Been told the water conditions in Destin is what they call a red tide due to all the rain they been having over there. they say the water smells and the horse flies are really bad. Can any locals comment on the red tide issue and how long it might last.

We have gotten a lot of rain lately, so the "emerald coast" is not looking so emerald like. I was out at crab island last weekend and water quality was fine just not postcard pretty like normal. I don't think there has been any red tide warnings and I didn't see any flies or smell anything funny from Navarre to Destin.

The water is back to normal, the non stop rain is gone and the water will as usual for the poker run.

My contact at Emerald Grande says, "None of that is true. They probably had heard that the water was dark color from the rain But did not know it was the rain."

That is correct. As a result of all the rain, the tide rose much higher then normal. When this happen all the leaves, pine straw, etc. on the shoreline was pulled into the water. As all that begins break up or dissipate the minerals and such cause the water to become brown. There was never any safety issue, nor any smell. We had a sewage spill in Fort Walton a few weeks ago, and all the Facebook experts were claiming that is what was causing the brown water. The Destin Log (our paper) had an article a few days ago explaining the true situation.

I was at the beach yesterday and the water is just as clear as everyone wants it to be... don't let what you "heard" be a detractor for coming here. The water looks and feels like a swimming pool.

Great news .Thanks for the update.

If interested in nasty brown water head to the TX coast....I love destin even on bad days :-)