Choctawhatchee Bay

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 334 km2. It is an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, connected to it through East Pass (also known as Destin Pass). It also connects to Santa Rosa Sound in Fort Walton Beach, Florida to the west and to St. Andrews Bay in Bay County to the east, via the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. East Pass is the only outlet of the bay flowing directly into the Gulf of Mexico. The Choctawhatchee River flows into Choctawhatchee Bay, as do several smaller rivers and streams. The Mid-Bay Bridge crosses the bay, connecting the city of Destin to Niceville, Florida. Second bridge across the bay is the Judge Clyde B. Wells Bridge.

History


The bay was charted by Spanish, French, and English expeditions, The bay appears on some charts as "St. Rose's Bay".

Following the Treaty of Moultrie Creek, small bands of Creeks lived on the shores of Choctawhatchee Bay.

Military Use
As noted in a 1993 Eglin AFB report, Test Area D-55 was originally installed in the World War II era by Eglin Air Force Base 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
 * Destin
 * Santa Rosa Beach
 * Freeport
 * Niceville
 * Shalimar
 * Valparaiso

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

Rivers

 * Choctawhatchee River
 * Mitchell River
 * Black Creek

Bayous

 * LaGrange Bayou
 * Alaqua Bayou
 * 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