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taking my 11 y/o down again in august. This time he would like to go to crab island as well so this video was helpful giving me ideas on how to get out there.
Most important tip, is stay away from the edges while on foot! If you get into deeper water, you will not be able to swim against the currents that come in and out of the bay. You will be swept out to sea or deeper into the bay. Then, you’ll be shark bait!
There's a bit of truth to what you're saying. There are a couple areas of the sandbar that present a safety problem during the outgoing tide. But that really only applies along the east and south edges of the sandbar...especially the east edge. I've rescued over a dozen people in the water near Crab Island over the past four years, and all of them got in trouble along the east edge of the sandbar on the outgoing tide.
Generally the hotter it is, the more blueish green you will have. I don't know how accurate this is but I was told once that the color of our waters are primarily due to an algae, as it heats up, it changes the hue of the water. Which is why when it's overcast and the temp drops, the water gets more green and cloudy looking.
Okay, first of all the water does, occasionally, have a blue/green appearance. But the water isn't really blue. The color you're seeing is due to clear water breaking up the sun's rays into all the colors of the rainbow. Blue has the shortest wavelength, and because of that the color blue penetrates the water less deeply than the other colors, and that color is reflected back at you. From that, you understand that the color you're looking for requires two things...sunshine and clear water. The clear water we sometimes see at the Crab Island sandbar is the product of gulf water being drawn into the Bay by the incoming tide. To be at Crab Island at the right time to catch the right conditions requires understanding the tide charts well enough to understand how the strength of the tide will influence the timing of the arrival of that clear water, which has to be drawn up 1.2-1.5 miles in from the Gulf, to reach Crab Island. It's a bit complicated. But if you want the best chance of timing the tides correctly, I recommend finding a local charter captain who has a lot of experience in Destin's waters.
We are coming down next weekend for a week. We have rented a pontoon boat for Thursday the 13th. I heard they are no longer allowed to sell alcohol on the water at Crab Island. Is that true? Do we need to bring our own?
Yes, they've actually never been allowed to sell alcohol at Crab Island. So what they used to do is give you a shot for free when buying a drink, but they stop doing that recently as well. So bottom line is, yes you will need to bring your own booze and drinks
@@johnschuh2531 When I was out there two weeks ago, they were not. Well, let me clarify, they are still selling coconut drinks and hollowed out pineapples, but you have to put your own drink inside of it. We only tried the one vendor but she made it sound like they're not allowed to hand out alcohol at all anymore, we didn't try any other vendors though
It's illegal to sell alcohol on the Crab Island sandbar. The sandbar, itself, if part of the national park system, and is run by the Gulf Islands National Seashore.
Generally I'd suggest the park just on the Destin side. Captain Leonard Park and clement Taylor Park are both popular spots to launch your kayak and it's a short paddle over. You could do it on the Okaloosa Island side, but it'll be a longer trek to get out there and I'd suggest having your head on a swivel if you go that route.
Yes you most definitely can but please please please get a life jacket for your furry friend and make sure it's on at all times. We see videos all the time of people picking up a poor dog swimming out in the bay because the pup fell off the boat.
These two are entertaining and knowledgeable. Destin is a fun place. I only got to snorkle beside the crab island, but I'll definitely go in there if I ever tour there again. Anyway, happy vacation and happier locals!
In March/April you can expect temps to be warm (65 to 80 degrees). The water is still too cold for most of us Floridians. Some people will find the water tolerable, but I don't usually find it comfortable until the outside air temperature is 80 or higher. 85 is preferred for me lol
We've had an unusually mild winter this year, and the water temperature at Crab Island is now 66 degrees, about 4 degrees above normal for late March. Expect that temperature or higher, possibly the low 70s, by early April. When our night temperatures begin staying above 70 degrees, that's when the water starts to warm up fast.
They generally begin the year coming out in March or April depending on weather. I'm guessing since we have had a mild winter that they will be out early this year.
Yes, but not all vendors. The county charges vendors a pretty high monthly fee for operating a business on the sandbar, and large anchored restaurants pay more than any other vendor out there. So those larger businesses usually don't buy a permit until April. But we do have smaller mobile vendors operating on the sandbar in March. They sell T-shirts, ice cream, coconuts and pineapples, and a few other things.
Hey, thank you so much for the support. I haven't seen what it looks like this year, but they did have the inflatables down for a short period, and then they generally go down during the winter time when they're a little bit slow. So it is definitely seasonal
The inflatable playgrounds were banned from the sandbar about seven years ago. They were a hazard to navigation, and there were other safety issues associated with them. But The Crab Island Company anchors and inflatable playground in waters fairly close to the Crab Island sandbar. Last year it was about a mile to the west of the sandbar. For 2024 they're planning to anchor about a mile to the northeast.
Thank you for the video guys! Looking at possibly coming to Destin for the 4th and the video was a huge help. My only concern is how crazy the party people get with the boats. I've rented boats all over the Caribbean, but they were secluded places. This looks pretty packed. Are there a lot of accidents with those "15 beers deep"? 😆
I don't have stats on the specifics of boaters getting in accidents here, But I can tell you it's not a concern that we generally think about. In fact I don't think I even know anybody that's ever been in a boating accident, outside of the few things that you might see on social media every once in awhile, which is pretty few and far between to be honest. It does get a little bit busy around here especially around the 4th of July so expect that if you go out on a boat that it is going to be very packed around crab island in particular. The East pass will be a little bit busy as well as people come in and out of the Gulf of Mexico.
@@LifeOnTheEmeraldCoast Thank you so much for the reply! I can't thank you enough for all the info. Best of luck with the channel and I'll be watching!
Nope, not that I've ever seen in 16 years living here. Once upon a time (the 1940s from what I've been told) it was an above water sandbar but over the years the hurricanes and tides dropped the sandbar to a healthy 3 feet or so under water (some areas are deeper).
First, let me say that our "average" normal water level changes by about a foot from winter to summer. So the risk of running aground changes from season to season, and changes with the tides, too. During the summer months the depth of the commonly used areas of the sandbar varies from 1-foot to about 5-feet. But while it's rare, boats do occasionally run aground there. I know "experienced" captains who've run their tourist excursion boats (with passengers) aground on the Crab Island sandbar. The entire sandbar area is within a huge "no wake" zone, so when it happens those groundings are usually not particularly "bad."
As I understand it, they generally take you to a pontoon boat that is covered in Crab Island, so that you can put all your stuff down and keep your cooler and your towels and things like that on the boat and then you can go out and play and then they just let you know what times the taxis will be back so that you can take it back. So the taxi that you take out there might not stay but you will have a place usually to put your stuff and to retreat from the sun if you need to
It's illegal for a licensed business operation to take you to the Crab Island sandbar and drop you off. They have to stay with you for the duration of your trip. Do NOT go to the Crab Island sandbar with someone who says they're going to "drop you off."
Once upon a time it was an island. A man made island after the drudged out the East Pass. But it's been a sandbar for 60 or 70 years now I believe (don't quote me on the timeline lol)
Well.... I guess it depends on which kind of bathroom you need. For a quick tinkle most people just jump in the water, if you need more than that generally you need to go hit one of the public launches to use their restroom or beach it up at one of the restaurants and use theirs, or I hate to say it, grab a plastic bag throw it in a bucket or a cooler and make your own toilet. Or go beach your watercraft and dig a hole in the sand... I've heard of some people doing it in the water, although I would suggest that, I feel like that can't be healthy lol. Great question and a hilarious one of that, I voice to texted this out loud and I've got people in my office laughing at me 😂
Some of the charter boats that take visitors to the Crab Island sandbar have boats equipped with heads (restrooms). Here are a few: - Tailfins Island Adventure and Tiki Cruises - The Crab Island Company/Crab Island Shuttle Boat - Destin Pontoon Charters (has some boats with restrooms)
The potty at Crab island? Well for most of us it's exactly what you think. For those that want a little bit more privacy or they have to use the restroom for a more solid situation, you would generally just take your boat or watercraft over to a restaurant or one of the boat launches that have facilities. I believe there might be some facilities on some of the floating bars, but I'm not 100% confident on that
Yes, there is cell service on the Crab Island sandbar. But some providers are better than others. Verizon is probably the worst in that area...perhaps because there are so many people using it on the sandbar.
We hope you enjoyed this video. If there is anything you would like us to go over or in a certain area. Let us know! Comment and tell us what YOU would like to know more about!
Contact us day or night with any questions about moving here, relocating here, so we can help you find your perfect community to live in! We are local Real Estate Agents and LOVE helping everyone moving here find their dream home!
Andrew Iremonger Call/Text Direct - 850.303.0807
Email: EmeraldGroupFWB@gmail.com or visit us at EmeraldGroupHomes.com
SUBSCRIBE TO THIS CHANNEL HERE: ruclips.net/channel/UCcR7AhgBUPez7jqNySk02HQ
taking my 11 y/o down again in august. This time he would like to go to crab island as well so this video was helpful giving me ideas on how to get out there.
Awesome, I hope y'all have a great time!
Most important tip, is stay away from the edges while on foot! If you get into deeper water, you will not be able to swim against the currents that come in and out of the bay. You will be swept out to sea or deeper into the bay. Then, you’ll be shark bait!
Drama queen
Best advice anyone is getting is that i wish I knew when I went😂
Agreed do not park on the edges!
Some of this is decent information but definitely a lot of inaccurate and or outdated info.
There's a bit of truth to what you're saying. There are a couple areas of the sandbar that present a safety problem during the outgoing tide. But that really only applies along the east and south edges of the sandbar...especially the east edge. I've rescued over a dozen people in the water near Crab Island over the past four years, and all of them got in trouble along the east edge of the sandbar on the outgoing tide.
Do you know when is the best time to go and be able to see that blue water? I’ve seen some vid were the water is not as blue,thank you
Generally the hotter it is, the more blueish green you will have. I don't know how accurate this is but I was told once that the color of our waters are primarily due to an algae, as it heats up, it changes the hue of the water. Which is why when it's overcast and the temp drops, the water gets more green and cloudy looking.
All about the tides. 5 hrs before high tide to 2 hrs after. Changes daily.
Okay, first of all the water does, occasionally, have a blue/green appearance. But the water isn't really blue. The color you're seeing is due to clear water breaking up the sun's rays into all the colors of the rainbow. Blue has the shortest wavelength, and because of that the color blue penetrates the water less deeply than the other colors, and that color is reflected back at you.
From that, you understand that the color you're looking for requires two things...sunshine and clear water.
The clear water we sometimes see at the Crab Island sandbar is the product of gulf water being drawn into the Bay by the incoming tide. To be at Crab Island at the right time to catch the right conditions requires understanding the tide charts well enough to understand how the strength of the tide will influence the timing of the arrival of that clear water, which has to be drawn up 1.2-1.5 miles in from the Gulf, to reach Crab Island.
It's a bit complicated. But if you want the best chance of timing the tides correctly, I recommend finding a local charter captain who has a lot of experience in Destin's waters.
We are coming down next weekend for a week. We have rented a pontoon boat for Thursday the 13th. I heard they are no longer allowed to sell alcohol on the water at Crab Island. Is that true? Do we need to bring our own?
Yes, they've actually never been allowed to sell alcohol at Crab Island. So what they used to do is give you a shot for free when buying a drink, but they stop doing that recently as well. So bottom line is, yes you will need to bring your own booze and drinks
@@LifeOnTheEmeraldCoast so they don't sell the drinks in the coconut shells any more?
@@johnschuh2531 When I was out there two weeks ago, they were not. Well, let me clarify, they are still selling coconut drinks and hollowed out pineapples, but you have to put your own drink inside of it. We only tried the one vendor but she made it sound like they're not allowed to hand out alcohol at all anymore, we didn't try any other vendors though
@@LifeOnTheEmeraldCoast ok, thank you very much. I'm just trying to be prepared. I'm a veteran, being prepared is what we do, LoL.
@@johnschuh2531 yes, I agree, us vets do like to be prepped!
Do you know who to contact about setting up a floating refreshment drink establishment there?
I don't directly know but I'd imagine it would be the city or county.
@@LifeOnTheEmeraldCoast thanks
It's illegal to sell alcohol on the Crab Island sandbar. The sandbar, itself, if part of the national park system, and is run by the Gulf Islands National Seashore.
@@RavenATB Selling non-alcoholic drinks.
Thats it! I am deff coming to Crab Island Soon! thanks for this super informative information.
Absolutely! If you need any recommendations on taxi's, boat/jet ski rentals, etc, just give us a call!
There are no Taxi’s that will drop you off at Crab Island.
Where can you kayak from to get to crab island?
Generally I'd suggest the park just on the Destin side. Captain Leonard Park and clement Taylor Park are both popular spots to launch your kayak and it's a short paddle over. You could do it on the Okaloosa Island side, but it'll be a longer trek to get out there and I'd suggest having your head on a swivel if you go that route.
can you bring your pets?
Yes you most definitely can but please please please get a life jacket for your furry friend and make sure it's on at all times. We see videos all the time of people picking up a poor dog swimming out in the bay because the pup fell off the boat.
These two are entertaining and knowledgeable. Destin is a fun place. I only got to snorkle beside the crab island, but I'll definitely go in there if I ever tour there again.
Anyway, happy vacation and happier locals!
Ha! Thanks Larry! I always see people snorkeling on the outskirts, looks fun!
Best thing about crab island is your never to far away from a restroom!!!
Lol, true! 😍
How's the weather for late march or early April
In March/April you can expect temps to be warm (65 to 80 degrees). The water is still too cold for most of us Floridians. Some people will find the water tolerable, but I don't usually find it comfortable until the outside air temperature is 80 or higher. 85 is preferred for me lol
Thanks
@@jonathanlivera1496 you're welcome!
We've had an unusually mild winter this year, and the water temperature at Crab Island is now 66 degrees, about 4 degrees above normal for late March. Expect that temperature or higher, possibly the low 70s, by early April. When our night temperatures begin staying above 70 degrees, that's when the water starts to warm up fast.
Are the vendors out in March?
They generally begin the year coming out in March or April depending on weather. I'm guessing since we have had a mild winter that they will be out early this year.
Yes, but not all vendors. The county charges vendors a pretty high monthly fee for operating a business on the sandbar, and large anchored restaurants pay more than any other vendor out there. So those larger businesses usually don't buy a permit until April. But we do have smaller mobile vendors operating on the sandbar in March. They sell T-shirts, ice cream, coconuts and pineapples, and a few other things.
Thanks for this informative video. I read somewhere that the inflatables were no longer at Crab Island. Do you know if this is true?
Hey, thank you so much for the support. I haven't seen what it looks like this year, but they did have the inflatables down for a short period, and then they generally go down during the winter time when they're a little bit slow. So it is definitely seasonal
They haven’t been there for 5 years!
The inflatable playgrounds were banned from the sandbar about seven years ago. They were a hazard to navigation, and there were other safety issues associated with them.
But The Crab Island Company anchors and inflatable playground in waters fairly close to the Crab Island sandbar. Last year it was about a mile to the west of the sandbar. For 2024 they're planning to anchor about a mile to the northeast.
Haven't got the boat yet but we will! Thanks for the info!
You're welcome!
Thank you for the video guys! Looking at possibly coming to Destin for the 4th and the video was a huge help. My only concern is how crazy the party people get with the boats. I've rented boats all over the Caribbean, but they were secluded places. This looks pretty packed. Are there a lot of accidents with those "15 beers deep"? 😆
I don't have stats on the specifics of boaters getting in accidents here, But I can tell you it's not a concern that we generally think about. In fact I don't think I even know anybody that's ever been in a boating accident, outside of the few things that you might see on social media every once in awhile, which is pretty few and far between to be honest. It does get a little bit busy around here especially around the 4th of July so expect that if you go out on a boat that it is going to be very packed around crab island in particular. The East pass will be a little bit busy as well as people come in and out of the Gulf of Mexico.
@@LifeOnTheEmeraldCoast Thank you so much for the reply! I can't thank you enough for all the info. Best of luck with the channel and I'll be watching!
@@DaCake2 awesome! We will be here if you need us :-)
Take a chartered boat with a Captain that does this routinely.
Thank you for your amazing videos! The Navarre video’s really interest me .
"How deep is crab island (6:00)?" "15 beers deep" I'm gonna say this forever.
How much too stay Thursday Friday Saturday cheapest way to go
Do we need to be concerned about getting beached at low tide on crab island?
Nope, not that I've ever seen in 16 years living here. Once upon a time (the 1940s from what I've been told) it was an above water sandbar but over the years the hurricanes and tides dropped the sandbar to a healthy 3 feet or so under water (some areas are deeper).
Tide moves 1 foot over a 12 hr time period.
Crab Island was an actual Island (spoil island) until Hurricane Eloise hit Destin in 1975.
First, let me say that our "average" normal water level changes by about a foot from winter to summer. So the risk of running aground changes from season to season, and changes with the tides, too. During the summer months the depth of the commonly used areas of the sandbar varies from 1-foot to about 5-feet.
But while it's rare, boats do occasionally run aground there. I know "experienced" captains who've run their tourist excursion boats (with passengers) aground on the Crab Island sandbar.
The entire sandbar area is within a huge "no wake" zone, so when it happens those groundings are usually not particularly "bad."
Do the water taxis stay out there ?
As I understand it, they generally take you to a pontoon boat that is covered in Crab Island, so that you can put all your stuff down and keep your cooler and your towels and things like that on the boat and then you can go out and play and then they just let you know what times the taxis will be back so that you can take it back. So the taxi that you take out there might not stay but you will have a place usually to put your stuff and to retreat from the sun if you need to
You need to do more research before you put information like this online. @@LifeOnTheEmeraldCoast
It's illegal for a licensed business operation to take you to the Crab Island sandbar and drop you off. They have to stay with you for the duration of your trip.
Do NOT go to the Crab Island sandbar with someone who says they're going to "drop you off."
IT WAS AN ISLAND :(
Once upon a time it was an island. A man made island after the drudged out the East Pass. But it's been a sandbar for 60 or 70 years now I believe (don't quote me on the timeline lol)
Yes, it was a spoil island, until Hurricane Eloise struck Destin in 1975.
Dude monotone
Where do you go to the bathroom? 😂
Well.... I guess it depends on which kind of bathroom you need. For a quick tinkle most people just jump in the water, if you need more than that generally you need to go hit one of the public launches to use their restroom or beach it up at one of the restaurants and use theirs, or I hate to say it, grab a plastic bag throw it in a bucket or a cooler and make your own toilet. Or go beach your watercraft and dig a hole in the sand... I've heard of some people doing it in the water, although I would suggest that, I feel like that can't be healthy lol. Great question and a hilarious one of that, I voice to texted this out loud and I've got people in my office laughing at me 😂
so is crab island as easy to make new friends as campgrounds
I'm looking forward to making friends with boats and jet skis
Some of the charter boats that take visitors to the Crab Island sandbar have boats equipped with heads (restrooms). Here are a few:
- Tailfins Island Adventure and Tiki Cruises
- The Crab Island Company/Crab Island Shuttle Boat
- Destin Pontoon Charters (has some boats with restrooms)
Where's the potty???
The potty at Crab island? Well for most of us it's exactly what you think. For those that want a little bit more privacy or they have to use the restroom for a more solid situation, you would generally just take your boat or watercraft over to a restaurant or one of the boat launches that have facilities. I believe there might be some facilities on some of the floating bars, but I'm not 100% confident on that
Thanks , enjoy your content very much.
@@tnbigdave4563 you are welcome, we appreciate the support!
Definitely no facilities avl on the island.
There are actually no floating bars or alcohol for sale. Or floating restaurants that you can board.
By chance was there any cell phone service while on the water ? I have att
I'm my experience (Verizon) the service is alright but slow. I'm not sure how att does.
Att works great. Verizon not so much for data but phone service works fine.
Yes, there is cell service on the Crab Island sandbar. But some providers are better than others. Verizon is probably the worst in that area...perhaps because there are so many people using it on the sandbar.