Navarre Beach, Florida - an island in paradise

Navarre Beach, Florida - a little taste of paradise

If you enjoy wading through emerald green waters and strolling along sugar sand beaches, then Navarre Beach is the place for you.  Navarre is located on Santa Rosa Island just off the panhandle of Florida, a little east of Pensacola. 

Thirty years ago, Navarre was known as the location where most of the movie Jaws 2 was filmed.  As a little girl, I remember many family vacations to this beautiful island--chasing sandpipers down sandy shores and body surfing in foam-crested waves.  Back then, the island's main structures were a Holiday Inn hotel and a few scattered beach houses.  Today, there are few high-rise condominiums and hundreds of beach houses all along the island.  Navarre is still off the beaten path of the busier beach towns of Northwest Florida, but this makes it even more charming and family-friendly.

Some of the things you can find on the island are gift shops, pet stores, island clothing, day-spas, surfboard gear, bicycle rentals, custom gift-baskets, furniture, antiques, and more.  There are also a growing variety of local retail stores, with virtually any goods and services. 

Also found nearby are waterfront and seafood dining, as well as your favorite nationally known fast food and eat-in establishments.  Santa Rosa Mall is nearby in Fort Walton.  The beauty and splendor of Navarre Beach is just how I remember it from my summer vacations 30 years ago and I look forward to building the same memories with my children as well.

Here are some family-friendly area attractions: 

Northwest Florida Zoo, Gulf Breeze, FL

$8.25 (Children 3-11)

$11.50 Adults (12-61)

$10.50 Seniors (62+)

The Northwest Florida Zoo is in Gulf Breeze, Florida about a 10 minute drive from Navarre Beach.  I was pleasantly surprised by this zoo!  It boasts over 1,200 animals, with a train that takes passengers through 30 acres of free-ranging wildlife including zebras, wildebeest, ostrich, deer, and hippos. In fact, it reminded me a lot of the movie Jurassic Park, with gates that slide closed as you enter the area where the animals roam free.  Thankfully, there was no T-rex to chase after us, but we did have a close encounter with an ostrich that came in for a closer look--about a foot from the back of the train where we were sitting.  Another big hit with the kids was hand-feeding the giraffes.  Watching their long dark-colored tongues extend out and wrap around leaves from our hands was a lot of fun.  Visitors can also purchase food for the petting zoo animals.  We enjoyed feeding goats, cows, and rabbits.  This zoo really has a wonderful natural habitat for the animals.  We walked trails that wound around to visit foxes, kangaroos, lions, leopards, bears, bats, chimpanzees, and much, much more.  The only exhibit that we missed were the snakes, but we were able to see everything else in just over 2 hours.  It is well worth a visit if you are coming to the area.  The zoo is open daily from 9am - 5pm.

Florida's Gulfarium, Fort Walton, FL

$19.25 (11 and older)

$11.50 (3-10)

$16.75 Seniors (62+)

2 and under FREE

Another great place for family fun is the Gulfarium.  Every 2 hours, you can attend a sea creature show, including a dolphin show, sea lion show, and multi-species show.  We were able to see the dolphin and sea lion shows and they were very interactive and fun to watch.  All the shows have covered stadium seating and the dolphin show allows visitors to stand around the pool to get an up-close view of the acrobatics.  But, watch-out as the up-close view is known as the splash zone!  The Gulfarium also has an exhibit where visitors can see alligators, various birds, tropical fish, sharks, and stingrays.  There is also an area where visitors can touch horseshoe stingrays and other sea creatures.  The Gulfarium was fun for our family, but the shows may be hard for small children to sit through.  Also, the admission prices seemed pretty high  for what you get--especially considering that we only live a few hours from the Georgia Aquarium, which is comparable in price, but far exceeds any other aquarium or gulfarium we have ever visited.  So, if money is no option at the beach, then the Gulfarium may be worth it to your family.  It was worth a one-time investment for us.

Butterfly House and Nature Park

Free