Florida Panhandle Area?

Scott, welcome to CSR and what a great way to reach out to other cruising members. Good luck with finding some new cruising buddies.

Oh, and we all like to see pics of everyone's boat and where you go boating.
 
I am new to Panama City Florida. I have a 41 footer. Is anyone planning a weekend trip in 2023? Apalachicola? St. Joe? Destin? Clearwater? Any boating activities I can participate in?
Welcome aboard Scott!
 
I spent 30+ years boating in the PC/PCB area. Have been to the areas you mentioned several times every spring and fall. Most recreational boating is centered around the various marinas in the area…….you meet boaters with similar interests more easily where you dock your boat, besides it is more fun to travel with multiple other boats than alone.

The weekend anchoring spot for most recreational boaters is just about the center of Shell Island on the bay side.

You mentioned weekend trips to Apalachicola, Port St. Joe, Clearwater and Destin……….Clearwater is 190 miles so that is more than a weekend trip. Tthe trip to Apalachicola is a great one that is best to do partially inside and partially outside in the Gulf…….Leave the PC pass and head east to Port St. Joe, Go into the Port St. Joe marina for lunch (Used to be a great restaurant in the marina, but we haven't stopped there since Hurricane Michael) After a break for Lunch leave the marina and go back west 1/4 mile and turn north and head up the Gulf County Canal…..go slow, losts of working commercial docks near the bridge and they don't appreciate wakes, Go 5 miles to the end of the canal and turn to the east into the ICW then go to Apalachicola …….best transient docking is up Scipio Creek at Scipio Creek Marina, a short ways up the creek from the intersection with the ICW.

Apalachicola is a great spot to visit….lots of good restaurants, shopping and some of the nicest local people you will find anywhere.

Destin is a short run west either outside in the Gulf or inside in the ICW. Transient docking in the Destin harbor is difficult to find but there is a large marina that accomodates transients at Baytown about 12 miles from the Destin bridge heading back east in the ICW. The Baytown Marina is at a marina on SanDestin so it is more of a resort flavor with shopping, etc.

Don't overlook Pensacola ………beautiful old city with
spanish flavor to th e architecture. Several great restaurants and plan 1/2 a day or more for the Naval Air Museum where you will see nearly every type of airplane the Navy has used.

It is a great area that you will enjoy if you just throw the lines and go exploring.

Here is another factoid about the area……..There is a Sea Ray servicing dealer on Grand Lagoon with about 100 wet slips and a 650 boat dry stack capacity. Treasure Island is a "go-to" service center for Sea Ray in NW Florida and we frequently see out of town boats in for warranty service from Sea Ray. The name is Treasure Island Marina. They have been there since the mid '80's. They leased their boat show room to Marina Max when it became hard for a privately financed marina to compete selling new boats in 2010. Marina Max does not employ mechanics but they will tell you they do and send you to the service department next door at Treasure Island. All the Treasure Island mechanics are factory trained and are very competent.
 
New here too - not quite Panhandle, but over in Mobile Bay --- just brought my new to me 208 Sundancer home from Pensacola... glad to meet y'all
 
For you folks who have read and followed this thread on cruising in the Panama City/Panama City Beach area, I found an article I wrote for Sea Ray's Marketing Department 5 or so years ago. They used it in Sea Ray Living a while before Sea Ray stopped publishing it. As you read it, keep in mind that the article was written a while ago and some things may have changed due to a couple of hurricanes, some political nonsense and some personnel changes at Tyndall who controls the Crooked Island.

Enjoy reading about "Boating in Paradise"………

Frank
________________________________________________________________

Panama City/Panama City Beach

∞ Boating in Paradise ∞

Boating in Panama City/Panama City Beach is much like boating in paradise. The boating area is mostly in St. Andrew Bay but, there is easy access to the Gulf of Mexico via the Panama City Pass (or main ship channel) which is clearly marked and quite deep (35 to 50ft deep) since it accommodates several coastal freighters every week and large military vessels daily.



Shell Island-

The Gulf and St. Andrew Bay are separated by Shell Island. The waters near the pass and around Shell Island are very much like the gin-clear Emerald green water in the Caribbean. In the Spring, Fall and Winter, you can see the bottom in 20-25 ft of water. There is a bit of turbidity in the Summer when water temperatures are over 80˚. Sea weed, algae and wave action cause suspended particles to cloud the water a bit. The water isn’t dirty, you don’t see clumps of anything, it just isn’t quite as clear as it is during cooler times of the year. You can usually anchor along the inside of the island then walk across the island. This is particularly helpful on windy days when the Gulf is too rough to venture outside of the protection the bay offers. You can almost always anchor in shallow water in the bay side and swim, snorkle or play in the water there, or walk across the island (about 100-250 ft) and surf or swim in the Gulf…..or to just walk on the beach and pick up shells. The island is uninhabited and depending upon where you cross, the day of the week and time of the year, you may not even see anyone else.


It is an unusual day when you don’t see something new and different in or on the water in the Panama City area. Atlantic Bottle-nose Dolphin (porpoises) populate the area and are easy to spot and will come up to boats on a frequent and regular basis. There are now a few Manatee’s that hang out in the area, mostly in the summer.



Grand Lagoon-

This is the recreational boating headquarters for boat sales, parts, service, storage, etc. for the Panama City area. Any boating need in this area is usually found in the 3-4 marinas located in Grand Lagoon. Even competent mechanics are here!



Crooked Island-

About 18 miles to the east is an area called Crooked Island. It is owned by the US Government and is a part of Tyndall AFB. It is exactly like Shell Island except that you can only access it with a boat large enough to safely run the 18 miles from the Panama City Pass to the “cut in Crooked Island” in the open Gulf waters. Therefore, you must pick your days with an eye on the winds and seas. It is worth the trip, however. The Crooked Island area is uninhabited and seldom visited because it requires some planning. If you make the trip, you will be lucky to see another person.



Fishing-

There is a large recreational fishing fleet in this area . You can choose from any of the 100’s of charter boats or guide boats based here. Most visitors prefer to hire a guide and boat because they are more informal and limit passengers to about 4. You charter the boat and the guide is usually the owner and is a very experienced local fisherman. Of course, you can bring your own boat and go fishing by yourself.



Rental boats-

Los of experienced boat owners prefer to avoid towing their own boat to the beach for a short vacation trip. There are several pontoon rentals and at least one company that rents midsized open boats like Boston Whalers. The best rentals are located on the south end of the Grand Lagoon bridge, just across the lagoon from Captain Andersons restaurant.



CAUTIONS!


Restricted Areas restricted by the DOD due to military activity:

There are several military installations in the area: Tyndall AFB in Panama City, Eglin AFB in Mary Ester FL, near Ft. Walton, The Naval Sea Systems Command in Panama City is made up of several commands like Diver and Salvage Training, Surface Warfare Center, Experimental Diving Unit – Manned and unmanned submersible vehicles, all of which operate large and small vessels in the area. We also have the DEA, Customs Enforcement, and U.S Coast Guard operating in the area.


** Have an operational VHF radio onboard in the restricted areas and have it turned on and tuned to VHF-16. Any branch of the military conducting operations in the area will make announcements on ch-16 and give you instructions to avoid their operations. They all operate inflatables manned with knowledgeable personnel who will escort you out of the danger area if you stray to close to them.


Tyndall Drone Recovery:

Tyndall AFB launches drones as a part of their pilot training almost daily. The drones are intercepted by fighters and electronically “shot down” then retreived by 85 ft chase boats and returned to Tyndall and refitted for deployment another day. Tyndall closes the area down range of the drone firing area during the exercise and recovery of the downed equipment.


Note: The drone launch area is directly over the Crooked Island Cut or entrance. Tyndall usually fires and recovers the drones between 1:30 and 4:00pm, daily, so if you are going to Crooked Island, go before noon and plan to return after 4:30pm. Tyndall usually announces the next day’s drone schedule at about 4 pm on ch-16 the day before the launch, so verifying the drone schedule before leaving for Crrooked Island could save you wasting 2 hours because Tyndall Marine operations will stop you and send you back west out of the restricted area.




NOTE: The Department of Defense, Customs, DEA etc. all know this is a popular recreational boating and tourist area. Their people are generally polite and courteous and they are there to keep from getting us or their personnel from being accidentally injured by an unfortunate mishap. They are not there to interfere with your vacation or days on the water. So, please return their courtesy and follow their instructions and you will experience a minimal delay in your day’s activities


Charts:

Be sure to have updated charts or chart cards for your plotter for this area in your plotter or have recent paper charts aboard. Restricted areas are all clerly shown on Charts of local waters. Know where they aee nd know when you are ina restricted area.

Charted depth is are usually very accurate for this area. As long as you stay in the channels marked with buoys or day markers, you should have plenty of water under you. Once you leave the marked channels, you are on your own but, the risk of running aground is low as long as long as you don’t see birds walking in the water where you are headed. Light green water ahead means shallow water, but dark green water can be either deep water or a sand bar covered with sea grass.


Hurricane Michael:

Hurricane Michael hit the Panama City area with Category 5 winds in October, 2018. A lot of damage was sustained to marinas, docks, storage barns and the marine services segment of the economy. The damage was mostly east of Panama City Beach to Panama City, Tyndall AFB, and Mexico Beach. Even so, since most of the marine service providers are located on or near the water, boating in the area has been affected. Of 7 large marinas which contained the larger vessels stored here, 4 of them were completely destroyed as were all the boats contained in them. As of Nov 1, 2019, there were no slips available for lease and no transient slips for overnight visitors unless you plan well ahead. As of Feb 1, 2023, Slip availability has relaxed Also, none of the restaurants located on the water with docking space have reopened. It you do find a transient space; you will probably have a long walk to eat dinner. The area is rebuilding and things are resuming to normal.
 
Great and timely information, visiting Panama City Beach area for a couple weeks and would like to rent a boat and get out on the water.
Been enjoying 80+ sunny weather in south west Florida for the last few weeks so hope it warms up in northern Florida soon.
 
Have fun……..PCB is a great area. The water is pretty cool for us adultsuntil about early April.

The pontoon boat rental place on the south end of the bridge over Grand Lagoon has very nice pontoon boats and a few ~18ft Boston Whalers. They are the only place I know of that rents boats safe enough to venture out into the Gulf…….most rental pontoons are low hp outboards with 40-50 hp Hondas. Drive over the bridge and check out the rents as soon as you get to town and reserve a boat after you check the weather. This is Spring Break time so demand for Pontoons and the Whalers is high. The boats at that rental place are maintained by the mechanics at Treasure Island Marina. They are all factory trained and are excellent……a whole lot better than the kids working on the other pontoon boats in town.

Have a good time………Lots of great restaurants in both Panama City Beach and in Destin (1/2 hour to the West) as well as up hiway 30A along the coast between Panama City Beach and Destin. (Let me know if you need recommendations).

Frank
 
Have fun……..PCB is a great area. The water is pretty cool for us adultsuntil about early April.

The pontoon boat rental place on the south end of the bridge over Grand Lagoon has very nice pontoon boats and a few ~18ft Boston Whalers. They are the only place I know of that rents boats safe enough to venture out into the Gulf…….most rental pontoons are low hp outboards with 40-50 hp Hondas. Drive over the bridge and check out the rents as soon as you get to town and reserve a boat after you check the weather. This is Spring Break time so demand for Pontoons and the Whalers is high. The boats at that rental place are maintained by the mechanics at Treasure Island Marina. They are all factory trained and are excellent……a whole lot better than the kids working on the other pontoon boats in town.

Have a good time………Lots of great restaurants in both Panama City Beach and in Destin (1/2 hour to the West) as well as up hiway 30A along the coast between Panama City Beach and Destin. (Let me know if you need recommendations).

Frank
Thanks Frank, trying to find a boat rental that is pet friendly so we can take our dog with us.
 
The rental business I mentioned in my last post does not allow pets but we rented a pontoon boat from the pontoon rental just across the bridge from them and if the dog is well behaved, they welcome pets with no extra charge. We were getting our boat ready to sell and we rented a pontoon from them so my daughter who was working remotely from our beach house for a few weeks could take her 85 lb White Boxer to Shell Island.

This rental place is on the oppposite side of the road from Captain Anderson's Restaurant and Marina (Which is the best Seafood restaurant in town.) Another good restaurant is "The Captain's Table" which is in old St. Andrews on Beck avenue. They got a lot of damage from Huricane Michael and substantially rebuilt the restaurant and only reopened a few weeks ago. The owner runs his own boats so the fish they serve is always fresh.
 
Spent a beautiful day exploring Shell Island, we rented a pontoon from Lagoon Pontoon, they are next to Captain Anderson’s, very nice pontoons and they were pet friendly. Lots of dolphin sightings!
 

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