For decades, recreational sea turtle bycatch has been reported along the Gulf Coast following anomalous years with a higher-than-average number of bycatch reports. Along Florida’s Gulf Coast, Navarre Beach Fishing Pier reports the highest sea turtle bycatch in recent years with 269 sea turtle bycatch reports occurring from 2018-2023. We performed in-water surveys at five northwest Florida fishing piers from 2019-2022 to document sea turtle size, abundance, and composition. Additionally, we collected site specific data on each pier's ecological footprint that may contribute to the differing number of sea turtles observed at each site. A total of 41 sea turtle observations were recorded across 41 total surveys. The quantity, size, and species composition of sea turtles observed appears to align with the reported bycatch records at these sites during the in-water survey period. Facial images confirm that sea turtles were resighted at the same fishing pier across multiple surveys suggesting that some individuals may preferentially visit piers more frequently. GLM models indicate that site specific factors may contribute most to the variation in sea turtle observations across the surveys. Quadrat images of each pier’s fouling communities reveal significant differences across the sites; however, there are less differences between the sites with higher rates of in-water sea turtle observations suggesting that other factors could be driving the variation in observations. Social factors (e.g. fishing practices) and the surrounding environment of these piers may better elucidate the site specific differences. Additional survey strategies could provide further information about individual sea turtles that are frequently spotted at fishing piers. The results of this study and future studies addressing social factors and the environmental context at fishing piers are necessary to understand and mitigate sea turtle bycatch at Gulf Coast fishing piers.