Best Beach Vacation Ever

The highlight of this trip is being able to stay in a beautiful condo, so close to the breaking waves that you might be sprayed with seawater on the first floor balconies. It might sound weird, but the white sand is so pretty, soft, shiny and clean--it is like trillions of tiny, tiny diamonds. I've spent days watching my kids play in the breaking waves while I just sat there playing with this amazing sand. The water is like carribbean water--not quite as clear as the Caymans area but very diveable. Lots of conchs.

Quick Tips:

Spend about twenty percent more on your accommodations and get a beach condo. It is so much more comfortable than squeezing into a hotel room. You'll have a washer/dryer, a kitchen, room to spread out--a separate bedroom for the kids. Also, call the chamber of commerce for the area to see if the seaweed stuff is floating in the surfline during the time you plan to go. There are times when it builds up and gets in the way of enjoying the beach. Just check. We've been four times and it was only there once. It's seasonal.

Best Way To Get Around:

We fly in and rent a car so that we can make trips to the grocery store to stock our condo fridge. However, most resorts will provide courtesy transportation from the airport, and our favorite condo is within 100 yards of a grocery store, so maybe we really didn't need a car. We hardly left the beach. But it's nice to have one to explore other areas.

The Edgewater Beach Resort is perfectly situated along a several hundred yard stretch of beach. There are three, newer high rise towers and two older ones. We've stayed at the resort four times and actually prefer one of the older buildings--the Leeward. That unit is the closest to the water. I almost hate to put this on the internet because we have never had any trouble getting a room in it. I think that people who aren't familiar with the property would be drawn to the newer units because they look so pretty from the outside. The Leeward is so close to the water, however, that you almost feel like you could jump in the ocean from your balcony. We always ask for one of the lower units to that we can hear the waves pounding loudly all day and night. It is so relaxing. You can even hear it in the back bedroom.

We get a two bedroom unit and bring our kids and grandmother. The decor is nice, yet durable. We have stayed in quite a few condos over the years and these are better decorated and maintained than many more expensive ones.

The property has multiple swimming pools and spas, stores, salons, restaurants, even a small game arcade. The main swimming pool is about an acre in size and shaped like a lagoon with an island in the middle. There are lots of rental jetskis, wave-bikes, etc. The beach in front of the newer towers which circle the lagoon pool, seems to have more people on it than the stretch of beach in front of the two older buildings. We have frequently been the only people in front of the Leeward and Windward buildings that we prefer. There are rental padded wooden beach lounges with umbrellas available up and down the beach, but our condo had folding lawn chairs and umbrellas that we carried down.

The condos are laid out so that most of the living areas have full beach views. Only the back bedroom, utility room and bathrooms are viewless. The decor is light, bright and nautical. The level of maid service you get depends on how much you want to pay. We did our own dishes, laundry and swept off any sand that blew in ourselves to save the cost of daily maid services. Oh yes, and we made our own beds every day--NOT!!!

The following website has good photos of the resort: www.daviscondos.com.

These are the same sugar white beaches as those flanked by hotels and condos in the city. But when you turn around from facing the Gulf, you see dunes, wild rosemary and sea oats instead of your highrise lodgings. The beach gets crowded in summer, especially on weekends. Don't even think of coming during spring break week. But, after school has resumed in late summer the place empties out and you can enjoy it in relative solitude.

Dolphins can usually be seen playing in the surf if you watch long enough. The wave action is good but not so strong that swimming is unsafe. This beach has been rated one of the best beaches in the world by multiple beach cognoscenti. With some planning ahead you can experience up to a 14-day stay camping in this beautiful place for very little money. By the way, the people camping there in the summer have my admiration because I know that they've been organized enough to reserve far, far in advance. Call 850-233-5140 to find out just how far in advance you'll need to plan. It tends to be a sedate camping crowd, except around the time of Spring Break.

The area around the jetties is great fun because you'll see tropical fish, coral and sponges. What we liked the most, however, was seeing so many dolphins right in the water with us. I've never seen so many dolphins in one place! They were goofy. They even made that squeaky sound at us. In order to see them we kept our heads above the water as much as we did under.

Worth noting---You can bring your own refreshments in a cooler on this trip because the company doesn't provide anything for you. That's a better deal because a lot of boat operators want you to buy their refreshments.

This is a three hour tour. It leaves at 1 pm every day and gets to Shell Island in about an hour. We loved the glass bottom viewing experience, the dolphins, the chance to inspect what they pulled up in the crab traps and the trip narrator. My husband loved exploring the uninhabited barrier island so much that I couldn't get him to return to the pier in time to catch the boat back. Passengers are told, 'You have 50 minutes to explore Shell Island. Do not be late. We cannot wait for you. We have to be back to the pier by 4 pm.' We both heard them say that. But...the shells were so interesting and there were lots of birds to scope.

The island is truly deserted and uninhabited. The sand is fluffy and that makes the walking slow. We got ourselves really far away from the pier--much farther than the other passengers. I knew by my waterproof watch that we needed to head back due to the slow-goingness of this fluffy-sand walking. We could see the pier from where we were. It looked closer than it really was. This is a trick of beach optics--things look closer than they are. Anyway, with about 5 minutes to spare we started walking back as quickly as we could. We saw the boat pulling away just as we crested a dune. I'm sure they wouldn't have left without us if they had seen us coming! We panicked. It was four o'clock and we didn't know if anymore boats were coming. We had no water or food! After 15 anxious minutes and a lot of 'I told you so's,' another tour boat pulled up. The operator told us we could go back with them for free. I am telling this part of the story because I want anyone who takes this tour to pay more attention to their watch than we did!

This tour was fun and I would do it again, really. But, there are other tours that allow a little more time on the island. You just have to look around on the Panama City Beach website. The glass bottom boat trip to shell island has a website: www.glassbottomboat.com