50th anniversary this Oct. I am thinking about taking Mrs. Wilson to the beach. We have never been to florida. What beach town is better ? Destin Orange , Panama city, etc ? Wanting clear water and pretty beaches. Is mid Oct good , or still crazy weather from hurricane season ?

https://csginger.com/beaches-in-florida-with-clear-water/

We like the Orange beach & Ft.Morgan area best. October is a nice time to go.

Dauphin Island is nice too and a little more laid back.

Always liked Navarre.

Spent a week there last year. First time being there in over 20 years. It sure has grown, but where hasnt?
Great beaches, plenty of restaurants, and a pretty quick run to Pcola or Destin if you want more options.

Siesta Key on the west coast is nice. Some of the best beaches in the USA are on the west coast from Sarasota to Venice.

October is the best time for the beach, if you would consider Gulf Shores , the shrimp fest is the second week of October.

30a

Anywhere up and down through there is nice, and October is a fine time to go. They have become increasingly crowded in October, however, because of cal break in many schools. The water is still warm in the gulf and if there isn’t a hurricane, the weather is usually perfect. September is my preferred time to go.

I love the “Redneck Riviera”.

Ft Walton Beach and Destin have spectacular beaches, great fishing, and all the tourist teeshirt shops you can dream of. The airport is actually on Eglin AFB.

On the east coast, Cocoa Beach/Cape Canaveral are just as good if not so "sugar white" on the beach. With the added attraction of seeing a space launch. Land at Orlando and drive the 60 miles to the beach.

October is one of the two good months in Florida, weather-wise. Unless there's a hurricane, but that's unpredictable.

Ver nice if one’s budget allows!

Going to be hard to beat the beaches in Destin. Be sure to check out Captain Dave’s. If you like to scuba dive, then Panama City is the ticket for wreck diving.

The gulf water clear starting from Sarasota south, Venice Beach is amazing, it's been the Floridians choice for decades.

The blue waters of the Florida Keys are spectacular but the beaches are lacking a abundance of white sand.

The Florida Keys are the only location in America that are in a subtropical grow zone so the flora is as equally unique as the blue waters.

+1

I enjoyed my stay at Patrick AFB so much that I paid to fly my family down for a vacation while I was TDY there. We will be going back again later this year.

October is a good time to go, but Florida never really has an "off-season" any more. It's bonkers. We were on 30A (santa rosa) in mid February for 4 days, it was the coldest weather they had all winter, and it was still hard to get in restaurants, etc.

30A is expensive, especially if you want to be close to the water. As my wife has repeatedly told me, "I don't want to go the beach, if we aren't near the water." She's not wrong.

Gulf shores, orange Beach are a bit less expensive. I haven't been to Panama city or Pensacola in decades.

30a ?

Tag

Mexico Beach (It's in Florida) https://mexicobeach.com/

I`ll second Navarre !!
Beautiful blue green water and white sand beaches.
Carribean like.
We fished 4 hours with Casey, He put us on some Reds.

https://www.navarrebeachinshorecharters.com/

Pack plenty of personal lubricant. The favorite pastime in all of Florida is "Screw the Tourists". It's a lot less painful if you grease up well before you arrive!

I live on the beach in Fort Walton Beach. The best beaches and water in the panhandle start at Pensacola and go east to about Mexico Beach. Anywhere between those will have white sand and clear water. Pensacola, Navarre, Fort Walton Beach are pretty laid back places and reasonably priced for a beach. Destin is a bit more touristy with all the tourist traps, water slides, zip lines, bumper car places, etc.

Going east from Destin you get to state highway 30A which is about a 30 mile stretch that is full of multi-million dollar homes. Towns there are Grayton Beach, Watercolor, Seaside, Seagrove Beach, Alys Beach, Rosemary Beach, etc. Very expensive, very nice, and very crowded. It’s a victim of its own success, too many people want to be there and it’s too crowded to move a lot of times. It’s kind of the Palm Beach of the gulf coast.

Further east from 30A you’re at Panama City which is kind of like Destin, it’s got all the tourist trappings but it’s also one of the main beaches people from Atlanta head to. What that means is it attracts more “ethnic” crowds. A buddy of mine sold his home and moved from Panama City last year because he got tired of it being the ghetto beach and the attendant crime that brings. Mexico Beach is to the east of Panama City and got wiped out by a hurricane a couple of years ago. They’re rebuilding but it’s still ongoing.

There are other beach towns further east of there but you said you wanted clear water, the good water drops off further east. Likewise west of Pensacola the water isn’t as nice. The Alabama beaches like Orange Beach and Gulf Shores are nice but they don’t have the beautiful water of Pensacola to Panama City, at least not most of the time.

All these places will have plenty of good restaurants. It sounds like you’re older so you probably want quieter non party places. In that case I’d probably rent a condo in Navarre on the water. Next would be Fort Walton or Pensacola. 30A if you really want to go first class but bring $$$.

I don’t know much about the south Florida beaches, that’s a different world.

Best thing about Mexico Beach is any room you book is going to be less than 4 years old.

85% of the community was wiped off the face of the earth late in 2018 by hurricane Michael.



It is a gorgeous location and the rebuild is going well, this image was taken 500 days after the storm.

PM DeFlave.........

I live in south Alabama and I am very familiar with all the beaches from Gulf Shores over to Mexico Beach. I second the quote above. If clear water and pretty beaches are your primary goal you cannot beat that stretch of beaches mentioned above.

Miami Beach

I think we are going to Cozumel this summer

Growing up, we camped on the western end of Santa Rosa Island across the bay from Pensacola for Thanksgiving. It was a tradition for 29 years to hang out at the Gulf Islands National Seashore. We liked exploring the civil war forts & the coastal batteries from the Spanish American War there. Loved the beaches & during the fall, the solitude. If it was a rainy day, we’d go to Naval Air Station & spend the day at the National Naval Aviation Museum and exploring Fort Barrancas. My dad was an American History teacher so everywhere we went had an educational aspect to it. But that area of the panhandle is a nostalgic favorite.

Ovelau Fiji, take a walk on the South Pacific side.

Blue Mountain Beach, just east of Destin gets overlooked. Much less crowded than both Destin and the rest of the 30a hot spots. More "blue collar" for lack of a better way to describe it. It's been a while since I looked at prices, but it used to be reasonable compared to the surrounding areas.

October is a great time to go...unless a tropical system is affecting the weather. Air temps aren't unbearable, water temps are cool but comfortable, winds are generally light, pop-up thunderstorms are not as frequent and the fronts haven't started rolling through. Crowds aren't nearly as bad.

Great info, thanks.




P

Is the giant sea weed mat gone yet?

Crow , thank you.

Thanks to everyone else too.

Google seaweed blob

If you want a quiet spot without the usual tourist traps I'll suggest Amelia Island on the Atlantic coast. It is the 1st exit in Florida coming down I95 from GA. It's an adult vacation spot without the teenagers.

If you want big city entertainment, it's only 1/2 hour north of Jacksonville. GA is just on the other side of the St. Mary's River where Kingsland Naval base is located. If you're lucky you may catch sight of a nuclear sub coming in or going out. It's a big production with several surface ships escorting them in and out to deep water with helicopter and fighter air cover. If you're on the northern end of the island you may actually see the sub. Farther away just the surface ships and air cover.

From St Mary's GA you can catch a boat ride to Cumberland Island and spend a day. Other than a handful of year-round residents on a small part of the island it is all primitive now. In the early 1900's several millionaires built winter mansions to vacation to. They are all in ruins now. You have to ride the ferry over and walk everywhere after that.

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=cumberland+island&form=HDRSC3&first=1

Crow hunter I live in Milton and that is about the best I have ever heard it put,it was all spot on. Maybe Santarosa county will score some bed tax money.

Pensacola Beach on Santa Rosa Island, FL….if you like laid back & no crowds. Eat at Peg Leg Pete’s, Flounder’s. Stay at either the Hilton or Hampton.

Destin if you want crowds, hustle & bustle & long lines.

Water and beaches are much prettier from fort Walton to Panama City, than anywhere on the gulf coast of Alabama.

This is spot-on.Our preference is Inlet beach…

Wife and I preferred the middle Keys over the Destin region, but she just likes being around the water, not necessarily sitting in a white sand beach.

We did like eating at Peg Leg Pete’s like somebody above mentioned.

The civil war military bases there are very interesting, to me at least.

My stepdaughter turns 40 this year. I’m putting together a trip for her and her mom for a week or so, Vrbo/Airbnb, they want an oceanfront view and beach access. I’ll look at Navarre.




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What Rocky said. This pic was taken in the little nest known as Indialantic from the back side of my hotel during a family reunion.

We stayed just outside of Tampa.

9 months old revival for beaches in FL?
What’s she look like and what are the dates?