Miramar Beach bulkheads and Sandestin bayside seawalls

Get to know your waterfront

Miramar Beach is a census designated place, not a city, so bulkhead and dock permits run through unincorporated Walton County, not Destin City Hall. A Destin mailing address is common here: DBPR counts 87 Walton County condominium projects with a Destin address. On the bay, NOAA's historic Driftwood Point tide station shows a range of only about half a foot. That means wind and storms, not tides, bring most high water.

2024 Census Gazetteer Files: Places, Florida · Building Division · DBPR condominium list, North Florida counties · NOAA CO-OPS datums, station 8729425 Driftwood Point, Choctawhatchee Bay

Can you build a new bulkhead on the bay in Miramar Beach?

Usually not. Walton County bans new vertical seawalls and bulkheads along Choctawhatchee Bay, with one narrow exception Walton LDC 4.03.03.B.4. Everywhere else on the bay, the county requires revetments, riprap, native plants or other structures that absorb wave energy. A revetment is a sloped layer of rock laid against the bank. Riprap is loose rock placed at the water's edge.

The 150-foot infill test

A new vertical wall passes the county test only when both of these are true.

• Your lot sits directly between two properties that already have seawalls.
• The new wall is 150 feet long or less.

State law has a matching exemption for a private seawall of 150 feet or less. The wall must join existing walls at both ends on a continuous line. That same exemption limits vertical walls in estuaries and lagoons s. 403.813(1)(o), F.S.. Florida's estuary law is stricter still. It allows a new vertical seawall only in a few cases. Those are a port, a marina or public facility, a partly walled man-made canal, and work by a public utility s. 373.414(5), F.S.. DEP decides whether your shore counts as an estuary.

If your bay bulkhead already exists

The county text speaks of new walls. It does not say how a full replacement of an old wall is treated, so ask Planning first Walton bay seawall rule. Restoring a seawall at its old line, behind it, or up to 18 inches waterward can qualify for a state exemption s. 403.813(1)(e), F.S.. When a repair or replacement needs a full state permit instead, DEP generally asks for riprap facing or a riprap replacement on estuaries s. 373.414(5), F.S..

Get a bulkhead assessment before you choose a route, so you know whether the cap and panels can be fixed or the wall must go. Then compare the options in repair or replace and riprap and revetments.

Plan docks around seagrass

• Seagrass in Choctawhatchee Bay grows only in the middle and western bay, on the shallow margins FWC seagrass report.
• Inside the county bay buffer, a dock may cross seagrass only as far as needed. The limit is water one foot deeper than the boat's lowest point at mean low tide Walton LDC 4.03.03.B.3.
• Federal guidelines for docks over seagrass call for decking at least 5 feet above mean high water (MHW, the average high-tide line) and walkways no wider than 4 feet USACE/NMFS dock guidelines.

Gulf-front lots follow a different rulebook

On the Gulf side, the state Coastal Construction Control Line (CCCL) governs. It marks the beach and dune area that a 100-year storm can reshape s. 161.053, F.S.. Walton County will not approve construction seaward of it, including a seawall, until state and federal permits are in hand Walton Comp Plan CM-1.2.2.

• DEP's June 2026 list counts 5.2 miles of the Miramar Beach and Sandestin Gulf shore as critically eroded DEP critically eroded beaches 2026.
• The Destin-Western Walton beach fill was finished in January 2007, and no next nourishment is scheduled DEP Strategic Beach Management Plan 2026.

After Hurricane Isaias

The preliminary NWS report puts Isaias ashore near Destin on October 9, 2026, as a Category 2 hurricane. It lists water nearly 4 feet above mean higher high water at the Old Pass Lagoon gauge in Destin Harbor NWS Isaias report, preliminary. A harbor gauge does not tell you what reached your lot. Photograph any damage before cleanup and follow our storm damage steps. If your home is in a resort or HOA community, see HOA bulkhead planning.

What could the work cost?

Price both routes before you choose. One is a rock revetment sized for your bank. The other is a vertical wall tied into both neighbors' walls, but only if the infill test fits. Add a survey, engineering and a seagrass check to each. Gulf-front lots carry state CCCL application fees and coastal engineering on top of construction. Ask every bidder to list permit and design costs as separate lines.

These per-foot figures are 2019 City of Destin bids for a 325-foot public park seawall. They are not a residential quote or a 2026 market average; your written, itemized scope sets the real price.

Find the relevant permits and records

Prepare the questions for the responsible office.

Before you ask for a bay bulkhead in Miramar Beach

Work through these steps before you request quotes. They show which design the county and the state are likely to accept on your lot.

1. Confirm the parcel is unincorporated Walton County

   Look up the parcel on the county property appraiser site. Miramar Beach is not incorporated, so a Destin mailing address does not put you under Destin's rules.

   2024 Census Gazetteer Files: Places, Florida · Building Division

2. Map both neighbors' walls

   Have the surveyor show whether each neighbor has a seawall and measure your gap. A gap over 150 feet, or one open side, points to riprap or a revetment.

   Walton County LDC Chapter IV Resource Protection Standards, Sec. 4.03.03 (Municode, Supp. 70 Update 1) · 2026 Florida Statutes s. 403.813(1)(o)

3. Ask DEP for a pre-application meeting

   DEP's Northwest District offers pre-application meetings through an online form. Use one to ask how the estuary rule treats your wall before design starts.

   Northwest District Permitting · 2026 Florida Statutes s. 373.414

4. Check for seagrass before dock or rock work

   If grass grows off your lot, plan the dock route and terminal platform around it. County and federal dock limits both turn on where the seagrass is.

   Walton County LDC Sec. 4.03.03.B.3 · SPGP VI-R1 Attachments, Attachment 11: Construction Guidelines in Florida for Minor Piling-Supported Structures (USACE/NMFS, Nov 2017)

Keep planning

Nearby waterfront guides

Kelly Plantation & Regatta Bay, Santa Rosa Beach, Hogtown Bayou & Point Washington, Choctaw Beach & Basin Bayou

View the local guide directory.