The Panhandle: The Area of Florida Most People Have Not Even Heard Of – Part 1: Panama City and Emerald Coast and Information about the Climate

The Panhandle – name of the northwestern part of Florida with much less tourists. There’s no Disneyworld, no other amusement parks but lovely beaches and pristine nature. The Emerald Coast and the Forgotten Coast is a long coastal line from Pensacola to Tallahassee and has a lot to offer. The forgotten part of Florida, far from all the Florida tourist routes, is very charming and totally has its own character.

From New Orleans To Jacksonville

Southern Florida is famous for its main tourist attractions in Orlando and Miami as well as its beaches and coasts. The so-called Panhandle, Florida’s Northwest is much less known. It’s called panhandle because its shape on the map resembles a panhandle. To locate it roughly, you can pick New Orleans as the starting point and depending on what you like Jacksonville or Tampa as the end point of your route. Of course, New Orleans is not in Florida, on this route you reach Florida after a little less than 3 hours driving (320 km). The total distance from New Orleans to Jacksonville is 880 km (to Tampa 1050 km). This is too much for a short field trip; you need to spend a couple of days in this area.

More Information on New Orleans can be found here.

The Panhandle as a Winter Destination and Year-Round Holiday Destination?

Is the Panhandle a good Year-Round Holiday Destination? Can I spend my winter holiday there and take a sunbath at the beach? Unfortunately, the answer is no. To find perfect beach weather, you need to go further south in Florida. The Panhandle is warm but not warm enough to take a sunbath and swim in the ocean. I was there in November in off-season. The plus side is obvious: very few visitors, the hotels were cheap and the weather was perfect to do some sightseeing in the cities. For a beach holiday, it was not warm enough. I did some walking along the beaches; it’s even warm enough to sit at the beach on midday. But it was not enough for sunbathing and swimming. To me, this is “T-Shirt-weather”, just like a nice, sunny spring day in Germany.

The only difference is that it starts raining all of a sudden. The residents always say weather at the coastline can change within minutes. That’s definitely true, we could see that all the time. Also, it’s quite windy, of course it is, we are near the ocean. Many Kitesurfers are here, we could see them regularly. This area is particularily interesting for them, we saw many residents kite surfing.

Emerald Coast: Gulf Island National Seashore, Pensacola and Panama City

Why would I want to go to the Panhandle anyways? The westernmost point of Florida is Pensacola. You can already experience the character of the Panhandle here: everything is more quiet, laid-back and less touristic. There is lots of pristine nature, long-stretched beaches and calmness. Some areas are protected, but this usually only means that you need to pay a fee (10 to 15 dollar entrance per car) and are only allowed to move within the designated areas. These nature protection areas are extremely important to flora and fauna and need support.

One example is the Gulf Island National Seashore (close to Biloxi). It has a 15 dollar entrance fee. There are beaches, you can go hiking, watch birds, kayak and enjoy the nature. Parts of the park are reachable by car. One of its islands is Perdido Key.
Gulf Island National Seashore is a coastal area, 160 miles long. It’s partly in Mississippi and Florida and consists of 12 different units. A car with less than 15 people in it costs 15 dollars. There are three visitor centers.

More information on: https://www.nps.gov/guis/index.htm

I would have liked to spend more time in that recreational area. We could not do that, but I’d really like to come back some day. Just spending 2 days in that protected area, leave the car somewhere and do some walking all day long, spend time at the beach and simply relax and unwind.

Something quite remarkable is the transition from sea to fresh water in the swamps. You can see this very well in Perdido Key State Park. Many of the typical Florida alligator live in this protected area. More Information on Perdido Key can be found here.

The most important connecting street is interstate 10. But the interstate leaves the coastline quickly and is located a bit further upcountry. You should leave the I-10 as soon as possible and rather take the coast highways. There, you can enjoy the view and cruise very American-like along the coast. You can stop as you like and take a walk at the beach or simply have coffee or enjoy lunch.

The US-army has a base in Pensacola which makes the cities well-known nationwide.
The coastal area between Pensacola and Panama City is called Emerald Coast – named after the precious stone. This name describes the beauty of the area quite nicely. The ocean shimmers in many different colors, the beaches are huge and most of them are totally deserted, the nature protection areas are gorgeous.

Between Pensacola and Panama City (near Fort Walton) is a little town called Destin. For anyone who wants to go shopping, the outlet mall Silver Sands Premium Outlet in Destin is a huge shopping-lovers paradise. You cannot miss the mall. You only need to drive along coast street 98 (the main road). Signs are everywhere at the highway.

After Destin, you reach a little town called Seaside. Seaside is so picturesque; Hollywood used it as the hometown in “The Truman Show” with Jim Carrey. It’s only a little town, but very nice and a good place to stop on the route.

Grayton Beach State Park and St. Andrews State Park: Best Beach of America

Two beaches on the Panhandle need some special attention. Both of them were called the Best Beach in America in different years. Dr. Beach (a geology professor in Florida) picks a winner every year and has a Top 10 list.

Grayton Beach State Park, right between Destin and Panama City, only a few kilometers from Seaside, was number one in 1994 and regularly appears in the Top Ten, 2016 as number 6.

St. Andrews Beach State Park was topping the list in 1995 and is also a regular Top Ten Guest. St. Andrews is another 55 km further east, close to Panama City.

Both beaches are part of a protected area (both state parks). That means you need to pay to go there. The list of activities includes: hiking, nature watching, animal watching, fishing, cycling, camping and of course spending time at the beach, swimming and sunbathing.

This Article continues in Part 2:

The Panhandle: The Part of Florida Most People Have Not Even Heard Of – Part 2: The Forgotten Coast, Tallahassee and Route Options