If you're looking for hands-down best beaches, don't rule out Sarasota. Siesta Key was voted whitest sands in north america last time I checked.

This was my christmas card one year, but I actually had to color-correct so it looked like sand. At first people just thought it was snow...

Saw this on the local news... Didn't realize it went national.

Just so OP understands alot of folks are recommending 30A areas and may not even know it.  Highway 30A consists of the following communities:

Dune Allen
Gulf Place
Blue Mountain Beach
Grayton Beach
Watercolor
Seaside
Seagrove
WaterSound
Alys Beach
Seacrest
Rosemary Beach

My personal experience when I went mid-summer...lots of drunk rednecks. We packed up and headed a little further east to a great area called Seaside and rented a home for a week. It wasn't cheap, but it awesome.

Where ever you visit, bring and use quality sunscreen.  (Badger, Blue Lizard (got that from my dermatologist)).  I was in the panhandle in the 70's while in the USAF, again in the late 70's while in college (UWF).  I enjoyed the area.

You really can't go wrong at any of the places mentioned. Check out Gulf Shores, Al. Same nice beaches and water.  I believe that
Gulf Shores was voted the cleanest family oriented beach in the country last year, Yea, I know that there is  a gazillion beach polls,
and such. Grayton Beach State Park by SeaSide east of Destin was voted a best beach also. I'd pick a place and go and perhaps spend
a day driving down the coastline checking out other locations, I'm sure that anywhere you choose you will enjoy it. As some have said, Destin traffic
is heavy but any tourist spot is during tourist season. I have a condo in Gulf Shores that I rent and everyone seems to love the area and say
that they are coming again next year. Some places are more party heavy than others, but you can also stay away from that enviornment at any place
too. Just pick a place and you will have a great time.

It's not gay if you're underway.

 

Destin is a beautiful place. You will like it.

There used to be a bar called howl at the moon or something like that.
There were two guys playing pianos and doing a comedy show. It is funny
as hell and worth every penny.
Also check out the red bar just east of Destin in Grayton  beach cool place
with good food and cool atmosphere. Lots of pilots used to hang there.

Summer is too hot, crowded, and expensive.
Visit from mid September and get out before spring break.



<- - - - -  Destin resident...

A place to eat:

Grazie Cafe Italian Restaurant
Seafood - Italian style! http://www.cafe-grazie.com
(850) 837-7240
1771 Scenic Highway 98
Destin, FL 32541

FYI, if you go to Grayton and areas off 30A you will see folks driving their 4WD vehicles on the beach...you might think you can too
Try it without a permit (I believe only residents can get a permit) and the SO will hang a ticket on you....

Pcola beach is nice too. Less congestion, lots to see and do in Pcola.

Went to Destin two years ago with some family, and it was very nice to say the least.  Yeah you can tell it's a tourist area but still it's pretty bad ass for a vacation spot.  Try to do some fishing while you're there, first time I ever got to actually fish for something bigger than a channel or blue cat.  And if you like golf they have some very nice golf courses, my brother in law is a damn golf fanatic so we had to go golfing one day.  They have fresh sea food everywhere so if you like to eat that's a plus!

If you visit the Pcola area, are there any decent hotels in the city? Seems like its a lot cheaper to stay away from the beach.

Yes, bunches.

Pompano Joes makes Red Lobster look like fine dining but they do have a great view.  If you are over that way (Miramar Beach) check out Fat Clemenza's - no view to speak of but great Italian food (especially subs and pizza).  As a general rule, the better you can see the ocean in a Destin restaurant, the worse the food is.  The closer you are to Gulfarium, the worse the food gets as well. We usually rent a house, buy some fresh seafood and cook in the house - that is the only way I've found to enjoy good food + good view in Destin.

Great area though.  You could randomly pick a place for 30 miles in either direction and still have a good vacation.  I stayed in the Hilton next to the Gulfarium one time - windows boarded up at the hotel, beach full of June grass, 30 years of Spring Break stench covered in Clorox - still had a fun trip.  I can say that there are so many great beach rentals in the Destin area I doubt I will ever rent a hotel room there again.

In the early nineties, I spent a year in Montgomery, AL and went to Destin probably twice a month.  At the time, it was about as much a sports-fishing spot as a beach vacation one.  Loved it.  I was back six or seven years ago, more beachy, but still loved it.

Hit the Donut Hole about 4 AM for people watching, Dewey Destin's for grilled fish sandwiches at lunch.

Anything from Seaside to the end of Destin is great.  Prices vary from really pricey to cheap and you can also do Sandestin resort.

Cape San Blas is also a good place with shitty cell reception to help in getting "away"

I was born and raised in Pensacola, I currently live on Perdido Key near Orange Beach. I've personally seen all the beaches from Gulf Shores, AL to Panama City, FL, and many others in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas including the Florida Keys.

In terms of the whiteness of the beaches, the zone from Pensacola Beach to Sandestin (inclusive) is pretty much unbeatable. Whatever variations exist are are extremely minor. That said, the absolute whitest beaches you will see are the areas around Navarre Beach (on Santa Rosa Island, just east of Pensacola Beach) and Fort Walton Beach / Destin proper. Ouside of this zone going east towards Panama City Beach there is a gradual but relatively minor degradation of the whiteness, but it is not a major gradient. Going west from Pensacola Beach there is a somewhat steeper gradient, with the beaches assuming a marked beige character by the time you reach Gulf Shores, AL. Again, this is far from sucky, but we are weighing perfection here.

In terms of tourist traffic, Destin / Fort Walton is a freaking zoo in the summertime. As you move east from Destin, this becomes slightly less evident in the more exclusive (read: expensive) areas between Destin and Panama City, but it picks up again briskly as you approach that condominium megalopolis known as Panama City Beach. If you're rich enough to afford luxurious tranquility, you might consider Grayton Beach / Seaside / etc., but you are most definitely going to pay for it. Going west, Pensacola Beach too has lots of tourist traffic, though at a slightly reduced intensity when compared with Destin. It is also possible to stay in Pensacola at a discount and make a relatively short commute to the Pensacola Beach, though the traffic can be intense in both directions. Probably the sleepy gem is Navarre Beach which, while certainly occupied during the summer, is a much smaller area comparatively speaking, and has an immense quantity of premium public beach access (warning: there used to be a nude beach there, not sure if it's still up and running). Going further west into Perdido Key and the Alabama beaches, you are going to be facing an increasing number of high rise condominiums with very limited public beach access. That said, the Orange Beach area is a close second to Destin in terms of being a sportfishing hub, with somewhat less utilization.

Shopping, nightlife and restaurants are available across the region, but there is no question that moving east from Destin leads to the commercial sine qua non of the region, at least if you're rich. A great deal of this area is effectively Rodeo Drive on the beach, and there are a proliferation of expensive and prestigious restaurants and nightclubs. Every high end department store you can think of has an outlet somewhere in the area. So if the missus has a weakness for Nieman Marcus or Louis Vuitton, be prepared for the credit card to take a few dents.

Pensacola is relatively tame by comparison, though there are certainly some very nice restaurants and shops to be found that are willing to take your money. Pensacola nightlife tends to be concentrated in Pensacola Beach during the summer, and bar hopping on the island can easily lead to a raucous good time. There are also long stretches of undeveloped, easily accessed beach nearby for spending a few moments alone necking in the dunes with your lady, if the mood strikes you, with nothing but the wind and the sound of the ocean to keep you company.

Orange Beach too has a lot of nightlife and some very nice restaurants, but not nearly as much beach access. In truth, if you are going to have a proper vacation in Orange Beach, you are going to need to get ahold of a boat sooner or later, and this is a really great area for that sort of thing. This isn't a requirement for the other areas I've described, where all you really need is a rental car and a lawn chair and maybe a couple of bucks for park admission. And some beers on ice, of course.

It's nice to know all you motherfuckers have been near and never stopped by to say hi.

I'm going to have to disagree.....

That beautiful white sand is from a river 20 miles north of the beaches of Navarre.  



If you're into partying OP, Crab Island might be for you.

Weird that they don't serve crab cakes on Sunday though....we saved it for the last day because of that....sucks.

You need to stay on 30A...not Destin itself or PC. 30A is beautiful and the beaches are perfect. You can easily drive to the Outlet malls and food places if you want.  30A also has a lot of nice local places as well. Plenty to do.

Spent my honeymoon there.

I was involved in that project, but I'm not saying how. It's a damn nice place, that's for sure. The same developers built two smaller developments a little further west.

You're welcome.

West to east for the foreigners.  

http://www.residenceinnpensacoladowntown.com/

No used to, it's still there. Got my "season pass" card so I dont have to pay cover.

Also, if you goto the Red Bar; get there early. Even in the down season, that place is slammed. Great food though.

Heard this too.

Have a good friend who has the money to go pretty much ANYWHERE he wants on vacation and goes to destin every year.  

Crystal blue water good restaurants and family friendly to hear him tell it.

Great Beaches!!

Decent shopping and high end restaurant/entertainment area not far from the beaches

Best time to go is October after the summer busy season

my biggest gripe is that there are not many 4 star hotels...most are small mom and pop outfits.  The best place to stay is at the Hilton San Destin

It's close to ft walton beach near the Gulf Airium. I don't think they do the dueling piano's all the time but I checked it out a few years back with my buddy and a philipino stripper I met at El Matador and it was pretty funny.

From Seascaspe to Sandestin, my favorite beach was Topsail State Park. We took our camper down and the beach was really private.

No shit.  I didn't know this many people on arfcom lived in the area.   I'm near Milton now.  Did live in Navarre.

well then hop on over and join the party in July.

/ hijacking the thread

Can anyone comment on the Embassy Suites in Destin?  I can get a pretty decent rate and would like some ARF feedback.

Going in a few weeks. Going to pilgrimage to my first elementary school.

I'm in that very resort right now.  The traffic really sucked getting here.  

 

and if you don't like fish sandwiches get the bacon wrapped crab stuffed shrimp.

GR

DAY 2  

Did Jarhead_22 already FO without telling us goodbye?

Can you drink on the beach in destin?

That's the biggest problem with 30A, and the biggest reason it's quieter. Little two-lane state road, just meandering through the sand pines...

I'll be there in a week, baby!  Adagio is awesome...gulf front!  

Destin is a great place. One of my favorites.

Were you operating the crane?

Yup...how about a July 4th reunion shoot? PM me...

Make sure you go to the original Dewey Destin on Calhoun, not the one on the harbor.  Little local's secret.