Casino Beach Boardwalk Pensacola Florida
Miles of Sugar White Beaches
75You can head to Cordova Mall, Portofino Boardwalk, or University Town Plaza to shop for the perfect souvenir. Pensacola is known for its live music and theaters, and you can check out cultural spots such as Historic Pensacola Village, National Museum of Naval Aviation, and Pensacola Little Theatre. “The Casino” on Pensacola beach was a community recreation complex for dancing, shopping, bathing and dining. Opening in the summer of 1931, it was the site of weekly boxing tournaments, as well as the Miss Florida beauty pageant.
Average Air Temperature
343Days of Beautiful Sunshine
72Average Water Temperature
WELCOME TO PENSACOLA BEACH and Santa Rosa Island, a place that you, your family and friends can experience all the Florida Gulf Coast has to offer. Pensacola Beach is world famous for its sugar-white sand beaches and emerald-green waters.
Here you’ll find endless opportunities for fun and relaxation. Savor fresh gulf seafood or sip a Bushwacker at our many restaurants and hangouts, take a walk or catch a fish on the Pensacola Beach Pier, or simply relax in the sun and watch your worries float away.
Be sure to check out our Footprints in the Sand Eco Trail where you can learn the secrets of our beautiful white sand, the dangerous journey of sea turtles, learn to identify mysterious sea shells and so much more. Click the tab at the top of the page for more information.
Whether your wish is for solitude – a solitary, sunset scroll down a swath of nearly deserted beach – or for being part of the ongoing celebration that defines the seasons on Pensacola Beach, we have something for every mood and feeling.
Thanks for visiting us. We’ll see you back real soon.
Paolo Ghio, Executive Director
Santa Rosa Island Authority
New Routes To Get To Pensacola Beach
The Three Mile Bridge that connects Pensacola to Gulf Breeze sustained damage and is closed until further notice. There are two detour options for reaching Pensacola Beach from U.S. 98:
- I-10 Exit 22 – Garcon Point Bridge on S.R. 281. Bridge tolls are suspended until 6 a.m. October 23
- I-10 Exit 31 – S.R. 87
For estimated travel times, and live traffic cams, visit 3milebridge.com
- December 02, 2020
Ring Out and Wash Off 2020 on Pensacola Beach this New Year
- November 24, 2020
Fall into Fishing on Pensacola Beach
- March 11, 2020
Let’s Go Camping, Santa Rosa Island Style!
- January 16, 2020
Special Exhibit at Fort Pickens Highlights African American Soldiers Stationed in Pensacola during the Civil War
Pensacola Beach & Gulf Islands National Seashore
Award Winning Beaches!
PENSACOLA BEACH
- Trip Advisor’s 2020 Top 4 Beaches in the U.S.
- Trip Advisor’s 2019 Top 5 Beaches in the U.S.
- Blue Angels Air Show named a Southeast Tourism Society Top 20 Event 2019
- USA TODAY Voted #1 for Best Florida Beach – Reader’s Choice 2018
- Trip Advisor’s 20 Best Winter Sun Getaways America Has To Offer 2017
- Trip Advisor’s 15 Best Honeymoon Destinations in the U.S. 2017
- TripAdvisor’s 2016 Top 10 Beaches in the U.S.
- TripAdvisor’s 2015 Top Five Beaches in the U.S.
- TripAdvisor’s Choice Award 2015
- TripAdvisor’s Top 20 Highest Value Getaways With Big Rental Savings 2015
- TripAdvisor’s Travelers Choice Award 2014
- Conde Nast Traveler One of Florida’s Top White Sand Beaches 2014
- Fodor’s 2015 “Go List” of spots that should be on every traveler’s radar
GULF ISLANDS NATIONAL SEASHORE
- USA TODAY Voted #3 for Best Florida Beach – Reader’s Choice 2018
- USA TODAY Voted #1 in Best Florida Attraction Reader’s Choice 2018
- USA TODAY Voted #1 in 10 Best Florida Beaches Reader’s Choice 2015
- USA TODAY Voted #2 in 10 Best Naturally Preserved Shorelines in America 2015
- TripAdvisor’s 2013 Top Three Beaches in the U.S.
- TripAdvisor’s 2013 Top 25 Beaches Worldwide
Following our beach safety rules helps keep every moment of your vacation incident free
It’s easy to get to Pensacola Beach and make your way around
Here’s a list of helpful numbers to have in case you need them during your visit
Come on and take a FREE ride on the Beach Trolleys running Memorial Day through Labor Day
There is always something happening on the beach. Take a look and see what’s going on
Yes, we do have rules to follow. These are in place for protection and enjoyment for you and other visitors
The Eco Trail on Pensacola Beach is a fun way to learn about the flora and fauna that live here.
Dogs love Pensacola Beach too! Stay out of the doghouse by following these rules.
Take a look around in real time from one of our many web cams along the beach
Pensacola Beach Boardwalk Hotels
The Pensacola Beach Casino (often called simply 'The Casino') was a community recreation complex on Santa Rosa Island and the first tourist attraction on Santa Rosa Island accessible by automobile. It cost $150,000 to build and was one of a series of projects by the Pensacola Bridge Corporation that included the Pensacola Bay Bridge and the Santa Rosa Sound Bridge. It opened on June 13, 1931.
The complex featured a dance pavilion, bath houses, shops and a restaurant. Events included boxing tournaments every Tuesday, sponsored by the YMCA, and the Miss Florida beauty pageant. The Frisco Employees' Magazine described the facilities:
- The Casino on Santa Rosa Island is a splendid building of reinforced concrete and hollow tile structure with its floors elevated 18 feet above sea level. Its bath house accommodates 500 persons, its dining room 300, and its dance hall 200. A fishing pier 1,200 feet long is in process of completion, and reaches from the casino out into the gulf where water is 22 feet deep.
Over four decades after it opened, the Casino was demolished in 1972. The extant Casino Beach area is named for it.
Dedication ceremonies[edit]
According to the July 1931 issue of The Frisco Employees' Magazine, the dedication ceremonies for the two bridges and the Casino drew a crowd of 20,000, including 'people from Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi. with a generous sprinkling of business men and industrial leaders from Memphis, St. Louis, and other mid-western cities.'[1]
The ceremonies began on June 12, when a contingent of about 300 guests of the City and the Pensacola Bridge Corporation made their way across the two bridges to the Casino resort, where they spent the afternoon. In the evening, a banquet was held, after which the guests were entertained with dancing and boxing until around midnight.
On the morning of June 13, a parade made its way through Pensacola, pausing for dedication ceremonies at the bridges before making its way to the Casino, where an all-day carnival was held. The Frisco Employees' Magazine recounted the events:
- First on the program was the official dedication ceremony at the Casino. Addresses were made by Secretary of State for Florida R. A. Gray, representing Governor Doyle Carlton, who was unable to attend; Major-General Lyttle Brown, chief of the U. S. Army Engineers, who spoke in behalf of Secretary of War Patrick Hurley; Cary D. Landis, attorney-general of Florida; Birch O. Mahaffey of St. Louis, one of the financial backers of the project, and A. C. Blount, president of Pensacola's Chamber of Commerce. Rear Admiral T. P. Magruder, commanding the Eighth Naval district of which Pensacola is a part, delivered the final address of the ceremony. Both the U. S. Naval Station and Thirteenth Coast Artillery Bands furnished music for the event, and Mr. J. E. Yonge presided as master of ceremonies.
- After the ceremony the crowd, numbering many thousands of people, inspected the Casino proper and soon the surf was filled with shouting children and smiling grownups enjoying the cool waters of the Gulf of Mexico. A dinner was served in the Casino dining room at noon, and at 2 o'clock, a program of boat races began in Santa Rosa Sound, under the direction of R. G. Patterson, commodore of the Pensacola Yacht Club. Skippers from eight of the gulf coast yacht clubs competed with skippers from the Pensacola club and the Naval Alr Station in a series of fish class sloop races. Later in the afternoon a program of motor boat races was run. Following these events a lull in the official program provided time for another plunge in the surf until dinner was served.
- The night program was fully as thrilling as that of the daylight hours. An anti-aircraft battery from the coast artillery post at Fort Barrancas gave an exhibition of searchlight and anti-aircraft firing. Tracer bullets were used and the spectacle was of great interest to the throngs of witnesses. Following the gun fire, a huge display of fireworks consumed an hour and then the program brought most of the throng into the Casino or on its cooling verandas, where dancing continued until well past midnight.
Later years & demolition[edit]
The Casino endured as a popular tourist destination through World War II and was renovated several times over the years. In the 1960s, however, it fell into disrepair. Considered a 'white elephant' by the Santa Rosa Island Authority, it was demolished in 1972.[2]
Beams from the ballroom were salvaged and incorporated in the 'Apple Annie's' courtyard in Seville Quarter.
The beach near the site of the Casino is still called Casino Beach.
Gallery[edit]
Unless otherwise noted, photos courtesy of the Pensacola Beach Preservation and Historical Society[1].
Circa 1940s. From the Florida Photographic Collection.
Crowd watches boxing match at the Casino. From the Florida Photographic Collection.
References[edit]
- The Pensacola Beach Casino - pensacolabeachhistory.com forums
Pensacola Beach Boardwalk Restaurants
- ↑'Bridge dedication attracts 20,000.' The Frisco Employees' Magazine, July 1931. p. 4-5.
- ↑'Bay Parties' the Best In Beach Adventure.' Pensacola News, April 26, 1984.