I was born in FL and spent a few years there but I never got around to the white sand beach areas in the pan handle.
I was wondering if anyone could throw out some tips about where are some good FAMILY ORIENTATED places and activities around Pensacola Beach?
Whoops. Nevermind.
I saw where you said you were raised in FL so I was hoping you could give some input haha.
I’m not a FL native 
but have been to the beaches on the left and right side of Pensacola. We prefer quieter time on the beach, i.e. not bothered by drunk, loud college kids or even obnoxious high school kids, so Ft. Walton Beach (45 minutes east of Pensacola) and Perdido Beach (less than 30 minutes west) are our two favorite beaches. We observed plenty of family with smaller children (under 10) at both beaches. We have been going later in the season (after Labor Day), so we don’t have to put up with the crowds (older kids went back to school) at the beaches or restaurants, and the weather is not scorching hot. The water is still warm enough to swim. The condo rental rates are at least 15% less than the summer rates.
We have friends with little kids that love Ft. Walton beach.
October 2014 at Ft. Walton Beach:
There is a nice little Air Force museum at Hurlburt Field, 10 minutes from the beach:
Destin
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The Florida Panhandle is as foreign to me as Missouri. I’ve only driven through it twice. Once to visit a cousin in prison, and once to go to Spring Break in Panama City Beach.
Apparently PCB isn’t too bad this time of year, but you certainly don’t want to go there Mar-Apr. It seemed like it had a lot of fun things available for the family, but they are also having a problem with hoodlums from the Gump driving down on the weekends and causing a ruckus.
Perdido Key. It’s right on the FL/AL line. Beaches were amazing. Close enough to Pensicola for day trips. Wife’s family lives in Mexico Beach that is a close second for me.
There is a magical place in Ft. Walton. An intersection. You keep going for Destin, you turn right for Okaloosa Island.
But at that very intersection are 3 strip clubs, the boardwalk, and a gas station.
Many a night out never make it past that intersection.
(I know you said family friendly, I simply ignored it)
Sounds like we have similar tastes.
We’ll be down there middle of July.
I saw a video on Youtube with a crowd of people (I guess from Atlanta) that were causing quite the scene.
Just looked that area up. That’s a nice place…
We are looking for a more laid back area. Quiet is good. Minimum number of people is good. But we still need a gas station and food stores.
And if I’d ignore you I’d miss out on where NOT to go.
Thanx for the intel :ph34r:
Perdido is a great choice. When our kids were between 4-10 yrs old we would go there with friends. It’s very family friendly. We now go to Santa Rosa Beach, which is east of Destin.
I know that intersection well.
But if you go to Okaloosa Island there is the Gulfarium,Jetski rentals,Para-sailing, the Okaloosa Island pier and a couple of public parks.Farther on in Destin is a Water Park called Big Kahuna’s,charter boat fishing and about a million tourist-trappy little gift shops.
Also Fort Pickens near P’cola Beach is interesting.
Yea +5 on this one. I lived in Destin/FWB for a bit and I loved it. Pensacola Beach, Navarre Beach, Destin, FWB, Santa Rosa is all quiet…family fun with enough arcades and such to keep the kids occupied. And one of the best places to find seafood restaurants
Panama City Beach has a Ripleys Believe it Or Not museum …and PCB recently passed ordinances that will make Spring Break boring for college kids
Been to destin twice with the family in tow. Pretty low key both times. Very touristy, but the beeches are nice and quiet. We didn’t have a lot of crowds, but no eye candy either. Lots of other families.
Naval Aviation Museum is an easy day trip and lots o fun. If you time it right the Blue Angels practices are free.
I also like Perdido Key/Beach, as I stated in my original response. Don’t let the low key/quiet scare you off. There are plenty of things to keep the kids occupied. Plenty of gas stations and grocery stores across the bridge on the main land 5 minutes away. We will be back this October, we usually alternate between Perdido and Ft. Walton.
As for THE INTERSECTION mentioned earlier (Ft. Walton), yeah I’m familiar with that area. Can’t go to our condo without driving past the “Gentleman’s Club”. But my days of going to those places is over, wife wouldn’t like it. The other corners of that intersection have a couple of those beach souvenir stores that my wife always have to stop in. There is a cool gun store in Destin, but their price is high. It’s not like I can buy anything there anyway since I’m not a FL resident, but it’s worth spending 15 minutes.
Well thanks for everyone’s input.
If you all think of anything else keep it coming. I still have about a month to go before starting out.
I’ll also be able to access this thread from my iPad while I’m there.
They are probably on tour right now but you might get to see the Blue Angels. They are based in PCOLA and you get to see them a lot when they are practicing.
I lived in the Eglin AFB area for about 5 years. Navarre (just east of Pensacola Beach) is a great quiet stretch of beach. Okaloosa Island and Destin are great but will be a lot more crowded. The stretch between Pensacola and Navarre is the Gulf Islands National Seashore, there are miles of beach with no development; it’s just the road and the sand/dunes, with some pavilions/bathrooms every so often.
When I was stationed at NAS Pensacola about 8 years ago, the Blue Angels typically practiced on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. I do recommend going to the Naval Aviation Museum. There is also the Air Force Armament Museum near the main gate of Eglin (northeast of FWB)…it’s quite a bit smaller than the museum at NASP but there is some interesting stuff there.
Someone else already mentioned Fort Pickens, that’s pretty cool as well. There’s a zoo in Gulf Breeze (just east of Pensacola on US 98).