Beach Archive

At a news conference in Destin, Gov. Ron DeSantis was excited to announce the longest Gulf red snapper season in Florida’s history. The 126-day recreational season for Gulf red snapper will begin Memorial Day weekend (May 24-26) and reopen June 1 through July 31 before closing again. It will restart in September and end Christmas weekend, with periodic pauses in between.

April 20, 2010, 41 miles off the coast of Louisiana, an explosion on an oil rig would change life along the Gulf of America as we knew it. 

Leased by BP, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig was drilling an exploratory well site when it experienced a ‘blowout,’ or the uncontrolled release of crude oil and/or natural gas from a well after pressure control systems fail. The blowout caused the explosion, killing 11 crew members.

Sandollar Owners’ Association Inc. has gained authority to demolish a portion of Navarre Beach Residential Section known as Sandollar Condominium.

Located at 7885 Gulf Blvd., the building is on lot 11 of block 3 in the Navarre Beach Residential Section. The authority was granted by the Santa Rosa County Board of County Commissioners during the April 24 regular board meeting.

FishingBooker, the world’s largest platform connecting anglers with fishing guides, has named the winners of the 2025 Angler’s Choice Award. Five fishing charter captains in Northwest Florida are a part of this year’s list.

On the evening of Easter Sunday, April 20, a teenage boy was swimming with family members out in the Santa Rosa Sound east of Navarre Beach Bridge. At some point during the evening, the teen’s family lost track of him, leading to a missing person report and a search and rescue effort which lasted until the next morning. Shortly after 6 a.m. April 21, the teen’s body was discovered in the Sound near Navarre Beach Marine Park’s Pelican and Black Skimmer pavilions.

If you were on the Navarre Beach Fishing Pier April 5, then you caught a whale of a sight.

Two North Atlantic right whales, dubbed “Koala” and “Curlew,” were spotted just off the pier and have been seen numerous times along the Gulf Coast, with sightings from Southwest Florida to Alabama. Most sightings have taken place since January.

Oriole Beach Boat Ramp needs some improvements and Santa Rosa County hopes to have found a solution. The Board of County Commissioners recently approved the submission of the Florida Boating Improvement Program (FBIP) Grant application for boat ramp and parking lot improvements at the Oriole Beach Boat Ramp facility.

Navarre Beach has earned a prestigious nomination in this year’s Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards – Best Beach: Navarre Beach.

The Mer Sea development on Navarre Beach, which is supposed to bring a 47-house subdivision to the corner of South Carolina Street and White Sands Boulevard, is moving forward.

The project’s future was uncertain following the untimely deaths of its developers, Steve, Ann and Jay Hering, this past November.

The number of reefs off Navarre will grow in the next few years, as Santa Rosa County officials recently approved a contract to Walters Marine for grant funded artificial reef construction. The funding amount is $900,000.