The Blue Bay lagoon is a very rich marine area in terms of flora and fauna. However, over the years, development in the surroundings has had a very negative impact on the marine life (pollution, sedimentation, and high pH and turbidity levels).
In an attempt to protect the vulnerable habitats and damaged ecosystems found there, Blue Bay was declared a national park in 1997 under the Wildlife and National Parks Act and became officially a marine protected area in the year 2000 under the Fisheries and Marine Resources Act 1998.
The park is enclosed by pillar shaped buoys because they are more stable and resistant to rough waters as opposed to the older conical shaped buoys thus demarking the protected zone to the public. In 2007, a zoning scheme was adopted for different activities in the park. Permissible activities thus include swimming, diving, snorkeling, glass bottom boating and water skiing.