- Steinhatchee, Florida, is a laid-back coastal community known for seasonal scalloping from June 15 to Labor Day with a two-gallon limit per person.
- Hurricane Helene in September 2024 caused flooding at the Little House Library and destroyed Roy's Restaurant, which plans to reopen next year.
- The town offers outdoor activities like fishing, hunting, birdwatching, and features a strong community spirit with neighbors helping each other.
No stoplights. No hustle and bustle. A coastal community with no beaches, but plenty of access to water for seasonal scalloping, swimming and stunning sunsets. Fishing and hunting also fit into the mix. Easy charm and easy living, just the way Florida used to be.
If that’s what you’re looking for, Steinhatchee, in the southern part of Taylor County, Florida, the Gulf Coast’s Big Bend and Nature Coast area, might be for you.
“It has the atmosphere of old Florida,” said Steinhatchee Chamber of Commerce president Mark Reblin. “It’s a laid-back community with a lot of outdoor activities. Some people hate it here, some people love it here, because there’s really nothing here. But some people want nothing.”
Well, nothing might be stretching it because if you like nature, there’s plenty to do. But otherwise, you might find yourself with time on your hands. Reblin is one of those who loves the nothingness of Steinhatchee. He came here from Fort Lauderdale in 1996 and hasn’t looked back.
“It’s a kind of niche, because we have so little. Some people are coming here to retire, not a lot, because we don’t have all the amenities,” Reblin said.
But for many people, that is exactly the draw.
The name Steinhatchee comes from the Native American “esteem hatchee,” meaning river (hatchee) of man (esteem), according to the Chamber of Commerce brochure. Timucuan and Seminole Indians, Spanish explorers and Civil War troops passed through the area, crossing at Steinhatchee Falls.
This time of year, though, scalloping season is in full swing. And that’s what gives Steinhatchee its reputation, with the season opening June 15 and running through Labor Day. The only equipment you need is a mask, swim fins, a snorkel, and a mesh bag for the scallops you find.
Also required is a valid Florida saltwater fishing license. The per-person limit for what you can take home is two gallons of whole bay scallops in shell or a pint of bay scallop meat. There’s no legal size limit for harvested scallops, but conservationists recommend keeping only those that measure at least 1.5 to 2 inches across.
But to be sure you are practicing sustainable scalloping, you can pick up a scallop sorter, a simple tool that measures your catch. If the scallop fits through the hole, it’s too small and must get tossed back into the water.
Birdwatching, scuba diving and nature trails are part of Steinhatchee’s great outdoors. Some springs are close by, and the Great Florida Birding Trail and the Big Bend Saltwater Paddling Trail are in the area.
But there’s more to Steinhatchee than what’s in the water. Debra Butler, a member of the Chamber Board, moved here with her husband in 2018. What made them set up shop here was “the congestion in Pinellas County…and the fishing and hunting opportunities. What she likes most about being here is “the peace and everybody waves to one another and they help you when you need help.”
Butler also manages the Little House Library across the way from the Community Center where the Chamber’s offices are currently located. The library building used to be known as the “Shot House,” because it was where visiting clinicians would provide vaccines to the community. But for the past 15 years, it has operated as the town library, except for the months after Hurricane Helene devastated Steinhatchee in September 2024.
Although the building is set back away from the Steinhatchee River, the water crept up and “came through the windows, but didn’t knock it down,” Butler said.
Something else that took a harder hit was a Steinhatchee staple, Roy’s Restaurant, which was flattened, with only the slab left, said Linda Wicker, who owns the restaurant with her son, Ben, and daughter-in-law, Nichole. They are breaking ground on a new restaurant in a few weeks and hope to reopen next year.
In the meantime, they are operating a Roy’s food truck near the site “to give some of our employees an opportunity to work and to keep Roy’s visible and to provide a service to visitors and our community,” Wicker said.
“I don’t know that we have a choice. We have been part of the community for such a long time; I can’t imagine Steinhatchee without Roy’s,” she said. The restaurant opened with its original owner in 1969 and Wicker took it over in 2004.
The Chamber describes Steinhatchee as “a small fishing village with a big heart,” and the big heart is what most who stay here seem to find.
“We look out for one another. It’s the sense of community. Community is family here,” Wicker said.
