Scenic Highway 30A

Florida Gulf Coast Scenic Drive

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Pensacola Beach by Red Fish Blue Fish Restaurant

Interesting things to see and do along the Gulf Coast from Pensacola to Destin Florida.

In this article we cover the interesting towns and places to visit along the Florida portion of the Gulf Scenic Drive from Pensacola Beach to Destin. In the article we provide links to visitor worthy attractions, campground reviews and some of our more detailed articles on these places to visit and camp.

Pensacola Beach
On the beach at Fort Pickens Gulf Islands park, ranked one of the top beaches in the country.
pensacola beach
fun things to see and do in Pensacola Beach
the swimming beach at Cedar Key Florida
Discover Funky Cedar Key, a neat island community
Fort Pickens Gulf Beach
On the beach at Fort Pickens Campground

The scenic coastal drive from Pensacola or Pensacola Beach to Destin is about 43 miles and without stops would take about an hour. If you are staying in the Pensacola area, you could easily do the trip as a day trip including a few hours stopping at destinations along the way.

Top Pensacola Attractions

Pensacola is one of the oldest cities in Florida (some claim the oldest) and it has done a great job in preserving history in the businesses in its downtown Palafox Historic District and homes in the nearby Seville neighborhood. The Naval Aviation Museum is a fantastic attraction for its wonderous exhibits of planes from the dawn of naval aviation to the present as well as the history of its role in various military and space endeavors. Fort Barrancas offers more Military History together with Fort Pickens across the bay. Top seafood restaurants abound, some decent golf courses, lots of interesting boutiques and shops, musical entertainment, and more. It is a very walkable city and we’ve never had trouble finding parking close enough to all the attractions we’ve wanted to experience.

Carmen's Lunch Box Cafe Sidewalk Dining Pensacola Florida
Sidewalk dining and socializing outside of Carmen’s Lunchbox Cafe in Pensacola.

Articles and Links to our Favorite Attractions in Pensacola Florida.

What to see and do in Pensacola Beach

While Pensacola itself has some beaches, “Going to the Beach” for Pensacola people is driving a few miles across the bridge of Pensacola Bay to Pensacola Beach on Santa Rosa Island, which offers pristine white sand beaches on the Gulf and loads of dining and entertainment attractions to supplement your day at the beach.

Pensacola Beach on Santa Rosa Island is Pensacola's Gulf playground
Pensacola Beach on Santa Rosa Island has top rated beaches on both the Gulf and Pensacola Bay.

Adjacent to Pensacola Beach is Fort Pickens National Park, more history exhibits, a large camping and RV park, many miles of uncrowded white sand beaches, and nice hiking and biking trails.

Top Things to Do and Places to see in Pensacola Beach.

Gulf Coast Drive Attractions East of Pensacola/Pensacola Beach

gulf scenic drive map
Map, with links, of the gulf scenic drive from Pensacola Beach to Grayton Beach, Florida

If you are staying on the mainland in Pensacola, you’ll follow Highway 98 across the bridge to the town of Gulf Breeze and then continue East towards Navarre Beach.

However, I think the more scenic drive is to cross the bridge into Pensacola Beach and then go East on State Highway 399 on Santa Rosa Island from to Navarre Beach. The island along this stretch of road is a narrow strip of sand dunes with Santa Rosa Sound on one side and the Gulf of Mexico on the other. After leaving the community of Pensacola Beach proper, there are no homes or buildings along the route, just dunes and water as far as the eye can see. Every few miles, however, there is a designated beach and parking area. The rest of the terrain however is a protected natural area – off limits.

Navarre Beach Village  

A smaller version of Pensacola Beach with high rise beach front condos, a compact shopping-dining-entertainment district and 1500 feet long pier that stretches out into the Gulf of Mexico. Great for fishing or just a walk far out away from shore to catch the ocean breezes. Another attraction is the Navarre Beach Marine Science Center located at the entrance to Marine Park. The Marine Park itself is designed for both snorkeling and diving, the park includes two reefs in Santa Rosa Sound and one in the Gulf of Mexico. Informational kiosks stand at the beach near each reef.

Highway 399 ends at Navarre Beach even though Santa Rosa Island continues for over twenty miles. There is a half-mile gap in the road from the Marine Park to the end of Santa Rosa Boulevard that extends out from the community of Okaloosa Island. So unless you are driving a dune buggy you are going to have to cross back to the mainland across the bridge to Highway 98 (Navarre Parkway).

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It is about 16 miles to Fort Walton Beach. This stretch isn’t very scenic just typical semi-urban landscape of homes and businesses.

Fort Walton Beach

Fort Walton is located at the western end of Choctawhatche Bay and has a number of attractions for those interested in sampling what the city has to offer. These include the DeFrance Indoor Flea Market, The Bluewater Zoo, and the Heritage Park & Cultural Center.

Kite flying on the public beach of Okaloosa Island.

Most visitors or tourists however will do a drive through of Fort Walton Beach and cross the bridge back onto Santa Rosa Island to the community of Okaloosa Island, which is essentially the beach and gulf playground for residents of Fort Walton Beach. Like Pensacola Beach and Navarre Beach there are huge modern high rise condo-hotels on the beach, sugar sand parks and public beaches on both the gulf and bay sides, and an entertainment district.

Emerald Grande Hotel
The Emerald Grande luxury condo-hotel anchors Destin’s Harborwalk Village

Destin Florida

The drive from Okaloosa Island to Destin is a divided highway and normally takes about 10 minutes. Destin is a bigger and more glamorous version of Pensacola Beach with the requisite high-rise hotels and condos along the beach, a harbor boardwalk and harborwalk village (see our article with pictures and links) with lots of dining and entertainment venues, charter fishing and cruise ships, theaters, galleries, specialty shops, etc.

Destin is a big time resort community. Although less than 15,000 residents, they entertain over 4 million visitors a year.

Destin’s most famous beach is in Henderson Beach State Park  and hosts one of the top rated beaches on the Gulf of Mexico. Henderson Beach is located east of the main high rise hotel and condo section of Destin.  It has 6000 feet of beach on the Gulf and is one of the most popular state parks for campers and RV travelers  in Florida’s panhandle. Just East of Henderson Beach, you can access old highway 98, now called Scenic Highway 98, turning south on Matthew Blvd.

Destin and South WaltonTownhomes
South Walton Townhomes & Condos

Driving East of Destin

Once on Scenic 98, you’ll exchange high rise condo-hotels of Destin for low rise condo-townhouses of the community known as South Walton. Every few blocks there is a public access to the beach for visitors whose lodging isn’t directly on the beach. Beach umbrellas stretch for a few miles all along the beach to the community of Miramar Beach, where the line of umbrellas picks up again until you encounter Topsail Hill State Preserve State Park. Topsail Park has a large section of camping for RV travelers. Prior to the arriving at Topsail park, Scenic 98 actually rejoins US Highway 98 in order to go around Topsail Hill park.

While this section is called Scenic 98, unless you stop at one of the beach access parks or one of the several restaurants and pubs along the route you won’t be able see much of the Gulf or the scenic white sand beaches. It is mainly town homes and condos lining both sides of the road. But shortly the scenery improves! icon_biggrin

Gulf Beach at Grayton Beach
The “beach” at Grayton Beach is one of the finest along the gulf coast.

See the Next Section of the Scenic Gulf Drive which covers the Emerald Coast from Destin to Grayton Beach to Rosemary Beach along Scenic Highway 30A. This portion of the Gulf Drive includes unique coastal dune lakes, some of Florida’s most attractive beaches, and top campgrounds.

—See our Directory of all of our Gulf Coast Scenic Drive articles.

Links to More Articles on Places to Visit along the Florida Gulf Coast Drive

See the Google Map below for driving directions and links on this scenic drive. If you are RVing or camping, we’ve included links to 3 state parks and one national park that offer decent camping, spacious beaches, and hiking trails.


Gulf Scenic Drive – Highway 98

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Apalachicola Sunrise

Road Trip – Gulf Coast Scenic Drive from Rosemary Beach to Apalachicola

Previous Road Trip Article: Scenic Highway 30A Destin to Rosemary Beach

Directory to the Florida Gulf Coast Drive Maps and Articles

Interesting things to see and do from Rosemary Beach to Panama City Beach

After Rosemary Beach Scenic Highway 30A rejoins highway 98 and the average speed of traffic accelerates. On your way toward Panama City Beach, highway 30 splits off and runs along the Gulf shoreline. Before arriving at Panama City, you go through a few suburban beach communities like Hollywood Beach, Sunnyside and Laguna Beach. The beach front along this stretch is largely public with lots of parking along the road. Unlike Destin and the beach communities of South Walton along 30A, very few structures are built on the beach itself. Most of the resorts, townhomes, cottages, and condos are on the other side of the highway.

These communities west of Panama City have the look of more affordable beach vacation destinations and or an affordable retirement community. Not at all sparkly and upscale like Seaside and Rosemary Beach.

Panama City & Panama City Beach

Panama City Beach
Panama City Beach beach drive. High rise resort condos on beach side of the road, bars & amusements on the other side.

As you get closer and closer to Panama City Beach, things get bigger, denser, and high rise resorts begin to dominate the landscape. Once in the thick of Panama City Beach there is an unbroken chain of huge resorts along the beach. These resort hotels are flanked by various beach resort entertainment venues – usually on the other side of the street from the beach front.

While there were a fair amount of people on the street and the traffic was heavy, compared to the large crowds of people milling around in the three South Walton beach communities we saw relatively few people along the road. Most people staying in these huge resort complexes must be at the beach or inside enjoying whatever amenities are in these luxury facilities.

A personal viewpoint. Panama City Beach seems to be a more urban setting compared to other beach communities along the Panhandle Gulf Drive. Doesn’t look like the kind of place where you could turn your kids loose like you could at the resort communities of Seaside or Rosemary Beach. But with so many mega-resorts per mile there has to be a sizable demographic that finds Panama City Beach appealing. For us, one trip was enough for lifetime. On our return trip we stuck to Highway 98 that ran away from the beach and then through Panama City itself.

Caveat. However if you are lucky enough to get a reservation at St. Andrews State Park you can escape the maddening crowds of commercial Panama City Beach and enjoy a top-rated beach, hiking trails, kayaking, water sports, and more. The park has three camp stores for provisions and vacation needs so there is no need to leave the park during your stay.

(By the way, although parts of Panama City got hit real hard from Hurricane Michael, Panama City Beach itself managed to escape with minimal damage . . . so various tourism and beach destinations are intact and operating normally)

Panama City Links

Panama City to Apalachicola

Mexico Beach

About 10 miles east of Panama City, along highway 98 you arrive at the small community of Mexico Beach where the pace of life slows down quite a bit. There’s an extensive public beach area with lots of free parking. The collection of cottages, vacation homes, and condos are all on the non-beach side of the highway. There is an assortment of restaurants, pubs, charter fishing, a fishing pier and beach related enterprises to give vacationers a variety of things to do. If you like being at the beach, aren’t attracted to the urban beach resorts like Destin and Panama City Beach, or can’t afford a Seaside or Rosemary Beach vacation, Mexico Beach could be the place for you.

(unfortunately the 2018 Hurricane Michael did a great amount of damage to the town. Mexico Beach’s lodging providers and tourism have been working hard to restore and reopen. Several lodging places to stay are now available with more coming soon!)

Port St. Joe

The next town Port St. Joe is less a vacation community and seems to have a more industrial or commercial base but it does have a nice downtown waterfront and park area. Port St. Joe looks out across an expansive lagoon to the St. Joseph Peninsula so technically it is not on the Gulf. The lagoon forms the St. Joseph’s Bay Aquatic Preserve. Near the tip of the Peninsula is St. Joseph Peninsula State Park that offers camping, hiking, and an extensive beach fronting on the Gulf. (Port St. Joe was another casualty of Hurricane Michael so camping here in 2019 may be dicey. Likewise camping is at the State Park on the St. Jo Peninsula is suspended because the park is now only accessible by water.)

Indian Pass

On your way south of St. Joe, Highway 98 and Highway 30A part company again. 30A is more scenic and runs along the Gulf past the entrance to St. Joseph Peninsula and past Indian Pass, a smaller peninsula that is primarily a vacation home community, but has a nice secluded RV and Tent Campground-Indian Pass at the tip (The campground survived Hurricane Michael with minimal damage).  Another noteworthy spot along this route is St. Joe Bay Golf Course (see our review).

Indian Pass Campground Beach
Indian Pass Campground Beach – see our review with pictures and information

When you turn East on Hwy 30A by the entrance to St. Joe’s Peninsula and head towards Indian Pass, you leave the Emerald Coast and travel along what is known at the “Forgotten Coast.” Along this route there is a string of barrier islands: St. Vincent, Cape St. George, and St. George Island. The first town along the Forgotten Coast is Apalachicola.

Historic Apalachicola

Apalachicola
The 1907 Gibson Inn is one of many lovingly restored structures in Apalachicola

Apalachicola, is one of our favorite places along the Panhandle Gulf Coast. Unfortunately because it is protected by those barrier islands, Apalachicola doesn’t have those glamorous white sand beaches. You’ll have to drive out to St. George’s Island to get your “Gulf Beach Fix.” But for many other kinds of vacation entertainment we like Apalachicola a lot. It has several quaint restaurants and bars – see our reviews, even a brew pub, lots of neat little shops and galleries, some interesting parks, museums, a large number of historic register homes and structures, and some attractively restored B&Bs.

Oyster City Brewing
Jo and I enjoyed some Oyster City Brewing nut brown ale out on the Brewery patio.
st. george island lighthouse
Along the Forgotten Coast – St. George Island Lighthouse and Public Beach

See our Road Trip article on travel attractions along the Gulf drive from Apalachicola to Cedar Key.

(Below. Gulf Scenic Drive, Destin to Apalachicola Road Map. if viewing on mobile use two fingers to move map around)

Travel and Visitor Links:

The portion of the Gulf Coast from the St. Joe’s Peninsula and east to Apalachicola and beyond calls itself the Forgotten Coast. So far what we’ve seen of it, we like it. The Gulf Coast Drive continues east and north past the communities of Carrabelle, SopChoppy, Panacea, Shell Point and St. Marks.

Previous Article: Scenic Highway 30A Destin to Rosemary Beach

Ross Reinhold

Scenic Highway 30A Travel

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Grayton Beach Florida


Scenic Gulf Drive – Destin to South Walton to Rosemary Beach

Directory of Articles & Maps: Traveling the Gulf Coast Scenic Drive

Previous Article: Gulf Drive Pensacola Beach to Destin

Going East of Destin on Gulf Highway 98 you connect with Scenic Highway 30A just past Topsail Hill State Park. This will give you an opportunity to return to driving along with a view of the gulf and through the South Walton beach communities along the Emerald Coast. While there still are condos and town homes along this stretch, they aren’t as tightly packed on top of one another like in Destin and along the route you begin to see some actual single family homes with larger yards.

You’ll also pass several ponds that are called coastal dune lakes, freshwater lakes that drain into the Gulf, providing a unique ecosystem due to the exchange of salt and fresh water. Some of these coastal lakes have preserved, natural shoreline – no homes or condos and therefore indeed offer some natural scenery to justify calling this a scenic drive. About a mile before you get to the community of Grayton Beach you are actually driving through Point Washington State Forest.

coastal dune lake
A portion of Draper Lake, one of several unique coastal dune lakes along this section of Scenic Highway 30A

While the drive doesn’t offer an abundance of notable scenery, it is a more pleasant and slower paced drive than traveling on busy highway 98. But about halfway along the 24 mile route there is a genuine scenic and unique  destination: the historic beach town of Grayton Beach (see article) and it’s popular neighbor Grayton Beach State Park – see our article here.

Grayton Beach, Florida

The tiny village of Grayton Beach traces its founding back 125 years when vacationers used to travel by horse and buggy to enjoy its white sand beaches and small town character. As you walk through the town you can see many examples of old cottages lovingly restored and some with a humorous and artistic twist.

Grayton Beach Cottages
One of the many artfully landscaped cottages in Grayton Beach

The town is largely surrounded by Grayton Beach State Park (see our review) which has served to limit the expansion of the village and probably played a role in preserving its unique character. The State Park’s gulf beach extends on both side of the village providing more than a mile of relatively uncrowded pristine beach terrain. The park also encompasses a 100 acre coastal dune lake providing opportunities for canoeing, kayaking, paddle-boarding and fishing. There’s a 59 unit campground and 30 cabins in the park and biking and hiking trails. Make your reservations early as this is a popular park.

Grayton Beach and the State Park are located along the paved Walton County hike/bike path that runs adjacent to Scenic Highway 30A. Biking is one of the best ways to get around town as well as the three nearby towns east of Grayton Beach . . . as there isn’t a lot of public parking space.

Seaside Florida
Hundreds of bikes in the town of Seaside, every where you look bikes.

Seaside to Rosemary Beach

Going east of Grayton Beach on 30A you quickly arrive at the very upscale community of Seaside with an extensive collection of modern condo units and a popular town square that hosts entertainment, beach-related enterprises, festivals and outdoor food carts. We drove through this town in late March during spring break time and were in awe of seeing what seemed like a thousand kids on bikes running back and forth along the bike path adjacent to the road and droves of teens crowding around the food and entertainment in the town square plus walking to and fro. I wonder how crowded the beaches were because there were sure lots of people walking and biking around town. Seaside is a popular place.

Seaside Town Square
The Food Court at the Seaside Town Square is a favorite gathering place.

Further east of Seaside is the community of Seagrove (more beach condos) and then at the end of Scenic Highway 30A the community of Rosemary Beach essentially a replication of Seaside with condos, beach resort venues, a very busy town square and people walking and biking everywhere. These three villages east of Grayton Beach seem to be very popular, especially with families. If you rent a house, cottage or book lodging at a condo many types of entertaiment, in addition to the beach, are within walking distance (and biking and bike rental places abound!). These villages must have a reputation as safe places because there were young kids streaming all over the place, many without any adult supervision.

Travel and Visitor Links:

Continuing on the Scenic Gulf Coast Drive: Gulf Drive Rosemary Beach to Apalachicola – – –

Grayton Seafood Co | Grayton Beach

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grayton seafood co

Restaurant Review: Grayton Seafood Company, Grayton Beach, Florida

On our previous visits to Grayton Beach we’ve eaten at The Red Bar so on our most recent visit we were looking to try something new. A search on “Google” provided some positive reviews for the Seafood Company located in the main entertainment and shopping portion of Grayton Beach that is located along Scenic Highway 30A away from the beach itself. So we decided to give them a try for dinner.

A warm, comfortable, uncrowded dining atmosphere. Neat little bar area.

My Grayt House Salad topped with grilled chicken breast.

It was a little too cool for us to dine outside in their intimate patio.

We were camping in our RV at Grayton Beach State Park, about a mile walk or bike to the restaurant from our campsite so we decided to burn off some calories walking vs driving. There’s a paved bike & jogging path that runs adjacent to the highway. If you are staying along the beach in town, it’s about the same distance, a mile walk, bike, or drive to Grayton Seafood Co.

While the sign outside indicates “since 1890” the restaurant itself is of much more recent vintage (opened in 2015), although they have done a nice job decorating the interior paneling with weather-worn planks, beer signs, old photographs on the walls, etc. Owned by Kenny Griner it is a family run operation. In addition to Kenny are his daughter, his son, and his son-in-law on-site working in the restaurant. While there are some standard menu items, they pride themselves on locally sourced seafood so current catches drive the menu. They also enjoy trying new selections, often using their Sunday Brunch as a testing ground for new items. For example, through their fun experiments, they discovered customers really liked their “chicken and waffles” combo breakfast-brunch selection!

I was feeling the need for some good “roughage” so I chose their Grayt House Salad that comes with romaine & Iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, carrots, croutons & cheese. I added some grilled chicken breast to the mix. The salad was terrific, nicely blend, fresh ingredients and a huge quantity. I’m generally a clean-plate guy and it was a challenge to accomplish it with the size of this meal. Jo went with the Fish of the Day recommended by our server: grilled Amber Jack, a fish she has never tried before. The Amberjack dinner was four or five fillet pieces with a choice of two sides; Jo went with the House Salad and baked potato slices. The fish was delicious and the house salad quite generous. On tap are beers from three local craft breweries: we had the Hooter Brown Ale from Oyster City Brewing Co (in Apalachicola).

Service was friendly and attentive; and we didn’t have to wait too long for our food to arrive. In conversation, we discovered our server, Grayson, has Wisconsin roots – his father founded Trek & Trail in Bayfield, Wisconsin one of our favorite towns along the Lake Superior Scenic Circle Drive.

Overall we give high marks to Grayton Seafood Company, casual dining with artisinal attention to food preparation and menu offerings that “foodies” will appreciate yet at a reasonable price.  In summary, very good quality food, good service, pleasing dining atmosphere, good tap beers, and we love family-run places where the owners are in the kitchen and serving customers.

Travel Links:

 

Grayton Beach Florida

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Grayton Beach Florida

The Best Small Town Beach Community along the Florida Gulf Coast

Number 1 in Grayton Beach attractions is the “Beach” that fronts the village and the adjacent Grayton Beach State park. This beach is regularly voted among Florida’s top beaches. And according to beach aficionado Dr. Beach, who is also Professor and Director of the Laboratory for Coastal Research at Florida International University, Grayton Beach is one of the top 10 beaches in the World! In his annual ranking of Best Beaches World-Wide based upon 50 criteria, Dr. Beach has ranked Grayton Beach tops for 2020.

Along with Apalachicola, the village of Grayton Beach is our favorite small town resort communities along the Florida Gulf Coast Scenic Drive. In contrast to slickly landscaped condo communities in South Florida, created by a myriad of developers, little Grayton Beach has retained it’s character of quaint cottages, some of which are over hundred years old. Aided by a community of artists and artisans, the town retains a unique character and whimsy. As the town’s website says “Grayton Beach is a state of mind. Our town is a funky little beach town full of free-spirited folks with a laid-back attitude. The narrow roads are shaded by southern magnolias, towering pines and moss-draped oaks. The salt air is ever present and so is the fine white sand covering the worn floors of our old beach cottages.”

grayton beach boardwalk
Jo finds a bench to empty the sand from her shoes after a stroll on Grayton Beach’s famous beach.

One of Florida’s Top White Sand Beaches. The beach itself is a treasure, especially for those who have the special beach passes that allow them to drive on the beach itself. And since the town is actually surrounded by Grayton Beach State Park, there’s always plenty of room on the beach. (see Beach Scenes of Grayton Beach beaches here)

Best Grayton Beach Restaurants & Bars

Red Bar Grayton Beach
The funky Red Bar is the lynch pin of Grayton Beach’s tiny downtown.

There are two bars near the beach, The venerable Red Bar (see our review), with its crazy interior decoration motif and signature blackboard menus, and the recently remodeled Chiringo bar down the street. In 2015 we were introduced to the Red Bar, its fantastic Mahi-Mahi basket, signature Bloody Mary, and super-service from the Wait Staff. We also caught some great musical entertainment. The Red is a very popular place and if you can’t get a table right away, rather than wait in line, I’d give its neighbor Chiringo Bar down the street a try. Looks like it would be a fun place. We hope to do a review on our next visit.

Another good dining option is away from the beach itself along Scenic Highway 30: The Grayton Seafood Company (see our review here).

Slide Show – A few of Grayton Beach’s Unique Cottages

Grayton Beach CottageGrayton Beach Cottagegrayton beach cottagesgratyon beach homesgrayton Beach cottage


Their tongue-in-cheek “Grayton Beach: Nice Dogs, Strange People” bumper sticker misleads a little bit because the people are also really friendly. As their website says “Grayton Beach is a state of mind. Our town is a funky little beach town full of free-spirited folks with a laid-back attitude.”

Grayton Beach Visitor and Travel Links: