Pensacola Marina Recommendations

[Sadey]

Moving our 60MY down to the panhandle in December-January. Looking for marina suggestions in the Pensacola area. Fort Walton might work but the closer to Pensacola the better.

 

[bostonhatteras]

I’m going to be in Destin /Eglin area next week for the week. Got the Tiara 20 to tool around in. Happy to scout out marinas for you. Pensacola is ok too as I’ll be at Eglin AFB and Pensacola NAS. We have it pretty easy with Ben’s lake marina on base, 25 minutes to the gulf.

 

[Sadey]

Main reason for Pensacola is easy access to the airport for the commute to work. Appreciate any suggestions/help!

 

[Sadey]

You guys have great deals and you deserve it, thank you for my freedom!

 

[oldawg]

Palofax. Right downtown. Lots of good restaurants etc. Floating dock. Kept my 52 there for quite a while. Only issue is storms. Boat has to be moved out for a named storm. It's a real PITA. Probably the principal reason I quit the big boat business.

 

[bigbill]

i agree with greg above, a little further to the west the wharf in orange beach is a first class place with plenty to do on site

 

[captruffcs]

From a location to all of the downtown activities, Palafox is the best. However I learned after Hurricane Sally that the break wall doesn’t extend all the way down to the sea floor and during storms the waves will move under the break wall. Marina Management Corp (MMC) owns this Marina as well as the Seville Harbor which is by the fish house restaurant. These are the best locations for proximity to the town. You may want to check the many different marinas on bayou Chico, they’re several there. Marine max has a nice marina but I’m not sure of availability. I know an excellent marine service guy and he may have some connections and if you need anything installed, fixed or regular maintenance he’s top notch. LMK and I’ll be happy to connect you with him.

 

[Sadey]

Looks like a great spot. We’ll only be there for a short stay outside of hurricane season. I’ll reach out. Thanks for the PM captruffcs.

 

[dottieshusband]

I've always enjoyed Baytowne Marina in Destin. VPS airport.

 

[captruffcs]

I've always enjoyed Baytowne Marina in Destin. VPS airport.

Baytowne is definitely nice. Probably pretty windy during the Winter, if I recall not much blocking the north winds. Pretty sunrise and sunsets, golf cart and bike rentals will get you to everywhere you need to go.

 

[Sadey]

Unfortunately Pensacola is the only airport with direct service from Miami which really limits our choices.

 

[bostonhatteras]

VPS to Miami is a regular flight by southwest and American, albeit not direct as you say. The drive to Pensacola is 45 minutes? This marina is scheduled to open Labor Day. It’s on the strip in Destin and just at a no wake zone outside Santa Rosa Sound. The outer fixed docks are well over 60’ long.

 

[bostonhatteras]

Sun set isle marina is about 20 minutes from VPS. 30 max with work day rush hour traffic

 

[bostonhatteras]

This is from Drew, dockmaster at Palofox main location You probably know these figures already. He says they prorate on less than year lease.

 

[bostonhatteras]

From a location to all of the downtown activities, Palafox is the best. However I learned after Hurricane Sally that the break wall doesn’t extend all the way down to the sea floor and during storms the waves will move under the break wall. Marina Management Corp (MMC) owns this Marina as well as the Seville Harbor which is by the fish house restaurant. These are the best locations for proximity to the town. You may want to check the many different marinas on bayou Chico, they’re several there. Marine max has a nice marina but I’m not sure of availability. I know an excellent marine service guy and he may have some connections and if you need anything installed, fixed or regular maintenance he’s top notch. LMK and I’ll be happy to connect you with him.

The dock master made no excuses about this and it was a main point he used to detail the marina concerning storm conditions Likely to not be remedied as the marina owner wants to revamp the wall at considerable cost to him but wants concessions from Pensacola city gov who owns the wall. Gov couldn’t care less

 

[Sadey]

I spoke with Drew at Palofax this morning. Right now they are only leasing slips as they haven’t recovered from the hurricane suggested a call back and November December to see if there’s a space. We won’t have a car when we’re in the panhandle so I was looking for a simple Uber. But based on availability, we might have to widen our search. That new marina looks enticing.