Choctawhatchee Bay is a bay in the

Emerald Coast The Emerald Coast is an unofficial name for the coastal area in the US state of Florida on the Gulf of Mexico that stretches about through five counties, Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, and Bay, which include Pensacola Beach, Navar ...

region of the

Florida Panhandle The Florida Panhandle (also West Florida and Northwest Florida) is the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Florida; it is a Salient (geography), salient roughly long and wide, lying between Alabama on the north and the west, Georgia (U. ...

. The bay, located within Okaloosa and

Walton Walton may refer to: People * Walton (given name) * Walton (surname) * Susana, Lady Walton (1926–2010), Argentine writer Places Canada * Walton, Nova Scotia, a community ** Walton River (Nova Scotia) *Walton, Ontario, a hamlet United Kingdo ...

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

, has a surface area of . It is an inlet of the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

, connected to it through

East Pass East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

(also known as Destin Pass). It also connects to

Santa Rosa Sound Santa Rosa Sound is a sound connecting Pensacola Bay and Choctawhatchee Bay in Florida. The northern shore consists of the Fairpoint Peninsula and portions of the mainland in Santa Rosa County and Okaloosa County. It is bounded to the south by S ...

Fort Walton Beach, Florida Fort Walton Beach is a city in southern Okaloosa County, Florida. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 20,922, up from 19,507 in 2010. It is the principal city of the Fort Walton Beach− Crestview− Destin Metropolitan Statistical Area ...

to the west and to St. Andrews Bay in

Bay County Bay County is the name of three counties: * Bay County, Florida, United States * Bay County, Michigan, United States * Baicheng County Baicheng County () as the official romanized name, also transliterated from Uyghur as Bay County (pronounced l ...

to the east, via the

Gulf Intracoastal Waterway The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway is the portion of the Intracoastal Waterway located along the Gulf Coast of the United States. It is a navigable inland waterway running approximately from Carrabelle, Florida, to Brownsville, Texas. The waterw ...

. East Pass is the only outlet of the bay flowing directly into the Gulf of Mexico. The

Choctawhatchee River The Choctawhatchee River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map , accessed 15 April 2011 river in the southern United States, flowing through southeast Alabama and the Panhandle o ...

flows into Choctawhatchee Bay, as do several smaller rivers and streams. The

Mid-Bay Bridge The Mid-Bay Bridge is a 141-span, , two-lane toll bridge in Okaloosa County in the Florida Panhandle. It connects U.S. Highway 98 in Destin to State Road 20 in Niceville. The bridge generally runs north-south; the approaches to the bridge car ...

crosses the bay, connecting the city of Destin to

Niceville, Florida Niceville is a city in Okaloosa County, Florida, United States, located near Eglin Air Force Base on Boggy Bayou that opens into Choctawhatchee Bay. The population was 11,684 at the 2000 census. The 2010 census population for Niceville was 12,7 ...

History

The bay was charted by

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

, French, and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

expeditions, The bay appears on some charts as "St. Rose's Bay". Following the

Treaty of Moultrie Creek The Treaty of Moultrie Creek was an agreement signed in 1823 between the government of the United States and the chiefs of several groups and bands of Indians living in the present-day state of Florida. The treaty established a reservation in t ...

, small bands of Creeks lived on the shores of Choctawhatchee Bay.

Military Use

As noted in a 1993

Eglin AFB Eglin Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base in the western Florida Panhandle, located about southwest of Valparaiso in Okaloosa County. The host unit at Eglin is the 96th Test Wing (formerly the 96th Air Base Wing). The 9 ...

report, Test Area D-55 was originally installed in the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

era by

Eglin Air Force Base Eglin Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base in the western Florida Panhandle, located about southwest of Valparaiso in Okaloosa County. The host unit at Eglin is the 96th Test Wing (formerly the 96th Air Base Wing). The ...

with "omnidirectional radar corner reflectors''"'' on top to be used as a radar target range. Test Area D-55 is formed by 25 arrays of 2,040 wood pilings placed east of the Clyde B. Wells Bridge. They are located in 8 feet of water and the array extends for 1.2 miles.

Municipalities

Several towns and cities are located around the Choctawhatchee Bay: *

Fort Walton Beach Fort Walton Beach is a city in southern Okaloosa County, Florida. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 20,922, up from 19,507 in 2010. It is the principal city of the Fort Walton Beach− Crestview− Destin Metropolitan Statistical Area ...

* Destin *

Santa Rosa Beach Santa Rosa Beach is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Walton County, Florida, Walton County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Fort Walton Beach-Crestview-Destin, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Santa R ...

* Freeport * Niceville *

Shalimar Shalimar or Shalamar refers to three historic royal gardens (or Baghs) of the Mughal Empire in South Asia: * Shalimar Bagh, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India; built in 1619 * Shalimar Gardens, Lahore, Pakistan; a UNESCO World Heritage Site built i ...

* Valparaiso

Tributaries

Below are a few of the tributary rivers and bayous that feed into the Choctawhatchee Bay.

Rivers

* Mitchell River * Black Creek

Bayous

LaGrange Bayou LaGrange Bayou is a bayou located in Walton County, Florida with Freeport, Florida located along its banks. It is fed by Four Mile Creek, Ramsey Branch, and Mallet Bayou. The LaGrange Bayou flows out to the Choctawhatchee Bay Choctawhatchee ...

Alaqua Bayou Choctawhatchee Bay is a bay in the Emerald Coast region of the Florida Panhandle. The bay, located within Okaloosa and Walton counties, has a surface area of . It is an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, connected to it through East Pass (also kno ...

* Basin Bayou * Rocky Bayou * Boggy Bayou * Cinco Bayou

Lakes

* Pippin Lake * Jack Lake * Lower Memorial Lake * Bens Lake * Lake Lorraine * Lake Vivian * Lake Clyde * Lake Earl

References

Bays of Florida on the Gulf of Mexico Bodies of water of Okaloosa County, Florida Bodies of water of Walton County, Florida {{WaltonCountyFL-geo-stub