BEACH OPERATIONS
Welcome to South Walton - the official site on the 26-mile stretch of turquoise waters and sugar-white sand beaches in Northwest Florida. Choose your perfect beach. 16 unique beach neighborhoods.
The Grayton Beach Community Center is located at 44 Hotz Avenue in Grayton Beach. The design has been completed and the application for the Development Order has been submitted. Once completed, the 1,600 +/- square foot building will house a local information station, restrooms, observation deck, a boardwalk to the beach and access to our transit shuttle. Work is anticipated to begin this Fall 2024.
Grayton Beach Municipal Parking Facility, formerly referred to as the "Grayton Central" parking lot, is 6.995 acres and is located on the eastern portion of County Road 283 South, across from the Shoppes at Grayton. The contract has been awarded and construction is anticipated to begin in February and take approximately 10 months to complete. Once finished, the facility will have 180 +/- parking spaces, dedicated ADA, electric car, LSV, and bicycle parking areas, restrooms, public transportation facilities, and connectivity to the multi-use path. We anticipate keeping part of the parking facility available to the public during construction.
Seagrove RBA, Plans and permitting are complete and the project has been advertised for bid, with a bid closing mid-February. Once the contract has been awarded, construction will take approximately 10 months. This project includes parking with dedicated spaces for standard vehicles, ADA, LSV, and bicycles, a 1,000 square foot +/- restroom facility, handicap-accessible dune walkover and connectivity to the multi-use path.
Walton Dunes Regional Beach Access is located at 258 Beachfront Trail. Currently under appeal with the Zoning Board of Adjustments, the Walton Dunes project is on hold until a final determination of the validity of the Development Order can be made. Improvements are expected to include 14 parallel ROW parking spaces with dedicated ADA, LSV, and bicycle parking, restrooms and an ADA-accessible boardwalk.
Capital Improvement Updates:
The Walton County Tourism Department continues to take an active approach to improve parking and transportation throughout the county. Here's a look at some projects currently undergoing or preparing for improvements.
393 Municipal Parking Facility, This 2.3-acre parcel is located north of the Gulf Place Town Center on the west side of County Road 393. The contract has been awarded and construction is anticipated to begin in February. This project will add 83 parking spaces with dedicated parking for ADA, LSV, bicycles, and a 1,300 square foot transit building with a restroom facility. Construction is expected to begin in February and will take approximately six months to complete.
The Cessna Landing Park Improvements project is located at 1689 County Highway 393 N., in Santa Rosa Beach and is out for bid, with a bid closing in February. Plans are to add two additional docks, replace the existing pavilions, and reconfigure existing driveways and parking areas. Additional work will include hardscape, landscape, site utilities, site grading/drainage, and stormwater systems.
Updates on Other Capital Improvement Projects:
- The Driftwood Road Municipal Parking is on a 1.119-acre parcel located at 76 Driftwood Road in Miramar Beach.The Technical Review Committee has reviewed the plans, and we expect to receive the development order soon. Plans include a parking lot containing 67 spaces with dedicated parking for ADA, LSV, bicycles, a public transit stop, and a restroom facility.
- Kellogg Park Project is located at 855 Nursery Road in Santa Rosa Beach. This proposed community/nature center will be a 1,800- square-foot assembly-style building for nature watching and community gatherings, with access to the kayak launch. Status: Design development with coastal cottage architecture is ongoing.
- Camp Creek Lake Canoe & Kayak Launch is located at 121 S. Camp Creek Road South just north of 30A. This coastal dune lake access park will include ADA and bicycle parking, landscape, an ADA-accessible pier with canoe/kayak launch, and stormwater systems. Plans have been submitted to the Technical Review Committee, with anticipation of receiving a Development Order by February.
- Headland Street Neighborhood Beach Access is located in the South Headland Avenue right-of-way and will provide improved pedestrian access with a new sidewalk, boardwalk, dune walkover, and connectivity to the multi-use path. Status: Design/permitting efforts continue. Construction is expected to begin in early Spring 2024.
- Miramar Beach Municipal Parking Project is a 4.5-acre parcel in Miramar Beach to be used for a beach-related municipal parking project. Status: Task order for master planning has not been issued pending coordination with Public Works engineering efforts.
Beach Access & Customary Use Reminder:
While there have been changes for customary use of private beachfront property, much is still evolving currently. If guests have concerns, we hope the below information will be helpful.
Things to keep in mind:
- Walton County Tourism currently maintains 58 public beach access points, including ten Regional Public Beach Accesses complete with parking, restroom facilities, and lifeguards. South Walton also enjoys additional miles of public beach thanks to our State Parks. The customary use changes do not affect our public beaches, only privately-owned beachfront property.
- A user-friendly interactive map of public beach access points can be found here: visitsouthwalton.com/beach-and-bay-access-locations
- Many beach neighborhoods and resorts already have dedicated beach areas available for guests staying with them.
- Customary use is a common-law term referring to the public access of the privately-owned beachfront property. Some Gulf-front properties in Florida have a property line that extends to the mean high-water line.
- Essentially, some beachfront homeowners are restricting access to the dry sandy areas behind their homes. All wet sand areas remain undisputed public property and beachgoers cannot be excluded from these areas. The Walton County Sheriff’s Office will be the governing force for any conflicts or complications that may arise on the space in front of properties now considered private property.
- No, you can absolutely still walk our beautiful beaches for as far as you wish. There will still be plenty of space in the wet sand area for beach-walkers to enjoy, and plenty of public beach where access is in no way under dispute.
Walton County Tourism Department - Beach Operations
924 County Hwy 83 S.
Santa Rosa Beach, Fla. 32459
(850) 267-4578
Deliveries are received between 8 a.m. - 3:30 p.m., Monday - Friday.
Beach Operations includes beach maintenance and re-nourishment, construction and maintenance of regional beach accesses, neighborhood beach accesses, bay parks, municipal parking facilities, and the multi-use trail, as well as maintenance of U.S. Highway 331 Scenic Corridor, U.S. Highway 98 Scenic Corridor, County Route 30A Scenic Corridor, and the Scenic Gulf Drive Corridor.
- Operates 7 days a week from 6 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
- Maintains and cleans 60+ beach, lake and bay accesses. All regional beach access restrooms and pavilions are cleaned and restocked twice daily.
- Maintains and services approximately 700 garbage collection stations located on the beach, at the regional/neighborhood beach accesses, and along the multi-use trail. All garbage collection stations are emptied daily.
- Maintains and clears 26 miles of multi-use trail. The entire trail and adjacent right of way are cut, edged, and cleared of litter, sand, and debris weekly.
- Maintains the U.S. Highway 331, U.S. Highway 98, County Route 30A and Scenic Gulf Drive corridors.
- Coordinates and manages architects/engineers/consultants for capital improvement projects and beach re-nourishment projects.
- Destination Improvement Committee - Advises the Walton County Tourism Department on destination improvements in the areas of capital projects, visitor center renovations, signage, safety, parks, and paths.
Beach Code Compliance is now under the jurisdiction of the Walton County Code Compliance Department. For more information visit co.walton.fl.us/90/Code-Compliance.
46 Coastal Centre Blvd.
Santa Rosa Beach, Fla.
Phone: (850) 622-0000
To report a beach code compliance violation, please complete the Beach Code Compliance Complaint Form, found here.
