Given we stayed here way longer than planned, we got to know this park and the people who work there much more than usual. And given how they helped us out in our time of need, are review and perspective is probably a bit biased. But for those looking to camp in this area of Florida, thought we’d provide a review.
First off, this area of the Florida panhandle is really laid back, sitting between Destin and Pensacola (both about 30-45 minutes away). Other than one weekend during Atlanta Spring Break, we never found there to be heavy traffic or issues getting into any place, restaurant, etc. Navarre is on the Santa Rosa Sound with Navarre Beach just across the bridge. The beaches are wonderful, featuring the flour/sugar soft sand that this area of Florida is known for. In addition to the Navarre Beach Park, just 15 minutes down the road is the Gulf Shores National Seashore with terrific beach access and miles and miles of empty beaches. If you do need activities and the bustle of more bars, restaurants, etc., you can be in the middle of it in Destin (east) and Pensacola (west) are a short drive away.
With regards to the park, it might not be the fanciest in the area (that award goes to Santa Rosa RV Park just down the street) but it has some great amenities that include:
- Heated pool
- Inexpensive laundry facilities
- Concrete pads and picnic table areas
- Great soft sand beach on the sound (never have big waves!)
- 325′ pier with fishing allowed with no permits needed
- Tiki huts with stools and tables over the beach to watch the sunsets
- Great cable and OK WiFi
- Kayak rentals
- Activities center
- Very friendly office staff as well as campers
On top of this, they have created two emergency/temp spaces which, of course, came in very useful to us in our time of need. In addition to our need, they also helped out a man who had a heart attack while visiting the area and a family who needed a place to camp while tending to their parents who were in a local hospital due to an auto accident. We really lucked out when we picked this place.
In summary, there are more fancy campgrounds around but you can’t beat the amenities and the people at Emerald Beach RV Resort