Thanks man. I have a whole thread going somewhere.
Big things I'm worrying about now is how/when to flush away the salt, and where we can watch the Blue Angels Practice from the water. I'm told they'll be doing flight maneuvers on the 14th and 15th while we're there. Any thoughts?
We're gonna do Crab Island one day for certain. Might venture into the gulf just to say we did. No real reason to go out there though.
Any good snorkeling places we can only get to by boat?
Salt Away is your friend, you can buy the kit online with small spray/mixer attachment, just follow the instructions. Your boat should have came with a little hose attachment so you can flush water/salt away through the engines. I usually start each engine and run it for a minute with salt away solution, then flush with just water for a couple extra minutes. I don’t think the Navarre ramp has a hose, if your condo has a faucet bring your own hose and wash there.
The Blues post their practice schedule online if you google it, they practice over NAS Pensacola. It’s a little bit of drive on the boat, but you can take the ICW West and anchor up by Ft Pickens and watch. Just keep a eye on the weather, Pensacola Bay can get rough when the weather kicks up, and it takes a bit to get back to Navarre.
There is also Hurlburt field 8 miles East of Navarre right on the sound, and there are some neat little islands you can beach the boat and swim at. If you go during the week there is some military air traffic that can be fun to watch. Elgin AFB is just north of Crab Island on the bay, if you going during the week there is quite a bit landing/departing fighter traffic right over crab island.
Crab Island during the week is much less busy and a little more family friendly, but that being said I bring my kids out there all the time on the weekend and never had any issues. I recommend two fluke anchors, the currents and winds can swing the boat around if you aren’t tied down securely.
If you go out the Destin Pass there are some beach areas on the east side with some rock jetties/break waters, there is some great snorkeling right there. You can get to that by boat or car. There is also a artificial reef off Navarre beach, but getting to by boat is a pain as there is no way out to the open water unless you go all the way down to Destin or Pensacola. If you have kayaks or paddle boards that the easiest way to get out there.
Couple of my favorite Navarre eats, Windjammers on the Navarre pier, NY Pizza depo for authentic NY pizza, Ye Old Brothers Brewery (super kid friendly) for craft pizzas and bbq, Scooters Fish House, TCs Front Porch (turns into a bar scene after 9pm ish) The Twist has some great ice cream, and the Snow Cone place by the bridge.