See the Boat Ramps web page for an interactive location map.
A boat ramp for launching canoes, kayaks, and other hand-paddled watercraft into Choctawhatchee Bay near the mouth of Santa Rosa Sound is located in the Okaloosa Area of Gulf Islands National Seashore. The ramp has its own parking lot and is separate from the rest of the beach area. No overnight parking is allowed.
The Okaloosa Area Boat Ramp used to accommodate small motorboats launching from trailers, but recent hurricanes have damaged it, and trailer launching is no longer allowed. The National Park Service has nice signs up at the ramp stating the new policy, so it doesn’t look like they plan on fixing things. Even when you could launch motorboats, it wasn’t advisable to do so since the water is very shallow and you often had to drive your vehicle far into the bay for the boat to float off the trailer.
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Last updated on April 28, 2022