Why is the water at Crab Island Brown?

Sometimes, if it rains in Alabama or the north part of Okaloosa County, it could take up to two weeks for the runoff from the rivers in Alabama to get into our waterways. The brackish water will be less salty. The brown is the tannins from the pine trees upstream. It is harmless, but not so pretty.



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Do not swim beyond Crab Island. “STAY ON THE ISLAND.” The current is very very dangerous. Sometimes on the island, it's strong enough you will need to brace yourself while standing.

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You will experience the clear water about an hour before high tide and about 2 hours after high tide. The reason why it's so pretty is it's bringing clear water from the Gulf of Mexico into the Choctawhatchee Bay (which is where Crab Island is located). The months with the best times for high tide are May and June.

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As time went on, drifting sands from the Gulf of Mexico, with the help of the occasional hurricane, began to erode the spoil island. It eventually became what it is today: an underwater sandbar and popular place to anchor your boat. Today, the water is very shallow. The sandbar ranges from 1-4 feet deep in most places.

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This area was truly an island as the name suggests and you might see in old photos of the area, but Hurricane Eloise battered Crab Island in 1974 and took with it a huge portion of the sand that stayed above the waterline.

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These days Crab Island is not an island, but it was once— a man-made one. The “island” was formed in the 1960s when, in an attempt to stabilize the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico, the Army Corps of Engineers dredged the East Pass (Destin Pass) and constructed jetties.

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Are there crabs at Crab Island? Again, contrary to its name, Crab Island is not an island full of crabs. But you might find local sea life swimming in the emerald green waters of Crab Island including small crabs, fish, hermit crabs, dolphins and more.

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Brown water can be caused by the corrosion of water pipes as materials flake away and find their way into water supplies, making the water an orange-brown color (from iron pipes) or even black (from lead pipes). Certain elements from sulfur dioxide can cause water to turn brown when combined with hot water.

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