Group Boating in Destin FL, September 20-26, 2026: Rafting Two Boats, Kids Aboard, and the Week the Tide Goes Slack

By the Destin Boating Guide team · Published September 20, 2026

Sunday, September 20, 2026. East Pass high tide was 5:47am at 0.84 feet, the low comes at 5:28pm at 0.12, the wind is south at 5, the Gulf is 86.9 degrees on the Pensacola gauge, and the National Hurricane Center has one tropical depression on the board, in the central Atlantic near 33 north, 33 west, moving away from us. Last Sunday's guide, family boating with kids aboard, was about one boat. This one is about two or three, because that is what a family reunion or a friend group in late September turns into: a rented pontoon, somebody's center console down from Alabama, and a jet ski or two, all trying to end up in the same patch of water at the same time.

Running boats as a group is its own skill. It is mostly about where you anchor, how you tie together, and how you talk to each other when the wind picks up on Thursday. Here is how I do it, keyed to this week's numbers.

This week's tide: a walking morning high, then a collapse

The first five days are a textbook diurnal tide. High water at East Pass is 5:47am today, 6:53am Monday, 7:49am Tuesday, 8:44am Wednesday and 9:47am Thursday, roughly an hour later each day, and the single low walks from 5:28pm to 6:48pm. Ranges are 0.6 to 0.7 feet, which for this bay is a real tide: the ebb through the pass runs from mid-morning to early evening, strongest in mid-afternoon, and the flood is an overnight affair you will not use.

Then it breaks. Friday shows two highs and two lows, 1:58am high, 4:06am low, 11:12am high at 0.62 feet, 6:09pm low at 0.33; Saturday is a 6:22am low, a 1:42pm high at 0.55 and a 2:50pm low at 0.37, a range of a fifth of a foot in the middle of the day. That is the moon's declination passing through zero, the equinox tide, and it means the current in the pass and around the sandbar Friday and Saturday is as weak as it gets all month. Daylight water at the sandbar will sit at roughly the same depth from 10am to 4pm both days. For a group with swimmers, that is the safest water of the week. For anyone hoping to run the pass on a strong ebb for redfish, it is the wrong two days; go Wednesday or Thursday afternoon instead.

Wind: five days of nothing, then an east wind with a long fetch

Sunday through Wednesday the wind is 5 miles an hour, south, east, southeast and east. The bay is flat, the pass is flat, and the only reason to be off the water is the afternoon storm chance: 40 percent today, 30 percent Monday after 1pm, 20 percent Tuesday and Wednesday. With a group, one boat's radar check at 1pm is the whole group's radar check, and the rule is that if the first boat leaves the sandbar, everyone leaves.

Thursday and Friday the wind goes east at 10 to 15 and stays there through the night at 10 to 15 northeast, then Saturday eases to east at 10. An east wind has the full length of Choctawhatchee Bay to work with, so by late morning the open water north of the bridge carries a short, steep chop of a foot or so. A pontoon full of kids does not enjoy that, a center console barely notices it, and a jet ski rider gets tired of it. Thursday and Friday I run the sandbar from 9 to 11am while the breeze is still filling in, then move the group into the harbor or along the sheltered south shore for the afternoon. The Gulf side is a different story: on an east wind the beach is nearly flat and the pass is easy, so a center console can run the outside while the pontoon stays in.

Rafting up at the sandbar with children aboard

Rafting is tying two or more boats side by side on one set of anchors so the group shares a single swim zone. Done right it is safer than three boats anchored separately, because there is one perimeter to watch and one ladder to count heads at. Done wrong it grinds hulls and swings across a neighbor. The drill:

1. The heaviest boat, usually the pontoon, anchors first, bow into the wind, in three to four feet of water. Set a stern anchor too; the afternoon ebb toward the pass and this week's south-to-east breeze often disagree about which way the boat should lie, and two anchors settle it.
2. The second boat approaches at idle from downwind, bow to bow, with fenders already out on the side that will touch. Pass a bow line and a stern line, then a spring line, and cleat off. Its anchors stay in the locker.
3. A third boat rafts on the other side of the anchored boat, never on the outside of the second boat. Two on a side is the limit for a rental pontoon's cleats.
4. Engines off and keys out on every boat once tied. Nobody starts an engine while anyone is in the water, and the swim ladder on the outermost boat is the only one in use.
5. Life jackets on everyone under six the entire time any boat is moving; Florida requires it on vessels under 26 feet, and a raft-up involves a lot of moving. One adult is the ladder watch and does nothing else.
6. Break the raft before the chop arrives. Thursday and Friday that means untying by 11am. Untie in reverse order, outer boats first, at idle.

The sandbar is shallower this week than it was at last weekend's bigger highs, and vendor barges have thinned out since Labor Day; count on no restroom boat and no food boat. The harbor is ten minutes away at idle for both. Deeper reading on anchorages, including the ones out of the crowd, is in the Choctawhatchee Bay destinations guide.

How boats in a group talk to each other

Rental pontoons have no VHF, most private boats do, and every jet ski has a rider with a phone in a dry bag. The system that works: one group text thread with every driver in it, a meeting point named before anyone leaves the dock, and three hand signals everyone learns at the ramp. Arm straight up means stop and hold position. Arm circling overhead means come to me. Pointing at the bridge means we are leaving. Phones are for the radar screenshot at 1pm and for the boat that got separated; hand signals are for everything within a hundred yards.

Two more rules that come from watching groups get it wrong. Nobody passes through the harbor no-wake zone faster than the slowest boat, so the group arrives together; the harbor is idle speed from the entrance to the pass, and the marine patrol enforces it. And the jet skis, if any, stay outside the raft's swim perimeter and come in only at idle, one at a time, to drop off or pick up. A ski idling into a raft-up of children is the one thing I will shout about.

Which boats, and what the group pays this week

Late-September rate bands: a 10 to 12 passenger pontoon is $300 to $400 for a half day and $450 to $650 for a full day; a tritoon with 150 horsepower and up is $375 to $475 for a half day; a deck boat $350 to $450; a center console $400 to $525. Add a refundable deposit hold of $250 to $500 on pontoons, tritoons and deck boats and $500 to $1,000 on center consoles, a $30 to $60 damage waiver, fuel billed full-to-full and tax. Captained charters are $450 to $700 for a four-hour private trip for up to six, and this week the ones worth the money are the Wednesday and Thursday afternoon ebb trips for bull redfish along the jetties, before the tide goes slack.

For a group of twelve to sixteen, the combination I book is one 12-passenger pontoon as the raft's anchor boat plus one center console for the people who want to run the pass and fish. That is $700 to $925 for a half day before holds, waivers and fuel, or about $50 to $65 a head. Anyone born on or after January 1, 1988 needs a Florida boater card or the livery's temporary certificate to drive; get it done the night before, online, so the counter does not become a classroom. Which hull for which day is laid out in the Crab Island, bay flats and harbor comparison.

Saturday evening: the Harvest Moon raft-up

The full moon is Saturday, September 26, at 11:50am Central. Sunset that evening is 6:38pm, and the moon rises over the bay opposite the sunset within the hour after. With the tide nearly slack and the east wind easing to 10 and dropping after sunset, Saturday's 2:30pm-to-sunset half day is the one to raft two boats off the harbor mouth or in the lee of the south shore and watch both. Navigation lights on and tested before you leave the dock, a headcount before you untie, and be inside the harbor before full dark; the rental counters lock up on time, and a boat returned after dark is how a deposit hold gets kept.

Frequently asked questions

Is the week of September 20-26, 2026, a good week for group boating in Destin?

Yes. Water is 87 degrees, rental rates are 20 to 30 percent under July, and the bay is empty of summer traffic. Sunday through Wednesday are calm with winds of 5 and a 20 to 40 percent afternoon storm chance, so raft up in the morning and be off the open bay by 1pm. Thursday through Saturday are dry with an east wind of 10 to 15 that chops the open sandbar by late morning; run it 9 to 11am and then use the harbor and the south shore. Friday and Saturday's slack tide is the safest swimming water of the week.

What time is high tide at East Pass and Crab Island this week?

5:47am Sunday, 6:53am Monday, 7:49am Tuesday, 8:44am Wednesday and 9:47am Thursday, with the evening low between 5:28pm and 6:48pm. Friday and Saturday go mixed: a 0.62-foot high at 11:12am Friday and a 0.55-foot high at 1:42pm Saturday with ranges of a third of a foot or less, so the current nearly stops.

How do you raft up boats at Crab Island safely?

The heaviest boat anchors first, bow into the wind, with a stern anchor set. The second boat comes alongside at idle from downwind with fenders out, ties bow, stern and spring lines, and leaves its anchors stowed. A third boat goes on the other side of the anchor boat, never outside the second. Engines off once tied, one swim ladder in use, one adult counting heads, and break the raft before the wind builds.

Do kids have to wear life jackets on a boat in Destin?

Florida requires every child under six to wear a Coast Guard-approved life jacket whenever a vessel under 26 feet is underway, and a raft-up involves repeated short moves. Rental counters supply jackets by size for everyone aboard; fit them at the dock.

Which days this week are best for fishing the pass?

Wednesday and Thursday afternoons, on the last strong ebbs before the tide goes slack. Late-September bull redfish stack along the jetties on the outgoing tide. Friday and Saturday's mixed tide has almost no current, which is great for swimmers and poor for the pass.

What does it cost to rent boats for a group of 12 to 16 in Destin in late September?

A 12-passenger pontoon is $300 to $400 for a half day and a center console $400 to $525, so about $700 to $925 for the pair before a $250 to $500 hold on the pontoon and $500 to $1,000 on the console, a $30 to $60 waiver each, fuel and tax. Roughly $50 to $65 a person for a half day.

Do I need a boater card to rent a boat in Destin?

If you were born on or after January 1, 1988, yes: a Florida Boating Safety Education ID card or the rental livery's temporary certificate, which is a short test taken online the night before or at the counter. Every driver in a group needs one, not just the person whose card holds the deposit.

Is there any tropical weather risk in Destin this week?

No. The National Hurricane Center's only active system is a tropical depression near 33 north, 33 west, in the central Atlantic and moving away from the Gulf. The week's weather risk is afternoon thunderstorms Sunday through Wednesday, 20 to 40 percent, and the east wind of 10 to 15 Thursday and Friday.

The bottom line

Anchor the pontoon first, raft the others to it, put one adult on the ladder and keep the jet skis outside the perimeter. Sunday through Wednesday, be on the sandbar at the top of a tide that walks from 5:47am to 9:47am and off the open bay by 1pm; Thursday and Friday, run it early and retreat to the harbor when the east wind fills in; Friday and Saturday, enjoy the slackest water of the month with the swimmers, and raft off the harbor mouth Saturday evening for the Harvest Moon. Rate bands, rules and the season overview are on the Destin Boating Guide home page.

Last updated September 20, 2026. Forecast details are from the National Weather Service point forecast for Destin updated early September 20, 2026; tide predictions are NOAA station 8729511 (East Pass) in MLLW; water temperature is NOAA station 8729840 (Pensacola) at 2:06am September 20; sunset times are for Destin in Central Daylight Time; full moon September 26 at 11:50am CDT from the standard astronomical algorithm; tropical outlook from the National Hurricane Center as of 10pm CDT September 19. Prices are typical late-September rate bands across Destin operators and vary by operator; confirm at booking.