Regarding the IALA buoyage system:
- IALA Region A (Europe, Africa, most of Asia, and Australia):
- When entering a port from the sea, you should keep green buoys on your starboard (right) side and red buoys on your port (left) side. The way to remember this is that in Europe the color of light on your boat should match the color of the buoy when returning.
- IALA Region B (North and South America, Japan, Korea, and the Philippines):
- When entering a port from the sea, you should keep red buoys on your starboard (right) side and green buoys on your port (left) side. The way to remember this is the mnemonic "Red-Right-Returning" applies to Region B, meaning red buoys should be on your right when returning to shore or moving upstream.
Separately, the way to remember which color the lights are on which side of your boat, is to remember this: IS there any RED PORT LEFT? The secondary meaning is a sailor asking if any red wine remains in the bottle – making the mnemonic easy to remember. This applies to all boats worldwide.