Tourists and locals enjoy different parts of the Destin beaches all year long, but often the locals (and more often the visitors to Destin) miss a little-touted wonder of the Destin area… Norriego Point.
Norriego Point offers 6 unique features you won’t find elsewhere in Destin or likely anywhere else. These include:
- Unique view of the Destin harbor and the East Pass
- Access by car, boat, or water taxi
- Calm swimming holes protected by jetties
- Up-close view of sea life and the animals attracted by it all
- Intermittent sea grass mounds across the beach
- Its own lifeguard station
Amazing View of Destin Harbor and the East Pass from Norriego Point
Norriego Point is a public beach and is actually a peninsula which has a tip sitting between the Destin Harbor and the east pass, which connects the bay to the Gulf of Mexico. The point sits across from the Emerald Grande and Harborwalk, with a great view of the bridge connecting Destin to Okaloosa Island (or “the Island,” as many of the locals call it.)
During the peak of the summer season, the harbor side of Norriego Point is a prime spot for boaters to pull up and anchor since it’s shielded from boaters’ wakes (the harbor is a no-wake zone), and waves caused by wind. You might often see shore fishermen on the harbor side trying their luck at a catch. This side is also a great place to sit and take in the action of the Harborwalk marina from afar.
On the other side of Norriego Point is a perfect place for beach-goers to watch the activity of fishing boats, tour boats, jet skiers, canoers and paddle boarders coming and going throughout the East Pass.
Easy Access by Car, Boat or Water Taxi
Norriego Point is very accessible, yet it’s often forgotten as a destination spot.
Norriego Point by Car
If you’re traveling by car and put “Norriego Point” into you GPS, it’s likely that the maps will take you to Harbor Village instead. From Harbor Village, you’ll be able to look out and see Norriego Point, but you can’t get there by car from that end point.
Instead, put “1 Gulf Shore Drive” in the GPS, which will take you down Hwy 98 to “Gulf Shore Drive,” where you’ll turn toward the Gulf, (either right or left depending on which way you’re driving.) This road will meander around, passing a couple of apartment complexes and then some nice single-family homes and condos. Houses on the left line the Gulf Coast, while the houses on the right will begin to line the Destin Harbor. Looking in between those houses see a narrow strip, which widens slightly the further you drive. Houses and their boat slips line both sides of harbor. Gulf Shore Drive eventually splits where you’ll bear left and continue to the end of the drive. You’ll pass street parking as you get close to Norriego Point Park, and there are a smattering of parking spots in the parking lot on the beach. This lot fills up quickly, so then people use the street parking instead.
Street Parking 
Parking Lot Parking
At the time of this writing, both the lot and street parking use the Parking Passport App as a way of paying for parking for several hours in one of those spots. This is an app that is downloaded and the transaction takes place on your phone.
Norriego Point by Boat
There are several places to rent boats off the harbor, as well as at least one boating club that provides use of boats for the day.
Here’s a picture of where boats often pull up and anchor. It’s a great place to pull up and float, or walk over to the other side for a dip before heading back.
Water Taxi
Water taxi is another great way to get to and from Norriego Point from just about anywhere on the harbor.
It services visitors to Harbor Village and will take them on a short tour, or just too and from Norriego Point. (What’s interesting is that it is truly a local’s taxi as well because it will pick up home owners or renters up and down the harbor taking them to the Village as a way of avoiding traffic and enjoying a nice water ride.
It will pick up individuals as well as large parties, and generally runs around $10 per adult, round-trip. It operates during spring, summer and fall.
Swimming Holes at Norriego Point
Norriego Point offers a special place to swim for those seeking a dip in the salt water, but with some protection. It has jetties creating some isolation from the waves and many of the sea creatures of the East Pass. The jetties are horseshoe-shaped with a swim rope marking off the Pass from the swim spots. This creates calm pools for new swimmers, snorkelers, or just those not wanting to fight waves and heavy currents.
Up-Close Views of Marine Life
Don’t forget your mask or some goggles if you’re heading to the pools at Norriego Point. With the jetties providing the swim areas with nooks and crannies for sea life, you’re likely to get a close look at a lot of creatures that like to call the area home. It’s common to see hermit crabs, sand crabs and blue crabs there along with smaller bait fish. These smaller fish bring in sea gulls, herons, and even pelicans from time to time.
What’s also really nice about these swim areas is that they provide some protection from sea life that you might not be too anxious to run into, like jellyfish. Because jellyfish use currents as a primary mode of transportation, and the jetties create a buffer from these currents, fewer jellyfish end up in these swim pools than in the currents of the East Pass.
Want to know more about jellyfish in the Destin area? Check out our page on the 6 most common jellyfish found in Destin.
Norriego Point’s Natural Landscape
Okay. Because there’s been a lot of reconstruction of Norriego Point, with an attempt to provide the beach with some added defenses against erosion, there are sea oats and sea grass mounds located intermittently around this point. It provides a different beach landscape than what is found at other Destin beaches, with walkways over sea grass mounds that spill out onto the beaches.
While these sea oats mounds make beautiful backdrops for pictures and would look nice in dried flower arrangements, they’re just to look at; it’s illegal to pick them and they shouldn’t be disturbed since they serve a purpose in holding the beach in place.
Lifeguard Station at Norriego Point
Even though the swim pools on this peninsula have calmer waters than most any of the beaches in Destin, there are 4 pools right off the East Pass roped off from the pass itself. Two of the pools have a lifeguard station, which can oversee all of those swimming in these pools. This gives added piece of mind to parents of young swimmers or adults with a little less skill in swimming.
Final Thoughts:
Norriego Point is a different type of beach experience for both locals and visitors, yet few take advantage of it. It has the excitement of the harbor on one side, with a sandy semi-protected beach for boaters and their occupants to enjoy, with protected sea pools on the other side and a jetty point bringing the two together.
I’m interested in knowing…
- Are you a local who visits Norriego Point? If so, what draws you there?
- Are you a tourist who’s experienced the Point? If so, what drew you to it, and will you return?
Let us know! We’d love to hear from you.