40 miles E of Pensacola; 160 miles W of Tallahassee
The major tourist destination in Florida's Panhandle, Destin and Fort Walton Beach, along with Okaloosa Island, draws beach lovers and golfers year-round. White, sandy strips stretch the entire length of what has become known as the Emerald Coast. Destin and Fort Walton Beach are home to the state's largest fishing fleet. Myriad golf courses give visitors reason to head inland as well.
Beaches
The 1 1/2 miles of sandy beachfront at Henderson Beach State Park sit like an oceanfront oasis in the middle of Destin. Fort Walton Beach bums while away the hours on the white sands of Okaloosa Island, just one bridge away from town.
Things to Do
Head for the greens at Destin-area golf courses. The Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort offers 72 holes over three courses landscaped with palms and bougainvillea.
Eating & Drinking
Fresh seafood rules along Florida's Emerald Coast. If you spent your day fishing, bring your catch to a local restaurant where they'll prepare and grill, broil, or blacken your fish for dinner.
A Lay of the Land
Sitting on a round harbor off East Pass, which lets broad and beautiful Choctawhatchee Bay flow into the Gulf of Mexico, Destin, along with Fort Walton Beach and Okaloosa Island, is Northwest Florida’s and most upscale vacation destination.Although Fort Walton Beach has its own strip of white sand on Okaloosa Island, the city’s economy is supported less by tourism than by the sprawling Eglin Air Force Base. Covering more than 700 square miles, Eglin is the world’s largest air base and is home to the U.S. Air Force’s Armament Museum and the 33rd Tactical Fighter Wing, the “Top Guns”.
To the east of Destin and south of I-10 along the Emerald Coast Parkway are the spectacular sugar-white-sand beaches of South Walton County. In fact, it’s the only destination in the entire country to have all 26 miles of coastline certified as “Blue Wave” beaches by the Clean Beaches Council. The Florida Panhandle has 17 of the 49 sites certified by the Clean Beaches Council as the nation's cleanest, safest and healthiest.
While there is some development in the area (in the form of the swanky, new urbanist beach town of Alys Beach), this picturesque area has mostly cottages nestled among rolling sand dunes covered with sea oats. As you drive along the scenic highway 30A, you will discover around sixteen quirky, cozy, and quaint communities each with distinct personalities. Here you’ll find Grayton Beach State Park, which has one of America’s finest beaches, and the quaint, albeit Stepford-esque planned village of Seaside, which served as the set for Jim Carrey’s movie The Truman Show. Seaside was built on a lovely stretch of beach in the 1980s, but with Victorian architecture that makes it look a century older. Seaside also has meandering white-picket-fenced footpaths; waterfront dining; 26-miles of white-sand beaches and architecturally unique beach pavilions; the alfresco Seaside Repertory Theatre; interesting shops and galleries; a stamp-size, Greek Revival–style post office; and a resident population of artists, writers, and other creative folks, who permit only their own cars in their relatively expensive little enclave. Don’t worry, there are parking spaces for tourists on the one main road through Seaside. WaterColor is located in Santa Rosa Beach and boasts 140 vacation homes, a stellar hotel, and nature trails. Also nearby is WaterSound Beach, featuring vacation residences and a mile-long beach with pedestrian bridges, footpaths, and dunes.
The aforementioned Alys Beach is a stunning, Antiguan/Bermudan/Guatemalan/Mediterranean-style, Hamptons-esque environmentally friendly beach community of three- to five-bedroom homes, all with their own courtyards and most with private pools. It’s on 30A, near Rosemary Beach, another fabulous, neo-traditional planned beach town, whose design is a compelling fusion of St. Augustine, the West Indies, New Orleans, and Charleston.
