WATER & COAST
Keaton Beach
Taylor County · North Florida & First Coast
A small Gulf community about twenty-two miles south of Perry, and the county's main public beach.
ABOUT THIS PLACE
Hodges Park is the public side of it, with a fishing pier, a play area, and the county's main public boat ramp. The sand is modest by Florida standards; the draw here is the water and what is in it. Scalloping is what fills the place every summer. The season runs from the middle of June to the tenth of September, and the scallops sit in shallow grass flats a short boat ride out, hidden in turtle grass and manatee grass where a snorkeler can pick them up by hand. A person may take two gallons in the shell or a pint of meat, and a boat may take ten gallons in the shell. A saltwater fishing license and a diver-down flag are both required. The community was named for Abb and Sam Keaton, began as cotton ground, and turned to mullet fishing. Anyone considering property here should know the history plainly: the No Name Storm hit on March 13, 1993, Hurricane Idalia came ashore on August 30, 2023, and Hurricane Helene destroyed close to nine out of every ten homes here on September 26, 2024
Not identified in this guide as an officially clothing-optional beach. This is a visit category, not a safety rating—check surf, lifeguards, water quality and posted rules.
BEACH CONDITIONS
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