Crab Island - What You Need to Know

You're thinking about coming here to beautiful Destin and checking out Crab Island. Awesome! Great time to come out here. But, there are some things that you definitely need to know before coming out here. So, in this video, we're going to talk about the six things that you should know prior to getting out to Crab Island to make sure that you have a good time.

But, let's get into the fun part of Destin. Let's start talking about Crab Island and what you need to know about this area. First and foremost, where's Crab Island? If you get there on a boat and you're going over the Destin Bridge that we have here going into Okaloosa Island are coming from. And, you look over and see a bunch of boats depending upon what area and you're looking for a plot of land for the island. Well, there's actually no island there. It's called Crab Island because it may be an island for the crabs. But it is perpetually underwater. It's just really low area where you can go. It's more of a sandbar than anything else.

When is it most popular? Typically, when it starts getting warm. But you're likely to see some northerners pop themselves down here at spring break and be out there in a pontoon. And, what we Floridians consider still freezing cold temperatures. But yes, it can start in spring break but we start to really see the traffic pick up in May time period all the way until about when our school starts or even into September. Why? Because the water's warm, it still has that good color to it. All those different reasons people want to hang out here. Obviously, 4th of July is probably one of the biggest celebrations that we have out there. Probably the most popular of that time where you're going to go out and see that.

Actually, people ask what makes that water that emerald color? Are they just doing that on their videos to make it look that way? No. It's actually the algae that's in the water that makes it turn that certain color. You'll notice that there are certain areas maybe just off the beach that is more emerald colored until it turns into a bluer color as you get further into the Gulf. However, most of which, if you really want to see a beautiful gorgeous beach, getting up there over the Destin Bridge, I've lived here for a while. Every time I go over that bridge and still take a look at that and just, you've got the white sand flying to that emerald color waters just absolutely gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous. And that's where about Crab Island is. It's right off to where the Destin Bridge is just north of there.

And, are there crabs at Crab Island? Yes. They're not everywhere. Right? You're not going to go in and step by one more than likely. But yeah, occasionally you can see them and you'll see them scurrying around the area.

Okay. The 6 things that you need to know about this. Now, this is not me representing Okaloosa County or anything like this. This is just a normal person that has lived here for a while and spent enough time on there for you to understand what's going on. And, just the person to person, normal person interaction of what you need to know. Alright.

1. ACCESS

So, first is the access. How do you get out there? This is 2022, so there may be some other ways to get out there. But, for the most part, to get there, you can rent a boat. The best way to get out there is to rent a pontoon boat. You can get those from Destin Harbor, you can get them from Okaloosa Island or actually anywhere down the Intercoastal waterway. You would be able to rent a boat, get out there and enjoy it. So, that's the first but it's still a little bit expensive. They also have water taxis now that will take you from Destin Harbor out there. Just don't miss the water taxi going back or you're going to be stuck out there and then the coast guard's going to have to come pick you up. You can also rent a kayak or paddleboard depending upon where you rent it from. It will be an easy kayak or paddleboard or it will be really tough because of all the current of getting out there. We don't see too many people getting there with a paddleboard, typically kayaks or what we see people being easily able to get out to Crab Island. And you can usually get those from the Harbor Walk out to Destin. Now, there used to be a way that we could get out there, that was on the Western side of Destin Bridge. And it was a beach access. We used to call it Redneck Beach. Unfortunately, now it's closed. Because that is actually owned by Eglin Air Force Base and they've gone ahead and put-up fencing all around that area. So, it's very, very difficult to access the beach the way that we used to. At one point you could park down there, walk down to it and enjoy that entire time. But they just couldn't get you in there. There may still be a way to kind of maneuver your way down and park on that side. But, at this point we believe it's closed and you have to get base access or approved base access to get down there.

Where else can you actually get through there? Obviously, Okaloosa Island, you could probably Destin Harbor. You have Destin access points to put in a boat, you're able to get into the water there. You can still get here but it's just, it's not a big issue anymore. Just one big thing that you should know is, please don't swim to get out there. There is some wonderful rip currents in that water that will just take you across. And, I don't know how many times that I've seen somebody trying to swim across to get to Crab Island, get caught up by the current, and are trying to hold on to the coral that's on the parts of the bridge and just getting shredded. So, don't do that. It's a terrible idea, try not, please do not swim out to Crab Island. Alright.

2. IT'S NOT AN ISLAND

It's not an island again. Although, it's the highest elevation underwater which we call a sand bar. So, just know that.

3. WHAT IS THERE TO DO?

What is there to do there if you're going to go out. Well, best thing to do is go out there and mingle. That's what most people are doing. They're going to go out and kind of park their boats, they're going to set anchor, they'll turn some music on and they'll mingle with everybody else on a boat. They usually take some delicious libation walk around and just kind of see what's going on. So, I call it just going on and walkabout. You'll see some people playing some cool games out there. It's a ton of fun. Now, they do have other barges that they put out there that rent out paddleboards and all sorts of different things for you to do. If you want to do that at one point, there is actually kind of obstacle course that they put out there. There are some actual barges that have food that you could order. Just know that they can't sell alcohol out there, so you're going to have to bring your own if that's something that you're into. And obviously you can just enjoy some music, some companies, some delicious libations, and just have a good time out there. Alright.

4. BOAT ETIQUETTE

Fourth point I want to talk about is boat etiquette. I'm not a boat captain or anything like that. But, I can tell you just from our experience of coming out here, there are some things that you should probably pay attention to and some things that we've noticed that really seemed to help. First is there's an actual path through the middle of the island that is kind of a corridor. And, that's mainly to my understanding for emergency boats and whatnot to be able to get back and through. And also, for boats to transition as you kind of want to park with different types of boats. If you are going to get into that area or just go somewhere closer to everybody else, please go slow. Try to bring up your prop if you're not an adamant boater where you haven't done that a whole lot of times, you can elevate that prop up so you're not dragging it as well once you get into that shallow water. In more congested areas, the best thing that you can do is just turn off your motor, have one of your passengers, especially in a pontoon, just kind of pull you in close to the rest of the boats, and then find a nice spot and go ahead and set your anchor. Now, what you can do there's a couple of different things people can do depending upon the congestion of the boats. First thing as you go in, you kind of figure out where you want to go, where currents going and you can set an anchor to kind of keep you in that area. If you can keep separation in one type of current as current shifts, you should for the most part, be good to go. However, if it's really congested, you can ask other boats as well to kind of tie off with another boat. You can use your life jackets and stuff to kind of keep it between them so you don't scuff up all the paint and whatnot on each other's boat. But you can tie them up. But again, make sure to ask permission before you actually tie off with another boat. It actually does kind of help as far as getting through and keeping everything together. And, a really big part here is please don't litter, bring a trash or at least a trash bag. Having broken glass or any amount of shard metal in the ground really isn't good for people walking around barefoot out there. They don't want your trash, please pick all that stuff up, whatever you take out with you, please bring back. Okay? So, that's basically some of your boat etiquette.

5. HAVE A DESIGNATED CAPTAIN IF YOU'RE DRINKING

If you're drinking, have a designated captain. Okay? If you do not, they have boats from the coast guard that are constantly patrolling around there. And when they see you do something stupid that they can dock you with and get you, they can get you for a BUI of boating while intoxicated. And that's just like a DUI. They can treat it very similar. And you still end up going through the processing center. You're going to be inboard shorts or if you're a guy and you're not going to have any shoes and no shirt, you're going to be in your swim gear and you're going to spend all the rest of the evening into the wee hours of the morning until you're sober up in county jail up in Crestview. It's not that fun of a time. I don't suggest it to anybody. So, please have a designated captain or don't drink if you're going to go out there if you're the captain. Alright.

6. PLEASE DON'T VENTURE INTO THE JETTIES

Please don't venture into the Jetties if you're on a pontoon. Please don't venture out there if you don't know what you're doing. Alright? The reason this is so dangerous is because, those jetties which are going out into the golf are artificial. Alright, they're man made. And because of that, it makes this area very, very dangerous. There's a lot of swells, there's current, there are rip currents going each way. So, if you're in a pontoon boat, it's not going to handle it. I've seen people try to get out there. I've seen people in jet skis that can't get out there. And coast guard has to come save them each time. So, don't venture out there. Pay attention if you're renting a pontoon or any boat of where they say you can go and not go. And don't get yourself into a situation that you couldn't get yourself out. That's my best suggestion for you having a good time at Crab Island. Other than that, cheers have a great time out there.

So, that's all that I do have for you. If there's anything you'd like to add, some great experiences that you've had out there, or some other etiquette that maybe we forgot here, please feel free to call/text us at 850.320.7757 or email us at Admin@WhittemoreGroupRE.com

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