Planning a week's vacation in October for either PCB or Destin over the kid's fall break. Two daughters who are 13 and 11. Looking for pros and cons of each location. Plan on renting a condo beachfront so if anyone has any recommendations for a specific condo they prefer that would be great.
PCB or Destin?
- Thread starter HoosierNole
- Start date
Neither. Go in between at Seaside, Alys Beach or Grayton. It’s the best beaches, has a fair amount to do and eat on its own AND you can always pop out to either of the bigger cities if you want to.
PCB and Destin are geared more for a younger crowd. South Walton is for those willing to spend more for a upscale experience. 30A is definitely different.
I like staying at the Tidewater--a high-rise condo on the beach at the west end of PC Beach. It's relatively new, right on top of the water, has two pools, and is very close to Pier Park. And because it's on the west end, it's easy to shoot over to Seaside or Destin if you want. I usually just find a unit available on VRBO.
The only decent beach in Destin is the state park. The rest of them are extremely small and cramped.
Everytime I've been to Panama City Beach, it's dirty and crowded.
I'd much rather be at the beach on Okaloosa Island, Pensacola, or Navarre.
I've not been to the beaches on 30A but as others said, it's right in between PCB and Destin and easy to hit up the better parts of both of those with just a short drive while enjoying a nicer, less crowded beach.
This. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but October isn't exactly beach weather in the Panhandle. You're better off heading to beaches farther south, the attractions or the mountains as Dan has suggested.
Gotcha.
The actual beaches are the same (sand, water, and sunsets). PCB has roughly the same size beach area from condo line to water ( some condos are closer to water line giving them less beach. But that also means shorter walk to water and better view when looking west at the sunset...but this all splitting hairs.)
In October though, there will be no crowd on the beach whatsoever. The whole place will be yours to do with what you like...trust me. It will virtually be a ghost town.
The actual beaches are the same (sand, water, and sunsets). PCB has roughly the same size beach area from condo line to water ( some condos are closer to water line giving them less beach. But that also means shorter walk to water and better view when looking west at the sunset...but this all splitting hairs.)
In October though, there will be no crowd on the beach whatsoever. The whole place will be yours to do with what you like...trust me. It will virtually be a ghost town.
October can be 85° or 55° you never know. It will be less humid and less crowded for sure.
The temp will be fine. But there is something weird about the tilt of the earth in October that makes the beaches feel a bit off..just not the same vibe as spring and summer.
Like a couple have already said... You’re kind of splitting hairs. I prefer Destin myself, but it’s about the layout of town more than anything. You are rolling the dice with the weather though.
It really should be about what you want to do when you are not at the beach. The weather will be fine. It will not be a ghost town in PCB though it will definitely be less crowded. The "offseason" keeps getting longer and longer.
PCB has more things to do when you are away from the beach. The golfkarts, amusement rides, old time arcades, Gulf World. PCB has Pier Park which does go down to the pier as the name states. Destin has Destin Commons but that is like pretty much any other outdoor mall.
30A is for the folks that want to feel and experience more "upscale" environment and food. Also, unless you are insane rich you dont stay on the water, its mostly houses a short walk from the beach. If you want to get up seeing the beach Id say PCB or Destin. I dont think there is too much of a difference between PCB and Destin and I would go with whichever you can find the best deal. There are a few nice condos including some that have near indoor water park quality like Splash from what I have heard.
PCB has more things to do when you are away from the beach. The golfkarts, amusement rides, old time arcades, Gulf World. PCB has Pier Park which does go down to the pier as the name states. Destin has Destin Commons but that is like pretty much any other outdoor mall.
30A is for the folks that want to feel and experience more "upscale" environment and food. Also, unless you are insane rich you dont stay on the water, its mostly houses a short walk from the beach. If you want to get up seeing the beach Id say PCB or Destin. I dont think there is too much of a difference between PCB and Destin and I would go with whichever you can find the best deal. There are a few nice condos including some that have near indoor water park quality like Splash from what I have heard.
Fair Warning to people if your planning on Destin or out in 30A for your trip as there is a serious ShitStorm going on right now with Owners of Beachfront Property saying the Beach is Private all the way to the water and therefore your trespassing on their Property if you walk on it..just google "Customary Use" Destin and you can read all about it..they will be the first people begging for City.County..State..Federal Money for Beach Nourishment after the next Storm wipes "their" Beach away is the ironic part
I don't think that extends into Destin, only 30A. Destin is in Okaloosa County. I think this is more a Walton County issue, so it would impact San Destin.
I use the terms interchangeably but you are correct..its a WC Issue
There are just a few beaches that are affected by this. It's not like all of South Walton is closed down.
Rick Scott has realized how terrible of a deal this is and has asked many municipalities to simply not enforce it for the time being and treat it as an optional law and not a requirement until after the elections. That's an area of very wealthy, entitled people who would prefer there be no tourists around so they don't care if it makes tourists mad. I imagine that cities that rely heavily on tourism will not want to enforce it.
I did a very short and not thorough search to try to see and the best I could find is that Walton County is one of the few counties in the State that has property lines down to the waters edge. Two others were exempted out of the Bill. I dont know if that is the case or not. Bay County has tons of tourists and many of them go right infront of property owners land presumably.
Course in PCB the issue is not about customary use its whether you can have a tent on the beach or umbrella lol
Course in PCB the issue is not about customary use its whether you can have a tent on the beach or umbrella lol
If he's staying at a place they will have access and it won't affect him...
I was in Orange Beach a few years back. Guy walks down & gets in the water about 5 min. Comes back up to me & my female companion at the time & points to a pole about 30ft to our left. He then asks us to move because it was a private beach. There was hardly anyone out there. I look back, & this old house was at least 190yds back. You could tell it’s been there years before any of the condos were there. We moved of course... He was kinda being a dick about it, so of course me, wanting to out dick him, said I was sorry, I didn’t think it looked like anyone lived in that old place. 
It's not all the beach front properties, just a few. Most of the deeds that established the south property line as the mean high tide line were written in the 1920's.
Bay County and others neighboring Walton have had their beaches renourished using state or federal funds which would negate exclusive use by the owners.
This whole law seems like utter insanity.
Came across a somewhat related issue while trying to hike up Clearwater Beach to Caldesi Island. Some snotty fools tried to act like a portion of the beach on the way up there was for their use only (not sure if they were legally correct) but damn I can't imagine being that much of a selfish prick. Also noticed that beach access for a solid mile or two is limited to residents of a private community - so even if it's a public beach, by design you can't get to it unless you're a member/resident of their dickish nimby subdivision or you're willing to hike up the beach a couple miles.
Great hike though, highly recommend it.
Came across a somewhat related issue while trying to hike up Clearwater Beach to Caldesi Island. Some snotty fools tried to act like a portion of the beach on the way up there was for their use only (not sure if they were legally correct) but damn I can't imagine being that much of a selfish prick. Also noticed that beach access for a solid mile or two is limited to residents of a private community - so even if it's a public beach, by design you can't get to it unless you're a member/resident of their dickish nimby subdivision or you're willing to hike up the beach a couple miles.
Great hike though, highly recommend it.
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