Santa Rosa Sound

Santa Rosa Sound is a saltwater sound in northwest Florida, not a lake. It links Pensacola Bay to the west with Choctawhatchee Bay to the east. The Fairpoint Peninsula and parts of the mainland in Santa Rosa and Okaloosa counties form its northern shore. Santa Rosa Island, whose easternmost part is called Okaloosa Island, bounds it on the south and separates it from the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway runs through the sound between Pensacola Beach and Fort Walton Beach.

Three bridges cross the sound to the barrier island. From west to east they are the Bob Sikes Bridge from Gulf Breeze to Pensacola Beach (65 feet of clearance), the Navarre Beach Causeway from Navarre to Navarre Beach (55 feet) and the Brooks Bridge (US 98) from Fort Walton Beach to Okaloosa Island (50 feet). The first two have the lowest clearances of any spans over the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. Public launches are run by the Santa Rosa Island Authority (Quietwater Beach and Pensacola Beach Park West), Santa Rosa County (Navarre Beach, Oriole Beach, Woodlawn Beach and Nantahala Beach), the City of Gulf Breeze (Shoreline Park), the City of Mary Esther (Misty Water Park), the City of Fort Walton Beach (Liza Jackson Park and Fort Walton Beach Landing) and Gulf Islands National Seashore. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) rule 68D-24.146 sets vessel speed restrictions around the Brooks Bridge boating safety zone. The FWC has held workshops on extending that zone westward because of the Fort Walton Landing ramp. An Okaloosa County ordinance bans commercial activity on the spoil islands in the sound.