Fort Walton Beach in March

[paper1225]

I know this is the disney board.......and usually that is all we are planning, but DD wants to go to the beach for her BDay, so we have decided upon a condo on Fort Walton Beach.........any recommendations of things to do/not to do? TIA

 

[Melissa<3Disney]

Hi!! I am from Niceville, which is just about 15 minutes from Ft. Walton Beach! I don't know if you have booked yet or how long you are staying for, but if you are looking for a great beach day and community your best bet is to look for a condo in Destin. Being from there I just think there is more to do out in Destin. Plus there are lots of shopping and fun activities for families that Ft. Walton doesn't have. Plus a lot of really fun restaurants! But don't worry if you have already booked it.. the beaches are pretty much the same through the panhandle and you are just a short drive to all the activities of Destin! I hope you have a fabulous trip!! I can't wait to go home again!! My boyfriend and I moved to San Diego for our jobs and are very much anticipating our visit home to my family! We are actually all renting a beach house in Destin! Have a wonderful vacation!!

I just also wanted to add some of the fun things to do! If you stay in Ft. Walton, a short drive over the bridge will take you into Okaloosa Island, the crab trap is a fun restaurant and great beach area! And then over the next bridge is Destin... there you have a ton of restaurants.. you can also rent boats, jet skis, go para sailing, etc...The Destin Commons is a great shopping center with lots of fun stuff!! Some of our favorite restaurants are The Lucky Snapper, Mcguires Pub, Pompano Joes, and if you drive a little into Sand Destin there is a place called Cheeseburger in Paradise that my brother and my dad love!! The Village at Baytowne Warf is a really fun afternoon as well!!

 

[Kies99]

Hi!! I am from Niceville, which is just about 15 minutes from Ft. Walton Beach! I don't know if you have booked yet or how long you are staying for, but if you are looking for a great beach day and community your best bet is to look for a condo in Destin. Being from there I just think there is more to do out in Destin. Plus there are lots of shopping and fun activities for families that Ft. Walton doesn't have. Plus a lot of really fun restaurants! But don't worry if you have already booked it.. the beaches are pretty much the same through the panhandle and you are just a short drive to all the activities of Destin! I hope you have a fabulous trip!! I can't wait to go home again!! My boyfriend and I moved to San Diego for our jobs and are very much anticipating our visit home to my family! We are actually all renting a beach house in Destin! Have a wonderful vacation!!

I just also wanted to add some of the fun things to do! If you stay in Ft. Walton, a short drive over the bridge will take you into Okaloosa Island, the crab trap is a fun restaurant and great beach area! And then over the next bridge is Destin... there you have a ton of restaurants.. you can also rent boats, jet skis, go para sailing, etc...The Destin Commons is a great shopping center with lots of fun stuff!! Some of our favorite restaurants are The Lucky Snapper, Mcguires Pub, Pompano Joes, and if you drive a little into Sand Destin there is a place called Cheeseburger in Paradise that my brother and my dad love!! The Village at Baytowne Warf is a really fun afternoon as well!!

ITA! My parents live in Destin and I've been going down yearly for the past 10-15yrs for a weekly vacation. They have a beach house on 30A. It might be a little more than you want to drive, but a trip down 30A is nice with lots of little places to stop at along the way. Seaside's a nice town to stop at, and the Red Bar in Grayton Beach is a great restaurant. At the end you can hit Pier Park in Panama City.

 

[rie'smom]

Hi OP, we stayed in a condo at the Emerald Grande at Harbor Walk in Destin. It's right after the bridge from Santa Rosa. There were fantastic deals. Here's a link:
http://www.emeraldgrande.com/
This is a link to the different condos:
http://www.emeraldgrande.com/vtour.asp

 

[Corbin3]

Whats the weather there like in Feb. and March? Is it still warm enough to swim? Our airport offers direct flights there but they only last through the end of March.

 

[lastminutemom]

I was just coming to post this. The weather won't be beachy weather unless you are from somewhere cold, very cold. We vacation several times a year on the Gulf Coast but find March weather to be chilly. But we are southerners and often see northerners and Canadians in the water on days we wouldn't consider it.

Fort Walton is pretty far north in Florida, in fact some people call that area Lower Alabama.

I would definitely only rent at place with a heated pool and even then...

To be most certain (but of course not guaranteed) that you will have beachy weather, you need to go to S. Florida.

 

[Gr8dan2]

We went over spring break last year and stayed in this unit at the Nautilus in Fort Walton Beach 3 BR ground/beach front unit. We are southerners and swam a few days but not every day. The beach and water were BEAUTIFUL, the kids loved it. But it was on the chilly side for us. There was a heated pool and we used it daily. Most people there were in the water every day, but lots of northern license plates in the parking lot! We actually preferred this to staying in Destin-- it was much less, well, 'spring break' than Destin was when we went there. We spent A LOT less on the condo than we did in Destin and really preferred it. That being said, we did have to get in the car to go anywhere, and we did drive down to Destin twice there is a lot more there. So really depends what you want out of the trip! I certainly wouldn't go in March expecting to spend the whole day everyday swimming/in the water because the weather may or may not cooperate depending on what you are used to and what you consider 'beach weather'.

 

[Princessmom2]

I know this is the disney board.......and usually that is all we are planning, but DD wants to go to the beach for her BDay, so we have decided upon a condo on Fort Walton Beach.........any recommendations of things to do/not to do? TIA

How old is your DD? There is the Gulfarium on Okaloosa island, which is a small marine park and a nice way to spend a few hours. (They rescued a lot of turtles during the recent cold snap!) The Track is in Destin, with lots of rides and goofy golf and Bungee jump. The Armament Museum is on Eglin Air Force Base. There are several malls in the area, an enclosed one in Ft Walton, outdoor one in Destin (Destin Commons) and the outlet mall at Sandestin and lots of other shopping, from chains to local stores. There is bowling and skating and lots of great restaurants from high end--Commander's Palace and Marina Bay (both in Destin), Pandora's is on the Island and not quite as expensive, to low end fast food-good local cheap mexican is Tijuana Flats. Lots of seafood restaurants. And the beach is gorgeous.

Weather is iffy at this time of year. It can be warm and sunny with highs in the 70s and 80s, or it can be rainy and yucky, and we have had snow (yes, really!) on March 15 before (16 years ago). Water will not be really warm, but you can swim--you just may not stay in long! (Of course, we live here-it has to be really warm for me to get in!)

Thanks for coming to our area! We have lots of nice people here and appreciate you coming to visit!

 

[paper1225]

We choose Fort Walton because we did not want the busy area of Destin......since our children are 8,14 and 15 we wanted to avoid the "spring breakers". The condo we have choose is on the Santa Rosa Sound, by the bridge going to the Island so we could avoid the spring break education...thanks for all the advice. DD15 is the one who requested the beach, since we live in MO, we do not get to the ocean but maybe one day per year! DS8 will turn 9 in the same week an is SO excited to try fishing on the ocean!

 

[acejka]

I'm here right now (Dh has work at Eglin AFB so I'm fending for myself all day... poor me. j/k) and its a pretty nice place. It's quiet and beautiful. I sat out on the beach most of the day yesterday in various degrees of clothing-(I live near Washington DC so I guess I'd be called a "northerner" God help me!) for me it was a nice day to sit out and read, I was in shorts and a tshirt sometimes a light zip up hoodie, later I put some yoga pants on and I was comfortable all day. In my opinion, it was definitely not warm enough for swimming! I stuck my toes in though. I took a lot of walks, there was a huge pier that you can fish off of that goes pretty far into the ocean, an outdoor aquarium, which I can't decide if it is open or closed-it looks a bit run down. Some yummy places to eat-and if you take a short drive to Destin there looks like there is a ton of stuff to do-water slides and mini golf places-lots of chain restaurants.

Have fun!

 

[rie'smom]

We choose Fort Walton because we did not want the busy area of Destin......since our children are 8,14 and 15 we wanted to avoid the "spring breakers". The condo we have choose is on the Santa Rosa Sound, by the bridge going to the Island so we could avoid the spring break education...thanks for all the advice. DD15 is the one who requested the beach, since we live in MO, we do not get to the ocean but maybe one day per year! DS8 will turn 9 in the same week an is SO excited to try fishing on the ocean!

Is it right after you cross the bridge onto Santa Rosa? If it is, lots of Spring Break college students stay in condos in that area. That's where we all stayed and where our kids stayed on Spring Break. You will probably be ok but call the condo to make sure that they have a minimum age to book. If they don't, you might want to change. The kids book for say 4 people but 12 will sneak into the room.