guidelines

Use of your tender is allowed in Venice, but before you fire up the engine(s) and roar away, we highly recommend a quick read of our guidelines:

1. The use of tenders in the historic centre is restricted to the major canals and basins - click here for a popup map. The Grand Canal and other smaller canals are totally off limits to non locally registered boats.


2. Once inside the lagoon speed limits come into force which unless otherwise signposted are as follows:
   
   a) General speed limit for the lagoon taken as a whole : 20 km/h
   b) General speed limit for the city of Venice and it's historic centre: 11 km/h
   c) Speed limit for more sensitive areas such as the Grand Canal and smaller canals: 7 km/h or even 5 km/h (Off-limits for non residents anyway)
   
   We recommend proceeding slowly and taking special care when transiting the St. Mark's basin which can be heavily congested. A map illustrating the speed limits in the lagoon can be found by clicking here.


3. Refuelling is possible at two of the city's pumps. They are open Mon-Sat from 09:00 to 18:00 with a lunch break generally from 12:30-14:30. Click here for a popup map illustrating the location of the refuelling stations.


4. Generally speaking you should try to keep to the right when in a canal while also giving way to water-buses, ferries, cruise ships and any other vessel of restricted manoevrability


5. If using your tender at night, lights are obbligatory.


6. Be careful where you leave or tie up your tender. As you will quickly realise the historic centre can become quite congested at times. It's important therefore not to cause obstruction.

The above information is provided purely as a guideline and is by no means exhaustive. If you can speak italian you will find more detailed information concerning all the regulations governing the Port of Venice by following the links provided on the right. Should you prefer, you can contact us via our online web email form or speak directly to your agency.