A boat basin on the N bank of the Gulf County Canal just NE of the highway bridge provides berths, gasoline, diesel fuel, water, ice, and marine supplies.
Navigation:
Click the “Map View” button above to see a chart of this harbor.
St. Joseph Bay, which extends about 12 miles N of Cape San Blas, is separated from the Gulf by St. Joseph Peninsula (St. Joseph Spit), a long, narrow strip of land and sand hills, wooded in places, that curves NNW from the cape. St. Joseph Bay, recognized as one of the best harbors on the Gulf, is easily entered by vessels with drafts to 25 feet except during periods of very severe weather such as hurricanes. St. Joseph Bay Entrance Lighted Buoy 2 marks the entrance.
Port St. Joe is a town on the E shore of St. Joseph Bay.
From the Gulf, the dredged channel leads across 18-foot shoals to the deeper water inside. Federal project depths are 37 feet to a point about 0.5 mile N of St. Joseph Point, thence 35 feet to Harbor Channel and to a turning basin immediately to the W, thence 35 feet to South Channel, thence 27 feet in South Channel; project depth in the turning basin is 32 feet. A shoal tends to build E from the extremity of St. Joseph Point into the W side of the entrance channel. South Channel is no longer maintained.
The channels, except for South Channel, are marked by lighted and unlighted buoys and lighted ranges; the turning basin is marked by lights.
A swash channel with a depth of 14 feet follows the shore of St. Joseph Point at a distance of 0.2 mile and passes between the shore and a shoal that has a depth of about 8 feet. The channel is subject to frequent changes and should be used only with local knowledge.
The Gulf County Canal, a dredged cut, provides a connection between St. Joseph Bay and the Intracoastal Waterway. The canal has a Federal project depth of 12 feet. Near the bay entrance the canal is crossed by a fixed bridge with a clearance of 75 feet. Overhead power cables crossing the canal at Highland View and about 1.4 miles above the mouth have a minimum clearance of 85 feet.
