queen620 Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 We are planning to vacation at Panama City Beach, Fl at the end of March. We will be renting a house or condo very close to the beach. We are a family of 8, but have kids ages almost 16, almost 15, 11, 6.5 (w/ ASD), 4.5 --all boys and one 2.5 yr old girl.We want to do a few things while there, but we can't do big expensive day trips every day we are there. What must we see or do while there??? If free or low cost even better. ;) Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaillardia Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 Unless you like to party down with the 18-25 age group, I would choose a different time to be hitting Panama City Beach for spring break. It gets incredibly crowded and I don't think most families would appreciate the beach activities. You can google search spring break college and university to get an idea of when it might be a better time to go, or you can google search spring break panama city beach. An eye opener. How about Port St. Joe or one of the other smaller touristy beaches? Just my opinion. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purplejackmama Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 Unless you like to party down with the 18-25 age group, I would choose a different time to be hitting Panama City Beach for spring break. It gets incredibly crowded and I don't think most families would appreciate the beach activities. You can google search spring break college and university to get an idea of when it might be a better time to go, or you can google search spring break panama city beach. An eye opener. How about Port St. Joe or one of the other smaller touristy beaches? Just my opinion. Completely agree. It's my hometown until I escaped ;) better options for your family would be cape San Blas, st. George island, port st. Joe or even apalachicola. Destin and 30a are beautiful but if you're on budget, stay away. If you are set on PCB there isn't much free to do. There's the beach! Other than that, there are bike trails off of hwy 79 that are fun. Everything else is going to cost money and the town will be overrun with crazy college kids!! It's insane and sad how these kids come and act. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 I have to agree with the others. I went to Florida State, and Panama City was (and still is) definitely a Spring Break destination. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plansrme Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 PCB traffic is insane. I wasn't even there for spring break (I was there for a baseball tournament; you couldn't pay me to go to PCB otherwise). Do you remember the stories about the girls who were raped on the beach during SB last year, right in the middle of the crowds, and no one noticed? That's the kind of environment you're looking at during any week that is also the spring break for any college within an eight hour's drive of PCB. I strongly agree with looking at some of the alternatives others have mentioned. But to tell my beach story: I'm not a beach person, but if you're going to the beach some week other than spring break, PCB beaches are nicer than some. I'm not a fan primarily because of sharks. Anyway, we were there for a week for baseball last summer; it was my first trip to the beach in over 20 years. I was brushing my teeth one morning, looking out the window, and I saw a hammerhead shark swim right up to the beach. He was in mere inches of water. I managed to show the rest of the family before he swam back out. So take that, all ye who say a fear of sharks in the ocean is unfounded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasider Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 I don't imagine you're all scuba divers, but on the outside chance you are, it's a good port for that. Lots of good sites and an active artificial reef program. That also makes the fishing fun. I hate to sound like a wet blanket because it sounds like you've already got firm plans, but PCB at spring break would not have been my own first choice. If I were you I would plan on early dinners if you want to go out to eat, fishing, visiting seafood market and planning fun meals to prepare at your condo. Bring good books, board games and maybe a DVD or two for movies. If you like birds, maybe bring a field guide and binoculars and see how many different species you can find. Plan to catch sunrise at the beach and enjoy morning time there, the spring breakers are typically slow to roll out and hit the beaches after lunch. I haven't been to St Andrews State Park in a while, but I'm guessing that even if it's busy, there are at least regulations regarding alcohol on the beach. I know this sounds discouraging, hopefully you will get there and not be bothered by the crowd. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasider Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 As for the sharks, they've always been there. I'm much more concerned with being able to spot and avoid a rip current. OP, you may want to pull up some YouTube videos on dealing with rip currents if you're not a frequent beachgoer. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zinnia Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 We like PCB, but we've never been there that time of year. We stay on the west side of town, in Laguna Beach. There is a small grocery store called Carousel that has really good prices for the beach, and it is super convenient. We also like Thomas donuts. Get there early and have the cinnamon twists. Yum! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
queen620 Posted February 16, 2016 Author Share Posted February 16, 2016 WHOA!!! Sounds like it will be thoroughly trashy during SB! I feel we are kind of stuck. :( For some reason my husband has ended up with a LOT of vacation time. He has nearly 4 weeks to use up by the end of May.It seems he has had some vacation time that has been rolling over for some time. He only gets 3 weeks a year and his year resets each "year" in June. We are really stuck going over SB b/c our autistic son is in public school. We went to the beach for a week in September-- NC where we live. then we took 2 days off in December for Great Wolf Lodge. He has been sick a few times so maybe missed 3-5 days. I just don't think he can miss anymore school, so I can't justify going any other time. So along with not feeling OK taking my 6.5 yr old out of school, my husband can't take any vacation time during the month of April. LOL! So basically we have a month of vacation to use up by May 31, but can't take off April other than the 2 days he had already requested. You guys have given me some good tips though. I guess we will just go and be hyper aware. I think hubby will need to read up on his conceal carry rights and see if his CCP is good for Fla. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
queen620 Posted February 16, 2016 Author Share Posted February 16, 2016 As for the sharks, they've always been there. I'm much more concerned with being able to spot and avoid a rip current. OP, you may want to pull up some YouTube videos on dealing with rip currents if you're not a frequent beachgoer. Thanks. I'm not worried about sharks. And as far as the rip currents my almost 16 year old is a lifegaurd. He did all his training at the beach :) And I'm a really good swimmer. Good to be reminded though. We love the beach, just we are normally in NC or SC. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plansrme Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 Do you have to go to PCB? How about other less-spring breaky beaches? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
queen620 Posted February 16, 2016 Author Share Posted February 16, 2016 PCB is on the list b/c I have family that lives there that I've never met. I'm not too worried about eating out. Our ASD son is on a strict diet and we will be packing all our freezer meals in with us. We will likely only eat out once or twice the entire week we are there. So not too worried about that traffic. I just checked and the house we are renting is about 3-5 miles from Laguna beach, so that sounds better. From reading all the comments we will be renting the house as opposed to some of the condos that were on my list. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purplejackmama Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 PCB is on the list b/c I have family that lives there that I've never met. I'm not too worried about eating out. Our ASD son is on a strict diet and we will be packing all our freezer meals in with us. We will likely only eat out once or twice the entire week we are there. So not too worried about that traffic. I just checked and the house we are renting is about 3-5 miles from Laguna beach, so that sounds better. From reading all the comments we will be renting the house as opposed to some of the condos that were on my list. .If you want to share your dietary restrictions I can recommend restaurants for you. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaillardia Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 (edited) It sounds like you are prepared to live a vacation a little differently than a lot of us, good for you. Really sorry to have been the sand spurs in your feet and sincerely hope you enjoy your vacation. Sometimes we like taking day trips away from where we're staying on vacations and there seem to be plenty of places to go in the panhandle. And if you're super lucky, the beach party graduate crowd will be a lot smaller by that time of the month. Edited February 17, 2016 by Gaillardia 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
queen620 Posted February 17, 2016 Author Share Posted February 17, 2016 It sounds like you are prepared to live a vacation a little differently than a lot of us, good for you. Really sorry to have been the sand spurs in your feet and sincerely hope you enjoy your vacation. Sometimes we like taking day trips away from where we're staying on vacations and there seem to be plenty of places to go in the panhandle. And if you're super lucky, the beach party graduate crowd will be a lot smaller by that time of the month. HA! On the Sand Spurs. I posted here b/c I had a feeling it would be a TRASHY SB location! LOL. You guys have confirmed what hubs and I already thought. ;) Based on surplus of Hub's vacation time and my public schooler's schedule we are kind of stuck. We will be VERY mindful to do stuff earlier in the day to avoid the trashy college crowd. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaillardia Posted March 3, 2016 Share Posted March 3, 2016 queen620!!! You just might have a better time than you thought!!!! :driving: http://www.newsherald.com/news/20160301/11-panama-city-beach-spring-break-laws-you-need-to-know Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted March 3, 2016 Share Posted March 3, 2016 We're at PCB right now getting ready to leave after having spent a couple of nights on the beach. As was in the previous post, it might not be as bad as it's been in previous years as the news is making a big deal about changes that have been made - including no alcohol allowed on the beach during the month of March. They say they are trying to attract families rather than college students. You'll find out if what they've done has worked! There's hardly anyone here right now as Spring Break starts next week, but there has been a decent beach patrol anyway. As far as beaches go, it's hardly my favorite (or worst), but since that's where you're going, I'll add the good points that the sand is soft, white, and you can walk for miles (BTDT). If you're comparing to NC or VA, it should be quite nice as it would definitely rank higher than those for us. We've just been spoiled with our beach travels. :coolgleamA: We didn't explore the town or strip. We ordered pizza delivered, ate breakfast in our hotel (freebie), and have mainly enjoyed the view and some miles on the beach making it a perfect couple of days (between stops) for us. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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