Navarre Beach Marine Science Station

ABOUT THIS PLACE

An abandoned ranger station sat on Navarre Beach until marine science students argued that it should become an environmental education center, and in 2009 it did. The station stands at 8638 Blue Heron Court on 130 acres of Navarre Beach Park, with white sand on one side and wetland on the other. Santa Rosa County runs it as a classroom rather than an attraction. High school students take dual enrollment marine biology and oceanography through Pensacola State College here, about 400 a year, and more than 3,000 children from the first through fifth grades come out on field trips. What makes it unusual is who teaches them: the older students run the two-hour programs for the younger ones. The rebuilt pier gives direct access to the water for water quality monitoring and fishing clinics, and students take part in beach cleanups, dune restoration and research. Public programs and open hours run alongside the school work