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Passage

The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway across the Florida Panhandle

Carrabelle to the Alabama line: twelve feet of project depth, three fixed bridges at fifty feet, and a mileage counted eastward from New Orleans.

Last checked 21 Oct 2026Sources: NOAA Coast Pilot 5, ch. 12 (2026), NOAA Coast Pilot 5, ch. 1 (2026)

The route, mile by mile

Schematic: the stops sit at their mile figures, the line is straight.

Choctawhatchee Bay · open water, depths greater than 12 ft, to Mile 253.5E
  1. Florida–Alabama boundaryMile 167.4 · the boundary follows the waterway to Mile 169.9E
  2. State Route 292 bridge, Big LagoonMile 171.9 · fixed, 73 ft
  3. Landcut into Big LagoonMile 179
  4. Turn-off to PensacolaMile 182.9 · 4.1 miles north-northeast across Pensacola Bay
  5. Pensacola Beach BridgeMile 189.1 · fixed, 65 ft, dual spans
  6. Navarre Causeway BridgeMile 207 · fixed, 50 ft
  7. Fort Walton BeachMile 222.2 · repair facilities, fuel and supplies
  8. Brooks BridgeMile 223 · fixed, 50 ft
  9. East end of Choctawhatchee BayMile 253.5 · into the landcut and West Bay Creek
  10. West Bay CreekMile 273
  11. Hathaway BridgeMile 284.8 · fixed, 65 ft
  12. Panama CityMile 292.3
  13. Dupont BridgeMile 295.5 · fixed, 50 ft
  14. OverstreetMile 315.4 · store and ramp at the SR 386 bridge
  15. Gulf County CanalMile 327.7 · about 5 miles southwest to Port St. Joe
  16. White City bridgeMile 329.3 · fixed, 65 ft
  17. ApalachicolaMile 351.4
  18. Carrabelle Ship ChannelMile 376.2 · where the improved waterway begins
  • Bridge
  • Place with a guide page
  • Open water

What the sources say

  • The miles count eastward from New Orleans This section of the waterway is zeroed at Harvey Lock, New Orleans, and measured eastward (E) or westward (W). On the Panhandle the figures therefore get smaller as you go west: Carrabelle is Mile 376.2E, the Alabama line Mile 167.4E.
  • Fifty feet is the limit, not sixty-five Three fixed bridges on this stretch publish 50 feet at mean high water: Dupont at Mile 295.5E, Brooks at Mile 223.0E and Navarre Causeway at Mile 207.0E. The Mid-Bay Bridge at Mile 234.2E publishes 64 feet and the Clyde B. Wells Bridge at Mile 250.3E 66 feet.
  • The cable in St. George Sound The overhead power cable at Mile 363.0E is listed with a vertical clearance of 46 feet and, in the Coast Pilot's own column of remarks, 85 feet over the ICW channel.
  • Twelve feet is the project, not a survey The federal project from Carrabelle to Brownsville provides for a channel 12 feet deep with a minimum width of 125 feet. The Coast Pilot adds that the channel may shoal several feet in places between maintenance dredging and refers mariners to NOAA Electronic Navigational Charts and the USACE survey reports.
  • Restricted areas in Santa Rosa Sound Restricted areas in The Narrows and Santa Rosa Sound extend from Mile 218.9E to Mile 204.4E; their limits and rules are in 33 CFR 334.710 and 334.730.
  • Little Sabine Bay and hurricane warnings Mariners are prohibited from anchoring or mooring in Little Sabine Bay at Pensacola Beach once Santa Rosa Island is under a hurricane watch or a more serious alert, and vessels already there must be moved within 24 hours of any hurricane watch or warning.
  • How a clearance in the Coast Pilot is meant Vertical clearances of bridges and overhead cables are in feet above mean high water unless otherwise stated, and clearances of drawbridges are for the closed position — the open clearance is given as well only for vertical-lift bridges. The structure table for this stretch repeats the mean-high-water footnote.

Depth the waterway was built for

Federal project, Carrabelle to Brownsville
12 ft deep
minimum 125 ft wide
Choctawhatchee Bay, away from the marked channel
greater than 12 ft
Gulf County Canal to Port St. Joe
federal project depth 12 ft

Project depth is what the channel was built for, not what it carries today. Controlling depths are published in the Local Notice to Mariners – use official charts and current notices.

Stops along the way

Florida–Alabama boundarythe boundary follows the waterway to Mile 169.9E
Landcut into Big Lagoon
Turn-off to Pensacola4.1 miles north-northeast across Pensacola Bay
Fort Walton Beachrepair facilities, fuel and supplies
East end of Choctawhatchee Bayinto the landcut and West Bay Creek
West Bay Creek
Panama City
Overstreetstore and ramp at the SR 386 bridge
Gulf County Canalabout 5 miles southwest to Port St. Joe
Apalachicola
Carrabelle Ship Channelwhere the improved waterway begins

Sources & checks

Written by buoya editorial from the sources above. Every figure was checked against its source on 21 Oct 2026. Found something wrong? Report a correction.