Crab Island ended up being one of the biggest highlights of my Destin trip and I can't believe I didn't know about it or heard about this place before. It's only accessible by boat, which becomes your "dry land" while you spend most of your time in the water. We did a 3 hour tour (there's longer tours if you'd like), which was perfect for our limited schedule, but I went in early April without realizing just how cold the water would be. Even so, the crystal clear water and overall experience made it worth it. It's a unique, fun spot with floating vendors, beautiful views, and a lively atmosphere, which I hear is amazing in the warmer months. Pros: * Unique experience * Beautiful, crystal-clear water * Fun and lively atmosphere (lots of boats around) * Floating vendors with food and drinks available * Great for photos * Flexible timing options Cons: * Water can be very cold depending on the season (early April was freezing) * You're in the water most of the time, limited "dry" space on the boat * Can be less enjoyable with young kids in colder weather (mine needed to be on floaters the whole time) * Requires some planning (bring sunscreen, towels, floaties, cash) * Likely gets very crowded/party-heavy during peak warmer months * Only accessible by boat, need to do tour or rent private boat read more

The water is the perfect temperature but can we please just keep the jellyfish out?! Haaha! It's so hard to enjoy a beautiful day out in the water, when there is a constant fear of being stung by the hundreds of jellyfish swimming all around the island! So if you have a high pain tolerance, you'll be totally fine! Haaha The clear, fresh, waist-deep water is so refreshing and we all enjoyed our day out at the island. It seems pretty crowded but there's plenty of personal space for all pontoon boats to enjoy. Definitely a must visit location when in Pensacola! read more

Crab Island - Local Flavor Near Me

Ohh the famous famous Crab Island, what a hoot! While planning for a recent trip to Destin, I kept coming across pictures and videos of Crab Island, so of course I just had to see it for myself! Basically, it's a massive sand bar in the bay where hundreds of boaters, jet skiers and even paddlers come to hang out and party. The water here is a gorgeous turquoise and emerald blue color, it's pretty unreal. I had rented a jet ski and found was able to dock by a strip of remote beach nearby. I made an improvisational jet ski anchor, using some discarded rope and a massive rock that I found. I brought some organic oranges, some water and a bluetooth speaker... it was a blast! If you're reading this and thinking about heading out to Crab Island for some fun, just be very weary of fellow boaters/jet skiers and also the fast-moving current. Always keep your head on a swivel, especially when in the go-fast zones. I apply many of the same rules of the road to water... ie. operate defensively and pretend that everyone is either blind or extremely dumb. Oh and I managed to get stuck by a particularly angry jellyfish. It got the back of my knees (and yes I did pee on it while leaning off the edge of the jet ski). There were hundreds out there on this particularly hot August day, so be weary! I was wading in the water and as soon as I felt the zap, I immediately jumped back on the ski and hauled out of there. read more

Cute idea! Great way to spend a say on the water with the families and kids. But there are extremely high amongst of jelly fish we couldn't even get in the water ! We had to dock a bit further away to enjoy the water. We were able to even catch some crabs (so cool!) Note: we went in Aug read more

Crab Island is definitely a must see! It's a great time for any event! Family, parties, bachelor/bachelorette or just relaxing on the boat listening to music and enjoying the vibe and foods. Once you anchor and park your boat. The water is shallow and probably only waist deep to walk and visit the floating restaurants. If not, there's plenty of boaters riding around selling ice cream, slushies, watermelons, pineapples, boiling peanuts etc. I heard crab island has jelly fishes. Not sure what time of the season it comes out but for us luckily we didn't run into any. Everyone there is all so nice! It was a great experience! read more

The staff is very generous and the boat was amazing! The whole process in general was great! The staff was the best out of the whole process! Conner Darian Katerina read more

We love visiting Crab Island. The water is so blue and warm. If I could live here I would.

But unfortunately the one in Las Vegas (S Jones Blvd) that I always went to is now closed permanently. The service and food were excellent though. read more

Beautiful location!!! Spectacular emerald water and white sand!!! Need to know there can be VERY swift currents. The further away from the sand bar, the more the current can be an issue. Lots of partiers and can probably get pretty loud and rowdy. There is a floating Tiki bar and people that run around in little boats selling ice cream. read more

Beautiful! The water was a little too shallow for my liking so next time we will park out further but it was relaxing beautiful day. The water was so clear and a beautiful greenish color at the end of the day. The only downfall was no bathroom (lost their permit) so I was afraid to eat the food cause greasy stuff bothers my stomach. I loved how boats were coming by selling ice cream, ice, peanuts, coconuts & pineapples. No alcohol is sold on the island so you must bring your own. The $11 daiquiri & margarita are virgin. read more

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What an awesome place!!! It was recommended by so many who heard I was vacationing in Destin. It sounded so exotic and wonderful, but actually being there was an awesome experience. This is a stop you definitely have to make if you can. Rent a pontoon or jet ski and drive out to see it. Preferably a pontoon, so you can just anchor and enjoy for a while. If you have kids, for $15/hour you can purchase a wristband for them to scream down water slides and pretend they're american ninja warriors on all of the water obstacle courses. So much fun! I'm a big kid and enjoyed the water slide myself. There's a freakin' restaurant on the water if you want to grab a bite to eat. Or, just load up the pontoon with drinks and snacks to indulge in after you stop. I also bought ice cream from a water peddling ice cream man. He had music and everything that took me back to the good old days when you chased the trucks down to stop. Tried some cajun boiled peanuts for the first time too! You just don't see a place like Crab Island everyday, or pretty shallow water in the middle of a body of water. Definitely figure out a way to squeeze this into your agenda. read more

I had heard of Crab Island from a few friends of mine as well as a few mentions online. While I was in Destin this was one of the "must-do" things I had planned on doing. I am SO glad I did. The made a memory here that will last a lifetime. We began by booking(through a tour company) a three-hour trip out to the Island. It wasn't very expensive. It was easy to find and easy to book. The boat that took us there was spacious and the staff was helpful. Once there, we got off the boat right into the warm crystal clear water and began our time. My kids decided to rent a paddle board. We played volleyball. We ate at one of the floating restaurants. The food was really good. I paid $7 for a pulled pork sandwich. There was a floating general store. There was a floating "ice cream truck" as well a souvenir boat. Most our time we spent looking under water with our snorkel masks. It was a great day spent together as a family. Our trip to Destin wouldn't have been complete without a visit here! read more

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Crystal clear water especially in the morning. You can see fish swimming all around you. Boats selling hats, sunscreen, kookies, and especially ice cream. Perfect for paddle boarding and all around family fun. ** the inflatables wont hold the kids attention for more than an hour, so don't buy more. Also, no one appeared to be checking wristbands. read more

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save the date: wednesday, july 13, 2022 tara's brine baptism to be fully in-brined and join swamp logic with the bleeding heart cult. featuring: a styrofoam cup of boiled peanut brine acquired from the boiled peanut boatboy read more

Looking for a fun place to anchor your boat and enjoy some fun? Crab island is the place to dock your boat, kayak, or other water vessel and hang out. On holidays look out for bands near Crab Island barge. What's great is you can be any age any have a blast here. Check out Mary at the crab island barge for burgers and tshirts. She runs this place like a pro. Be environmentally loving and take everything including cigarettes with you. Please do NOT leave cigarettes in the water. There are floating bars and restaurants which also rent stand up paddle boards and jets skis. Water is crystal blue so you can stand or swim. The bars play music and on holidays there sometimes are bands playing. But many boats have music playing. Can be super crowded during the summer months. There are jumpy playgrounds for kids and several pontoon rentals have boats with slides etc. There is no shortage of fun and people to meet. Make sure to bring trash bags so waste items don't fall into the water. Dewey Destins and Xtreme H2O are across the beach for excellent fresh food and rentals. There are small crabs in the water so you may feel them under your feet at times. BRING more water than you think you will drink and plenty of sunscreen. Make sure to reapply every few hours as the sun is very strong and the reflection of the water intensifies this. Do NOT go fast enough to create a wake as even jet skiers get tickets all day here. $$$ PAY attention to the sign under the bridge as technically you should be passing only under two areas under the bridge as sometimes people fish off of the bridge and you do t want to get caught in their line. Ouch. Remember to keep the ocean clean from bottles and cigarettes as many dolphins and other marine life live here. Best months are Memorial Day until Labor Day. Fireworks and air show on Thursday nights 7pm are a must see from Harbor Walk or Dewey Destins. read more

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Such a beautiful destination-- emerald waters and white sand. You can access by land or by pontoon. I love the local food options and activities that were available for purchase. read more

Crab Island - Sea Cow - Local Flavor Near Me

Crab Island was fantastic. Boat crew was a professional. Make sure that you take a ice cooler with food and drinks.

There are too many drunk doods who ride their boats into my anchor. One time this guy wasnt in gear floating at my boat and said y am i moving my motors not on. read more

Crab Island is GREAT. My family and I rented a pontoon boat for a whole day and this was one of our main stops. It's got a great atmosphere, loud music, fun extracurricular actives like WaveRunners, a water park, paddle boarding, kayaking etc. The only reason I give it 4 stars instead of 5 is because none of the food/drink places serve alcohol as of Nov. 2018 but it still says "Margaritas, Daiquiri " on most of the huts. And not only that but they still charge $12-14 for drinks that have no alcohol. Just remember to bring your own alcohol! Also one of the huts that I posted a picture of has a horrible staircase that's disgusting and rusted that myself and my family member both cut our legs on and there was no sign or being gated off. read more

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All is can can say is AWESOME! What a great place to bring your family! The water is so clear! We have been here twice and we loved it both times! It's not crowded, especially during September. We have has so many great times here. I would highly recommend this area when visiting Destin/PCB. read more

If you're looking for something to do in this tourist town besides eating fried shrimp and having airbrushed t-shirts made, this is the way to go. Crab Island is part beach, part swimming pool, part tailgate party. It's truly an experience you will rarely find anywhere outside of Destin, and something you should try. If you don't own a boat, you can rent a pontoon boat from a number of rental properties around Destin. Get one for the day, fill it with beer and food until it nearly sinks, grab a dozen friends and drop anchor at Crab Island. Then it's time to debauch! You'll spend the day walking around in beautiful waist-deep water, eating, drinking, listening to music and enjoying the local flavor. A word of warning: The local flavor can, on occasion, leave a bad taste in your mouth. Crab Island is a party ground, so you need to be careful, be responsible and take it with a grain of salt. Have fun, but don't get too wild. You want to live to see it again. read more

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Such a fun place to come! Rent a boat or paddle board out here. Water is usually very clear and a lot of people are usually out here. They even have people come around and you can order food or grab a couple hot dogs in the center of everything. GREAT TIME! read more

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Honestly, I was excited before we got there. I heard about his place on Facebook and it was too good to be true. We decided to take a road trip from Cali to Florida for my daughters bday and made sure to make this our first stop. The view over the bridge upon arrival is breathtaking. The topping of the cake is being in the water. Literally being in the center of ocean water and standing in it is amazing!!! My kids had a blast on the floating water park ... as well as my husband. :) read more

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6 year Destin local. I love it. This is one of the gems of Destin. If you visit here...crab island is 100% a must do. Rent a jet ski, get a pontoon boat, or go via paddle board, kayak, or water taxi. Just do it! Crab island is a thing memorial day through labor day. If you're here visiting in the summer you'll be missing out if you don't go! read more

Crab Island is beautiful, a great place to visit ONE time. Our trip to Crab Island could be renamed Jellyfish Island. Mating season for jellyfish made this literally a stinging hell of epic proportions. The kids area needs to consider a bridge or floating dock to get kids to and from the structure. They have some anchored lily pads, but, once again, the jellyfish tortured the parents who had screaming children on their backs. Several stings later, I have to say that if someone asks me if I want to visit Crab Island-yeah. That's gonna be a no for me, Dawg. read more

What a place! Pull your boat up near the other boats- drop anchor - kick back and enjoy. We rented from Aloha and they were excellent. Water is crystal clear when the tide is coming in, but it gets grassy when the tide is going out. If you consider yourself a dancer jump up on the floating dance floor. The kids did and had a ball. Bring your own food and drink because they charge crazy prices out there.. Fyi - the closer you get to the floating bar, the less current in the water. Bring a few floats that you can tie onto the boat. read more

Crab Island - Local Flavor Near Me

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Crab island is a great place to hang out and relax with your party, but do not, I REPEAT DO NOT order anything from the Reef burger stand. I ordered 4 burgers with fries and my total was $122. Yes, you read that right. ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY TWO DOLLARS! That's 1/3 of the price of the pontoon we rented! Absolutely insane. The worker didn't tell us the total. And once we realized that we paid that much for FOUR BURGERS, we questioned how much each one was and she wouldn't tell us how much each burger was. Very unprofessional and disappointing. Won't be coming here again. read more

Debbie is absolutely incredible!!! Seriously the most fun we had when visiting! Hannah and Bonnie are so cute and THE BEST bartenders down here! Thank you all for an amazing time!!! read more

My food came late I waited 2 hours they gave me my apatizers with my food 0/10 do not recommend

My first time coming here it was a bit windy with the winds at about 20 miles an hour maybe this was called from the hurricane Irma, read more

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A super fun and relaxing way to spend your time on the water anywhere! This was the most fun we had the whole time we were in Destin. We rented two pontoon boats with about a group of 25 people and basically drove from the dock 10 minutes straight to Crab Island. We anchored and tied up with the other boat in about 2 1/2 feet of crystal clear water among other boats in the area. The nice part of the shallow water and the huge area is that you feel safe with children as young a 4 floating around or walking in the water. There is not much sea life to speak of with the exception of schools of small fish that like to nip at your toes and of course the Hermit Crabs. Other than that, it is mostly a white sandy bottom. We brought several nets for the kids to dive for Hermit Crabs and it was quite addictive for the adults too. We probably captured about fifty over the six hours that we were there. From where we were anchored, it was about a 100 yard walk to a barge where you could buy a bracelet for $10 that would allow the kids to use some inflatables in the water for an hour. They had a big floating trampoline and a 20 foot water slide. The kids had a blast. We packed coolers with drinks and snacks, but there are floating food barges that have burgers, pulled pork and other snacks. I was too occupied drinking and enjoying the cool water to hike to the nearest barge. But some people who did said it was good and it was about $6 for a sandwich and chips. Next time we go to Destin this will be on the to do list for sure. read more

Crab Island is a lot of fun. You need a boat to get there, but don't worry you can always find someone with a boat who would be willing to take you, or you can rent a jet ski for a few hours and drive yourself. Its this funky little spot in the bay north side of the Destin Bridge. Boats throw their anchors, blast some music and everyone mingles. Its kind of like a daytime club where everyone is super friendly, drinking, and enjoying beach life. I went on a Saturday with friends who had a boat. It was about a 15 min ride from Ft. Walton Beach (where they keep their boat). After anchoring and jumping in the water I noticed that it was really shallow. I think the deepest it got was up to my chest (so 4 feet?) Walking towards the food stands it only got more shallow.. maybe down to 2 feet. Lots of people brought their dogs, and I didn't see too many kids around. With all the alcohol I probably would not encourage children to come here unless they stayed close to mom and dad on their own boat. Bring cash- there are a couple of places to buy food, drink, and ice cream, but they only take cash. One place has hot dogs and hamburgers, the other I saw (and didnt visit) had seafood stuffs. A word of advice.. watch out for the jelly fish. They will sting the @&#($*# out of you. I definitely had some rogue jelly tentacles hit me and it was oh so painful. I saw a girl who had apparently sat on one and her whole bum was messed up. BE CAREFUL! Yea and you can bring whatever you want to the party, just promise me you wont drink and drive. read more

Cool place. The only way getting to crab island is via boat. The water is shallow enough to stand on. They sell ice cream, food and drinks on the island. It gets pretty packed on holidays, and people get pretty drunk and krunk. We went on a Memorial Day weeknd, so it wasn't the best time of the year in term of blue/beautiful water. But it's worth checking out if you ever go to Destin. read more

Went to Destin for the first time and Crab Island was beautiful! We went early, around 10am so it was hardly crowded. Very family friendly. My one and only complaint was the jellyfish! Not sure if it's a seasonal thing.. but like 5 minutes after getting off the boat... I felt a horrible sting on the back of my leg! I turn around and I see a sea nettle jellyfish. I got back on the boat to ice it cause I desperately wanted to soothe the burning sensation. 15 minutes later, my friend gets stung as well. We didn't want to get off the boat after that. We'd spot one floating by like every 5 minutes. It's hard to relax when you're constantly having to check your surroundings for jellyfish. Other than that, Crab Island is a little paradise worth visiting. read more

Crab Island - Watch out for sea nettle jellyfish (went on July 21st) - Local Flavor Near Me

After a few days on the beach, I always get bored. Crab Island was a great place to go to do something different and still be in the water. We anchored the boat for the afternoon and hung out and chilled out. It's a unique experience that's worth it. The food of the floating islands is ok. Nothing spectacular but it'll do. We didn't realize this but it's also great for kids. Other people had brought a bunch of floats for the kids and they loved it. read more

One word, EPIC.! This place has been the highlight of my summer thus far. My friends and I took a cruise boat to crab island we booked with Sun Venture Cruises. The water is calm, u can just sit in your floaties, drift away and RELAX. Even kids are safe out, water is only about waist deep. Just be sure to bring some cash so you can buy a burger, drink, rent jet ski or stand up paddle board. Anything u can think of is out there. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT leave Destin without paying crab island a visit. read more

Crab Island - Crab island June 2014 - Local Flavor Near Me

One of the best things I have ever experienced from all my yearly trips to Florida!!!! read more

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It's almost timeeeeee for crab island! Can't wait. Boat is ready to go!

Well, over glorified spot to my taste. According to my youngest if "you enjoy walking half waist in water and hang out on the boat" it's your place. Unless you come to drink, have a little kids and like wet obstacle stuff it's not really so fun as they advertise. Great party spot no doubt, just not for us. Food was good surprisingly read more

This is a must when you are at the Gulf Coast. Clear water, friendly people, & a great time!!