If you have lived on Cape San Blas for even one summer, you already know the peninsula runs on two calendars that never quite line up. The turtles are on one. The scallops are on another. This year the gap between them is unusually loud.
Here is the thesis in one sentence. The Cape's summer 2026 is peaking on the sand while the bay is still on the clock, and the food shortlist has quietly reshuffled to match that split. Everything below is evidence.
The nest count is running hot, and the peak is right now
Volunteers with Friends of St. Joseph State Parks marked nine new nests during a single Thursday survey in early July, pushing the season total at T.H. Stone Memorial St. Joseph Peninsula State Park to 204, with 189 loggerhead and 15 green sea turtle nests laid. That is the park side of the peninsula alone.
For a rough baseline of what the broader Cape looks like when it is having a strong year, the 2024 regional tally came in across the Cape San Blas region, with over 275 nests recorded, split between the park, the non-park side of the peninsula, Eglin AFB, Indian Pass, and the St. Joe Beach and Mexico Beach stretch. At 204 park nests in mid-July, the 2026 park count is already comfortably inside that range with two and a half months of season still to run.
| 2026 season, as of mid-July | T.H. Stone Memorial St. Joseph Peninsula State Park |
|---|---|
| Loggerhead nests | 189 |
| Green nests | 15 |
| Total | 204 |
Two things follow from that number if you actually live here.
First, the St. Joseph Peninsula Turtle Patrol walks the beach at sunrise, monitoring the six mile stretch of beaches along Cape San Blas since the 90's. If you walk your dog at first light, you are sharing sand with them. The patrol runs from May 1st to October 31st patrolling the 6 miles of beach, on the lookout for nesting and hatching activity.
Second, if you have been meaning to make your ownership of a nest official, the Friends group launched something new this season. Citizens can "adopt" a sea turtle nest at the T.H. Stone Memorial St. Joseph State Park for $50. The funds through the program go directly to support Friends of St. Joseph State Parks in preserving and protecting the park's natural and cultural resources.
The peak nesting window is happening as you read this. Cape San Blas hits peak nesting from mid-June through early July, with most crawls occurring between 9 p.m. and 2 a.m. The hatching wave lands later. The last two weeks of July through the third week of August, roughly 55–70 days after the bulk of June nests were laid is when the little ones start heading for the Gulf. Which is worth remembering when you decide whether to leave chairs and coolers on the beach overnight.
The scallop window doesn't open on the Cape until August 16
Here is where the Cape's summer diverges from every other Panhandle beach town you might compare it to. The bay scallop opener for St. Joseph Bay is one of the latest in Florida.
St. Joseph Bay and Gulf County: Aug. 16-Sept. 24. This region includes all state waters from the Mexico Beach Canal in Bay County to the westernmost point of St. Vincent Island in Franklin County.
For contrast, the Big Bend water east of us already opened. Fenholloway through Suwannee Rivers Zone (including Keaton Beach and the Steinhatchee area): June 15 through Labor Day. Boats there have been running for a month. Franklin County waters just east of St. Vincent Island opened July 1 through Sept. 24. St. Joseph Bay sits on the west edge of that late-opening group, meaning we get the shortest and latest window on the map.
There is a reason worth knowing. The area marked with FWC buoys south of Black's Island is a Bay Scallop Restoration Area, and no scalloping or anchoring is allowed there. The late opener and the restoration zone work together, and they are why the bay stays productive year after year. St. Joseph Bay in Gulf County boasts breathtakingly clear water, meaning you can often spot the scallops' brilliant, glowing blue eyes directly from the surface.
The rules for the opener, straight from FWC:
- Per person: 2 gallons of whole bay scallops in shell, or 1 pint of shucked meat
- Per vessel: Maximum of 10 gallons of whole bay scallops in shell or 1/2 gallon bay scallop meat. Vessel limits do not allow an individual to exceed their personal bag limit.
- License: A Florida saltwater fishing license to harvest bay scallops unless exempt, or a no-cost shoreline fishing license if wading from shore
If you are a Cape resident with a boat and a five-week attention span, this is the window. It also matters if you are not scalloping, because Aug 16 is when the ramp lines at the state park, the Presnell's side, and the Eagle Harbor launch get long. Anyone who has ever tried to launch a kayak on a Saturday during scallop season already knows.
The summer food shortlist, quietly reshuffled
The Cape's dining shortlist is small enough that a single opening or closing rearranges everyone's week. Three moves matter for summer 2026.
Perky's Coastal Coffee & Creams came back online. It had been down, with an estimated reopening date May 1, 2026. If your morning walk used to end there, it can again.
Weber's Little Donut Shop is not in its usual spot. It is temporarily located at Scallop RePUBlic, which means donut mornings and craft beer evenings now share an address. Get there early. The line tends to get long, and when the donuts are gone, they're gone.
Scallop RePUBlic is not a restaurant on paper, but it is functionally one this summer. It is now serving food from Bayside Bites, which is a genuinely new evening option for a spot that has been beer-and-music-only for years.
Everything else is holding steady. If you have been away for a while, the working list looks like this:
- Skully's Low Country Boil, 5544 Cape San Blas Rd. Wednesday–Saturday 4:30PM–8PM, Closed Sunday & Monday. Cash only, still.
- Scallop Cove, 4310 Cape San Blas Rd. Open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. Breakfast, lunch, and casual dinner served, and much of it is grab-and-go. They also serve pizza, burgers, sub sandwiches, and amazing fresh donuts baked daily. Free WiFi at the General Store or the State Park. They hand-scoop Blue Bell Ice Cream. Beer, wine, ice, groceries, firewood, propane exchange, and ATM.
- LongBill's on Cape San Blas, 7650 Cape San Blas Rd. Run by the same team who brought you Toucan's on the Beach, which was destroyed after the 2018 hurricane in Mexico Beach. The Toucan's spirit continues at LongBill's, providing the same great food and vibes just in a new location.
- Peachy's Beach Eats, 145 Acklins Island Dr. Food truck, open seasonally, cash only, tacos and pit BBQ.
- St. Joe Shrimp Company, 5025 Cape San Blas Rd. Seafood market with a hot side counter.
- The Smokehouse on Cape San Blas for pulled pork and brisket.
- Cone Heads 8020 for baskets, burgers, and ice cream.
If you want to eat off the Cape without going all the way into Port St. Joe, Indian Pass Raw Bar at 8391 CR 30A is a fifteen minute drive and still doing what it has always done.
A short summer-in-place checklist
While the turtles are on the beach and the scallop clock is ticking down, a few small habits keep the Cape running the way it does.
- Turn beach lights amber or red from May through October. Artificial white light disorients hatchlings.
- Fill in every hole you dig before sunset. A six-inch trench is a wall to a two-inch turtle.
- Take chairs, umbrellas, and tents home at night. Anything left on the sand is an obstacle course by 10 p.m.
- If you launch during scallop season, get to the state park ramp before 8 a.m. or plan for a wait. The park lot has limited space for parking for visitors.
- If a nest near your walk has a screen and stakes, keep leashed dogs a full 30 feet back.
The Cape is a small place with a specific rhythm, and that rhythm is exactly what makes it hard to fake if you live somewhere else. Turtles peak in July. Scallops open August 16. Perky's is open again, Weber's is at Scallop RePUBlic, and Skully's still closes on Sundays. Nothing on that list will make national news, and that is precisely the point.
If you own a home on the Cape and are thinking about the second half of the year, whether that means preparing to sell, weighing a rental strategy against the late scallop window, or just wanting a straight read on how the peninsula is behaving this season, the team at Coastal Realty Group lives and works here year-round. Contact Us when you want that conversation.
