Things to do / Travel Guide
Address:Port St. Joe, Florida
The buzz around St. Joseph Peninsula State Park Beach on the Florida Panhandle began around Memorial Day in 2002. A guest on the Today Show, Dr. Beach (a.k.a. Dr. Stephen P. Leatherman) announced that St. Joseph Peninsula State Park was the country's #1 beach. Diehard fans did the "I told you so" dance, further convinced that their favorite ten miles of white, soft sand dunes and warm, emerald waters were truly the best of the best. But that is hardly the end of the story—St. Joseph Peninsula State Park Beach's positive press grows each year. Likened to a Gilligan's Island paradise, it is the quiet, natural beauty that sets St. Joseph Peninsula State Park Beach apart from its other, more plastic Florida coastal competition. With top-notch canoeing, kayaking, fishing, swimming, snorkeling, boating, wildlife observation, bird watching, and camping, St. Joseph Peninsula State Park Beach is the kind of beach package that sells itself.
Located on a spot of land along Cape San Blas, St. Joseph Peninsula State Park offers beaches on both the Gulf of Mexico and St. Joseph's Bay. And with water temperatures averaging in the 80s (Fahrenheit), it is no wonder that swimmers spout nothing but praises for St. Joseph Peninsula State Park waters. Canoe or kayak around the gulf or bay—rentals are available just near the entrance to the park. And if you are a seasoned skipper looking for a place to sink an anchor, St. Joseph is well equipped with a boat ramp and a small marina.
And while plenty of (human) tourists make the trek out to St. Joseph Peninsula State Park Beach every year, the animal kingdom continues to claim the sands for their own year-round retreats. During the summer, loggerhead turtles and a wide range of shorebirds snuggle down to nest in the sixty foot high sand dunes that line St. Joseph Peninsula State Park Beach's Gulf side, and the endangered St. Andrews beach mouse makes its home in the rolling, oat covered sandy hills. More than 209 bird species live in St. Joseph Peninsula State Park: piping plovers hang out on the bay shore during winter, the Snowy Plovers take over during spring and summer, and hawks claim the skies in the fall. The best areas for bird watching are along the bay shore, the sandpine scrub, and among the dunes. Monarch butterflies float above colorful wildflowers during fall making St. Joseph Peninsula State Park seem like a kind of fairyland. Keep your eyes open for the more bloodthirsty elements of the animal kingdom, too, as swarms of mosquitoes and alligator families often claim the swamp and marsh areas.
But if finned friends interest you more than those with legs and wings, St. Joseph Peninsula State Park Beach is also a great place to both look at and bring home fish. Snorkel around St. Joseph Bay's clear, shallow waters teeming with sea horses, brittle stars, hermit, fiddler, and horseshoe crabs, octopi, and bay scallops. If you want to touch (and take home), rent a small offshore fishing boat on St. George Island to catch speckled trout, red drum, flounder, mullet, and bluefish. Or try your hand at scalloping, allowed July through mid-September, and you will likely find them hiding out in the sea grass. Walk the bayside shores to have a look at the sea urchins, sand dollars, and wide range of shells that regularly wash ashore.
Stick around to watch the sun sink into the sea—sunsets at St. Joseph are superb—and then unroll your sleeping bag and sleep under the St. Joe stars. The park offers full-facility and wilderness camping as well as eight loft-style fully equipped cabins on the bay shore. No matter the length of your stay, the untouched beauty of St. Joseph Peninsula State Park Beach will make a devoted fan out of you, too!