Crab Island
Okaloosa County. Crab Island is not an island but a raised sandbar on the north side of the Destin bridge at the mouth of Choctawhatchee Bay, in water one to four feet deep.
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Where are the sandbars you can anchor a boat at in Florida?
Crab Island in Okaloosa County is the one with the reputation - a submerged shallow just inside Destin Pass where a few hundred boats tie up on a summer weekend and vendors run out to them by water.
Peanut Island in Palm Beach County has a sheltered shallow on the lagoon side with a park and a campground on the island itself. Greer Island, known locally as Beer Can Island, sits at the north end of Longboat Key in Manatee County where the pass runs past it. Fort De Soto in Pinellas County has shallow water and islands on the bay side. Read the water and the tide before you anchor anywhere - most of these dry out or drop to inches at low water.
The places named in this answer.
Peanut Island Park
Palm Beach County. Peanut Island is a 37.44-acre county park, and the first thing to know is that there is no bridge and no parking lot: access is by boat only. There are two boat docks, on the west and east sides, and fourteen day-use boat slips.
Open the guide →Greer Island Beach
Manatee County. Also called Beer Can Island Beach, at the north end of Longboat Key: about 2,000 feet of shore, and shelling is what people come for. One of the key's three public beaches, and parking is limited at all three.
Open the guide →Fort De Soto Park Beach
Pinellas County. 1,136 acres across five connected islands at the mouth of Tampa Bay, the largest park Pinellas County runs and one that takes more than 2.7 million visits a year. North Beach and East Beach give almost three miles of white sand with swim centers and food concessions.
Open the guide →More questions like this.
Where is the sailing in Florida?
Florida sailing is mostly protected bay rather than open ocean, which is what makes it good for learning and for cruising in company.
Where can you take a boat cruise in Florida?
Two meanings, both answered. For a short trip on the water, the river and spring cruises are the ones with something to look at: Wakulla Springs runs a guided river cruise past alligators and wading birds, Silver Springs in Marion County runs glass-bottom boats, and Myakka River State Park in Sarasota County runs what it calls the largest airboat of its kind.
Where do cruise ships leave from in Florida?
Six Florida ports send cruise ships out, and a seventh, Key West, is a port of call.
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