I recently biked a section of the Gulf Island National Seashore with a friend, and it was quite an experience! We took off from Pensacola Beach and biked all the way down to Navarre Beach, a humble 17 miles of beach, salty air, and sweet serenity. Here is everything you need to know about how we did it.

Get Your Bicycle Rental

First, you’re going to need a bike. We rented ours from The Fun Store, and the staff there was super friendly and knowledgeable. I would highly recommend them! The standard bike cost $20 for 4 hours, which was the perfect amount of time for us to bike the length of the seashore, point-to-point, that we selected. More on that later.

Pack a Picnic Lunch

Before picking up our bikes, we went to the nearby Publix to pick up lunch and snacks. If you aren’t originally from the south, I’d highly recommend trying a Publix sub! The chicken tender sub is a classic, I always like getting it with buffalo sauce. I also love the standard turkey sandwich, and get the packets of vinegar and oil to sprinkle onto your sub when you’re ready to eat. I’d also recommend the Publix chocolate chip cookies!

Hit the Road to the National Seashore

With our snacks in tow and our bikes rented, it was time to take off. We were dropped off at Portofino, which is where I thought the national seashore began.  During the COVID shutdown, this is where National Park Services closed the gate, so I assumed it was protecting their seashores. After we took off, I realized my mistake; the national seashore actually begins three miles down the road, where the sidewalks end. Those three miles did not kill us of course, but it was good to know for next time! 

Luckily we went on a mild January day, where the temperature was 61 degrees and there was a nice breeze (not uncommon, being on the seashore!). About halfway through, we stopped to park along the shoreline and have lunch.

I would have liked to lounge on the beach for longer, but we were losing daylight. We packed up our towels, dusted off our feet, and hit the road once again.

There was not a dedicated bike path along the road, so do note that you will be sharing the road with cars. If you go in the off-season like we did, you won’t have any trouble with traffic. We passed maybe 5-10 cars along the whole 17 miles.

After 2 hours, we crossed the sign into Navarre Beach. At this time, I called our ride to come pick us up, and by the time we reached the beach they were there waiting for us. We met in the parking lot across from the Navarre Boardwalk and there was plenty of parking available.

After that, we headed back to The Fun Store to return our bikes. It was a fun ride, and one I would definitely love to do again!

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