We are looking for a family-friendly beach area in western Florida for our summer vacation. (We will be driving from Dallas and don't want an unbearable drive). We would love a place that has nice beaches and maybe a few other activities appropriate for the younger set (my son will be 6 and my daughter will be almost 4). We would welcome any recommendations at all about places in western Florida that you would recommend. Thanks!
I like the beaches of South Walton. Close enough to Destin to entertain the kids when you need a day away from the beach front, but far enough to not be congested.
http://www.visitsouthwalton.com/
Areas to focus on are Grayton Beach, Seaside, and Seagrove.
We just returned from Destin, FL and had a wonderful time at the Sandestin Golf & Beach Resort. We drove also from DFW - it's about a 12 hour drive.
We just stayed at Siesta Beach for spring break and loved it. The key is lovely, small and family friendly. The beach is amazing. We also went to the Mote Aquarium (and did the environmental/educational boat tour of the intercoastal waterway) and Sarasota Jungle Gardens. My kids are 3, 5 and 7 (girl, boy, boy).
My brother and his wife always go to St. Georges Island - they love it there (it's on the panhandle). They live in Atlanta so it's an easier drive for them.
J.
We go to Pensacola Beach every year. They truly have some awesome beaches and our kids love it. There are a ton of things to do - sunset cruises to watch dolphins or rent a boat for a few hours. You can also drive to Destin for shopping at the outlets, visit the waterpark, or visit the zoo in Gulf Breeze (small zoo). I think there is also bumper cars or something like that.
If you do go -- you MUST go to my favorite restaurant - McGuires. Locals and tourists all love it. It's away from the beach, in Pensacola, but only a 15-20 minute drive.
The drive usually takes us about 11 hours. Not too bad. Might take longer this year since our little guy is potty trained and will probably want to go potty every 20 minutes (out of boredom).
You can usually find condos to rent on the beach or you can also rent a little house - they are usually a short walk from the beach or across from it. Check out Vrbo.com, like another person mentioned.
Check out Sandestin. It's a very family friendly area with beautiful beaches.
We've been going to Naples since my girls were babies (they're now 8 and 10). We LOVE it there! Beaches are beautiful, Old Town Naples is beautiful. There is nice little zoo there. We stay at a place called Park Shore Resort. It is not within walking distance to the beach (the drive is about 1.5 miles) but my kids aren't the biggest beach fans. They have a great pool though - very scenic and relaxing, with a restaurant attached where we always get our girls virgin umbrella drinks! There are plenty of places to stay right on the beach though. We began going where we go mostly b/c of cost.
The only downside to Naples (IMO) is it is pretty far south, making your drive further than if you went to Tampa, St. Pete's, etc. But we just love it there! PM me if you have any questions!
pensacola is amazing. and the kids would love the naval air museum. have a geat time!
i don't know how long of a drive it is, but check out sanibel island/captiva. they are small islands off the ft. meyers area, accessible via causeway. we are actually going there this summer, staying at the south seas plantation resort, nice accommodations and TONS of stuff for families.
have fun!!
We drove to Destin last summer and really enjoyed it there. The beaches were amazing. We actually stayed in Miramar Beach. We stayed at Beach Resort and really liked it. It is right across the street from the beach but isn't a high rise condo. It had a great pool for the kids. There are several listing for it on vrbo.com or southernresorts.com.
Ouch driving?
We LOVE Sandestin. We are there yearly. We stay at the Hilton Sandeston Golf Resort and Spa. SO worth it, love it. Gated area as well.
We are in Plano. We fly directly from DFW and drive about an hour. No way we'd drive it.
Any drive over 2hrs, we fly. Worth it to us.
Have fun. Sandestin is great.
My husband and I took our three year old little boy to the Destin area last year for the first time and we loved it! I did a lot of research on Destin and all the surrounding beach towns. We ended up choosing to stay in Seaside. We flew Southwest Airlines to Panama City Beach and then rented a car - about a 30 minute drive. Southwest Airlines has some great airfare deals from Dallas to Panama City so it might actually work out to the same cost or cheaper considering the price of gas these days. We also got a great deal on a rental car.
We really liked the Seaside area as it's very quaint and so charming. It doesn't have the big highrises that Destin has - Seaside has adorable pastel colored cottages and beautiful homes. It also has a lovely town square with restaurants and shops. You'll probably pay a little more to stay in Seaside than you would Destin but we found that it was worth it. We stayed at the WaterColor Resort which was just down the street from Seaside - they were running a 50% special at the time. Our room rate included a delicious breakfast each morning and free bike rentals daily which was a lot of fun! Watercolor is right on the beach and has several pools. I've also heard there are very reasonable rates on condos in Santa Rosa Beach which isn't far away. You might check www.vrbo.com.
We fell in love with the area and plan to make it an annual trip! I did hear the summer months are rather crowded and the wait times to get into a restaurant can be long for kids but that's probably true for any summer vacation destinations. Plus, the rates will be higher as that's their busy season. We went in October and it was beautiful weather, no crowds, no wait at the restaurants, etc. I think we're planning to go in the summer this year so we'll have to be prepared for it to be busier.
We have been (and heading back this summer for a week) to the Fort Walton Beach area, specifically stay on Okaloosa(sp?) Island. It is on a beautiful beach and not a party beach. There is sunset dolphin cruises, a pirate ship you can have dinner on (kid friendly), pier fishing, act. Our friends own a beautiful condo and they list it for vacations on VRBO.com. We will make the drive in 2 days & find something fun to do on the way. I did not ever want to own a vacation property until we stayed there. Beautiful, fun things to do and can be very relaxing. Hope that helps,
