Panama City Beach Pier

Panama City Beach, Florida

Emerald Coastkeeper is a proud affiliate of the Swim Guide!

The Panama City Beach, also known as Russell-Fields Pier, is located across from the Aaron Bessant Park. The concrete pier extends approximately 1,600 feet into the Gulf of Mexico. The pier does not close, except for weather closures. Admission/use fee schedule applies. Fishing is permitted, and equipment is available for rental. A Blue Wave recipient, Panama City public beaches may be accessed to the east or west of the pier park area. A clearly marked 500 foot stretch of quartz sand to the west of the pier is dog-friendly. Canines must remain on leashes, be current on shots and wear ID tags, and all signage/regulations must be followed.

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COVID-19

Keep your distance from other people.

Practicing social distancing is still essential. Only go to the beach if you are able to keep 6 feet or 2 meters away from others. Follow the instructions provided by your local health authorities. If your community has asked that you remain indoors and away from others, do so. Spending a day in any crowded place is the worst thing we can do for our most vulnerable right now and will counter our efforts to curb the virus’s spread.

Water Quality

Passed water quality tests 60-95% of the time
Historical Status
This status is based on the latest sample, taken on January 24th, 2022. Emerald Coastkeeper updates the status of this beach as soon as test results become available. These results were posted to Swim Guide on January 24th, 2022 at 3:57 PM.

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Current Weather

27°C

Mostly clear

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Monitoring Frequency

Source Information

The Florida Department of Health (DOH) adopted new water quality criteria January 2016 for the Healthy Beaches program. They reflect the most current recommendations and water quality grant requirements in the 2012 Recreational Water Quality Criteria from the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Bay County beaches are monitored by the Florida Healthy Beaches Program. Monitoring results are collected on two schedules, weekly and bi-weekly on Mondays and results are posted to Florida Healthy Beaches website on Wednesdays. Samples are collected year round at many beaches in Florida, however the monitoring season in Bay County is from March to November.

The Florida Healthy Beaches Program Categories are:

Good = 0-35 Enterococci / 100 mL of marine water;
Moderate = 36-70 Enterococci / 100 mL of marine water, and;
Poor = 71 or greater Enterococci / 100 mL of marine water.

The 2012 Recreational Water Quality Criteria recommends using 70 CFU per 100 mL as the Beach Action Value (BAV) to guide public health advisories. A Single Sample Maximum (SSM) at 70 CFU per 100 ml and a BAV are functionally the same. If the sample result is above the indicated value, the beach is resampled and tested the following day or a beach advisory is issued with the first test result. The Healthy Beaches program no longer uses geometric means to represent recreational water quality data.

On Swim Guide a beach is marked Green when it has a Good or Moderate standing meaning the SSM test results show Enterococci counts between 0- 70 cfu (colony forming units) / 100ml.
Swim Guide marks a beach Red when it has a Poor standing. This means the SSM test results show Enterococci counts exceeds the BAV of 70 cfu/100ml. These conservative advisories better inform vulnerable people (children, elderly, and the immunocompromised) who have elevated health risks due to water quality at the beach.
A beach is marked Grey when no current or reliable monitoring information is available.

Please note: Vibrio vulnificus bacteria, also called flesh eating disease, is a naturally occurring bacteria in some of Florida's waters. This bacteria can be lethal, especially when contracted by individuals with compromised immune systems. Concentrations of the bacteria are higher in the mouths of rivers near oceans. The bacteria is most dangerous when ingested in raw seafood but recent deaths are attributed to individuals who have waded in water with broken skin. Beach goers are urged to use caution and consult a physician if you suspect you have come in contact with the bacteria.

Water Quality Graph