Okaloosa Island

Okaloosa Island is the Emerald Coast’s best-kept open secret: the same emerald water and sugar-white sand as Destin, with fewer crowds, easier parking, and a laid-back beach-town feel that never left. This narrow stretch of Santa Rosa Island sits between Fort Walton Beach and Destin, a barrier island strip of beachfront hotels, seafood restaurants, and Gulf-front bars where sunsets are the nightly event.

Orientation is simple, because there’s essentially one road. Okaloosa Island lies in Okaloosa County, connected to downtown Fort Walton Beach by the Brooks Bridge on its west end and to Destin by the Marler Bridge over East Pass on its east end — about ten minutes to either. Much of the land east of the developed strip is undeveloped, part of the Eglin Air Force Base reservation, which is why miles of dunes here remain wild. Santa Rosa Sound runs along the island’s back side, giving you calm bayside water and Gulf surf within a five-minute walk of each other.

Things to Do on Okaloosa Island

The Okaloosa Island Pier is the local institution — a quarter-mile fishing pier where anglers pull in pompano and king mackerel and everyone else comes for the view. Next door, the Gulfarium Marine Adventure Park has been introducing families to dolphins and sea turtles since 1955, and the boardwalk between them clusters beachside restaurants like Angler’s Beachside Grill and Rockin’ Tacos. Deep-sea trips with operators like One Shot Charters run from the island’s marinas, and the wide public beaches — with far more free and low-cost parking than Destin — are the everyday draw.

The island eats well, too: steamed platters at Old Bay Steamer, counter-service Gulf seafood at Stewby’s Seafood Shanty, oysters at AJ’s Oyster Shanty. Beachfront stays like The Island Resort, Waterscape Resort, and the Hilton Garden Inn put the sand at your door, most with pools or lazy rivers for the kids.

Local tips: summer weekends fill the pier-area lots by late morning, so go early or aim for the accesses along the strip; spring and fall bring the same water with half the traffic; and watch the Brooks Bridge at rush hour — it’s the only way off the island to the west. For families who want Destin’s beaches without Destin’s bustle, Okaloosa Island is the answer.