Gulf Beach

[lovetheprincesses]

All beach addicts, which do you prefer and why? Orange Beach, Gulf Shores, Destin, Ft. Walton, Navarre, Biloxi, Gulfport, Panama City, Perdido? Which is most economical?? Is Seaside worth the $$ ? Which is your favorite in MS, AL, or FL?

 

[Darkside]

Biloxi, not known for its nice beaches. Panama City Beach is very crowded in the summer/springbreak(thanks MTV). If you are on a budget, don't go to Seaside(good chance you will see a celebrity there if you are in to that), Destin is expensive(mainly restaurants) but probably has the best shopping of any of the beach destinations you chose(Desion commons, Silver Sands). Fort Walton has cheaper hotels/condos and restaurants(Staffs, oldest restaurant in Florida) and much less crowded. Navarre has a great beach and less crowds, but shopping is non-existent and choice of restaurants is few.

 

[ers26]

Me and the family are off to Pensacola Beach in 8 days and this will be our second trip there. We had a really great time on our first trip and are expecting the same this time around. The only difference is we are driving down from the Chicago area for this trip. For us, Pensacola Beach was a nice, relaxing beach vacation.

Ed

 

[Kies99]

Best place is anywhere along 30A between Destin and Panama City. I recommend Santa Rosa Beach.

Check out www.30a.com.

 

[GS67]

i am a police officer in gulf shores alabama. very laid back & very family oriented. please pm if you have any questions

 

[kissy]

mississippian here....pascagoula to be exact. Biloxi is nice but if your looking to swim or play in the waves you won't get that here. The water dosen't get deep close to the shore (you would need to walk out quite a ways to get even waist deep) but if you have kids it's nice because you don't need to worry about rip currents or anything. My personal favorite is destin. I've been to orange beach, pensacola, panama city, destin, and of course all along MS and it's still my favorite. I love the water. Depending on where you stay (we usually stay at sheraton in ft walton) the crowds aren't bad and there's lots to do and eat within driving distance.

 

[RyJMom]

We went to Destin once several years ago and it was really nice. The next year we discovered Orange Beach and have never looked back. The beaches are just as nice as Destin and it is a little less expensive. We've been 3 times now and have stayed in a condo at Admirals Quarters each time. Orange Beach and Gulf Shores are right together - I don't think you could go wrong with either.

 

[wdwmom0f3]

Gulf Shores is our favorite place to go to the beach. To me, Gulf Shores & Orange Beach are about the same so either one would be fine.

 

[horseshowmom]

Me and the family are off to Pensacola Beach in 8 days and this will be our second trip there. We had a really great time on our first trip and are expecting the same this time around. For us, Pensacola Beach was a nice, relaxing beach vacation.
Ed

Best place is anywhere along 30A between Destin and Panama City. I recommend Santa Rosa Beach.
Check out www.30a.com.

I live in Mississippi and have to go to Biloxi/Gulfport on business regularly. Don't waste your money going there. I love Mississippi, but the water is ugly looking. The beaches are nice (thanks to all the work after Katrina), but it's NOT the place for a beach vacation.

I agree with Kies99 and really like that area. I have relatives who, like Ed, will be leaving shortly for their second trip to Pensacola Beach. They love it and say it is very family friendly (and less expensive).

ETA: We went to Gulf Shores last year, and it was very nice. Our only problem was that the waters were full of jellyfish, but that may have been a fluke. If you stay near the state park, the beaches are very uncrowded. We drove over to Orange Beach and said that we might like to try it sometime.

 

[WishMom09]

We used to go to Pensacola beach before Ivan destroyed it...now we go to Orange beach EVERY year! And we LOVE it! Beautiful beaches, family friendly, and peaceful!
We rent a condo right on the beach! I would move there if I could!!

 

[lovetheprincesses]

Thank you all! What about favorite restaurants?

 

[WishMom09]

Hall's Seafood in Pensacola.
Nicky's Seafood in Orange Beach!

 

[Irish9697]

Another 30A fan here. We discovered Seagrove Beach and the beaches of 30A in 2000 and haven't looked back since!! We leave in 2 days for our annual trip...we're staying in Gulf Trace which is technically Grayton Beach (our 2nd time to that locale). We always rent a house with a private pool. It's perfect!

 

[kboyertcu]

i am a police officer in gulf shores alabama. very laid back & very family oriented. please pm if you have any questions

Ill agree Gulf Shores and Orange beach are both GREAT FAMILY places!
Mom and her boyfriend own a dive shop down there! So if ya like to dive PM me and well hook you up!

 

[goofydebi]

I agree with Hall's Seafood, only for the free hushpuppies and cheese sauce though, ate there 2 nights ago, ended up with 2 orders for ds and I and brought our shrimp home. Pensacola Beach is beautiful, so is Orange Beach or Gulf Shores. If you go to that area, go North on Hwy 59 and eat at Lambert's, It's near the Tanger Outlets, you can't miss it, we drive over (about 30 minutes from Pensacola) about once a month, love the "free pass arounds". fried okra is wonderful. It's raining here now, but was 82º and sunny yesterday.

 

[lauradenise4779]

You can't go wrong with Gulf Shores/ Orange Beach. Fort Morgan is also very un-crowded and has lots of pretty houses for rent. The area is a favorite of my family. If you go, Lulu's is a fun restaurant. And Hope's cheesecakes are yum!

 

[mary0305]

We are leaving Saturday for our 10th trip down to Gulf Shores. We love the area. Very family friendly and the beaches are beautiful. We stay out towards Ft. Morgan at a resort called The Beach Club. There are hundreds of condos / houses to rent in the area from Gulf Shores to Orange Beach. You can start by looking at gulfshores.com.

We were there when all of the jellyfish were in the water last year also. It must have been a fluke thing because we had never seen that many before.

We love to eat at Mikee's Seafood, The Original Oyster House, DeSoto's, Gulf Island Grill, Doc's Seafood and Lulu's.

The Wharf is a great shopping / entertainment place in Orange Beach. Huge ferris wheel, movie theater, restaurants, shops, ampitheater. They have a nice small zoo. Kids love to play mini golf at Pirates Golf.

 

[mom2brina]

Our favorite place is 30A too! We usually stay at Seacrest Beach & rent bikes. Not a huge amount of restaurants around there, but we rent a house so I just go to the grocery store and stock up for the week. It is a great time!!

We stayed at Grayton beach once too - in a house right behind the Red Bar and right on the beach - that was a great time!! Anywhere on 30A is pretty quiet and family oriented. We have never stayed in Destin, but it seems much more crowded and not as laid back.

 

[horseshowmom]

Our favorite place is 30A too! We usually stay at Seacrest Beach & rent bikes. Not a huge amount of restaurants around there, but we rent a house so I just go to the grocery store and stock up for the week. It is a great time!!

We stayed at Grayton beach once too - in a house right behind the Red Bar and right on the beach - that was a great time!! Anywhere on 30A is pretty quiet and family oriented. We have never stayed in Destin, but it seems much more crowded and not as laid back.

We loved it at Sandestin (pricy but private and very family oriented). The problem was that every time you left the grounds in the late afternoon/early evening, the traffic was horrible. The restaurants were so crowded that you either had to eat early in the afternoon or pretty late at night. We did like the outlet mall though (had a Disney outlet too).

 

[HLAuburn]

I think it all depends on what type of atmosphere you're looking for. But, I wouldn't recommend any beaches in MS - and I can say that because I live here!

We used to go to Destin every year, and its nice. Good restaurants and plenty of condos to choose from. The shopping is good, too. It can be crowded just driving around and a little pricey, too. I think there's an "uppity" vibe there...but maybe that's just me!

For the past few years we've been going to Gulf Shores instead. The drive is about an hour or so less for us, and as far as I'm concerned, GS is just as good as Destin. We always rent a condo, usually at Lighthouse if its just DH and the kids or Turquiose Place if its the whole family. I really consider GS and Orange Beach to be one in the same. Plenty of good restaurants to pick from and all the "amenities" Destin has - shopping, waterpark, go karts, and airbrush tshirts!