Did you know that the Navarre Beach Fishing Pier has been celebrated as the longest fishing pier extending into the Gulf of Mexico?

The pier features concrete piles and an octagonal end design with a surface area of approximately 3,800 square feet. It was constructed using more than 370 breakaway wood panels, which detach during heavy wave action to help preserve the integrity of the structure and reduce potential storm repair costs.

With a total surface area exceeding 32,000 square feet, the pier offers anglers ample space to fish 30 feet above the Gulf. The deck was renovated in 2020, providing even more room for visitors to enjoy with family and friends.

Inside the pier store, fishermen can find last-minute fishing necessities, while visitors can browse souvenirs, snacks and drinks.

Take a walk along the pier and you may see everything from manta rays and sharks to cobia, Spanish mackerel and massive schools of baitfish. It’s like visiting an outdoor aquarium.

Pelicans and great blue herons often perch on the railings, hoping for a handout and posing for photos. The pier is a great way to experience the beauty of the Gulf of Mexico while immersing yourself in the unique culture of the local fishing community.

Fishing inshore, utilizing the Santa Rosa Sound as well as the Escambia, East and Choctawhatchee bays, you will find speckled trout, white trout, sheepshead, redfish, gray snapper and flounder waiting to grab your bait.

Do you enjoy relaxing on the Gulf beaches in your chair with your fishing rods staked out in the sand? You will find Florida pompano, redfish, whiting, bluefish and ladyfish, along with beautiful, clean water in abundance.

Move out onto one of the local fishing piers, and you can add king and Spanish mackerel, cobia, hardtail jacks (blue runners) and jack crevalle to your catch.

If inshore trolling is your game, then pulling your baits in the Gulf waters will allow you to encounter bonita (little tunny), Spanish and king mackerel, cobia, barracuda, blackfin tuna and mahi-mahi.

Six- to eight-hour fishing trips offshore is where the action really heats up. Red snapper, vermilion snapper (locally called “mingoes”), gray triggerfish, amberjack, white snapper (red porgies), lane snapper and three species of grouper (red, gag and scamp) will not only ensure great fishing action, but also provide you with fine meals afterward.

Making trips longer than eight hours offshore will take you out to where the big amberjack, snapper and grouper live, as well as yellowfin tuna and an assortment of billfish.

Whether wetting a line at the closest shore or spending a night out on the Gulf, the Emerald Coast can provide all the fishing challenge and excitement you desire.