Panama City Beach: The Perfect Girls’ Trip Destination
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One of my favorite places to visit, whether on my own (yes this is fun solo) or with family or friends, is the beach. I absolutely love sitting by the ocean all day with a good book and taking breaks to splash around in the water. My mom, sister, and I especially love making a girls’ trip to Panama City Beach, or PCB, as often as we can.
Since this is a repeat favorite spot, I’m combining a few previous trips into an itinerary that hits all the best things about a girls’ trip to Panama City Beach. Enjoy!
Day 1: Runaway Island and the Beach (duh!)
Every Panama City Beach trip usually starts at Runaway Island, which is the perfect oceanfront seafood restaurant with massive frozen cocktails and great outdoor seating. It gets super packed, so I’d recommend going for lunch or off-times.
Once we are sufficiently stuffed, it’s time to hit the beach. On our first day we usually don’t lug all the beach items down, especially if we’ve gotten in later in the day. But we can’t wait to get our toes in the sand, so we’ll usually take a walk. This is a light day, as we don’t want to wear ourselves out as soon as we get there.
Day 2: Family Pictures
After another day at the beach, a super fun thing to do, especially with family, is to hire a photographer to take some pictures of your group. If you can plan this photo shoot around sunset, even better!
The last time we went to PCB, my mom found a great photographer to take beach shots of us for our Christmas card. It was such a fun experience getting all dolled up to take some much-needed new family photos in a picture-perfect setting. Tip: there are tons of ways to find local photographers wherever you are vacationing. I’d recommend starting with Google, or even your hotel or Airbnb for suggestions.
Day 3: PCB Conservation Park and Sunset Views
Sometimes while at the beach, there is one day that we just don’t want to deal with the sand and sunscreen and ocean. On that day, we end up either going to a movie, shopping, or playing mini-golf. One year though, we decided to check out the Panama City Beach Conservation Park instead. This protected wildlife reserve has tons of hiking and biking trails through wetlands, forests, and alligator crossings (seriously).
Although this was an oddly eerie hike, with the green water and humid stillness, it was a unique experience for us to walk through here, looking for alligators or whatever else came by. Thankfully we did not see any gators. Phew!
No beach day would be complete without a great sunset view. We ended this day, and pretty much all the other days, by admiring the gorgeous sunset over the ocean.
Day 4: St. Andrews State Park
On our last day in Panama City Beach, we like to visit St. Andrews State Park. This spot in PCB is a must-visit in my opinion, as it has some of the most stunning blue water and is a bit off the beaten path. It feels like a local hangout, which we appreciate. It also has tons of activities, like renting kayaks or pontoon boats, nature trails, and even surfing! It’s only $8 per vehicle to enter for the day, which is definitely worth it.
The unique thing about St. Andrews is that it’s at the southern tip of PCB, meaning it has the Gulf of Mexico on one side and St. Andrews Bay on the other. On one visit we rented a pontoon boat to explore the bay side, and saw giant turtles, dolphins, and even some small sharks! For discounts on boat rentals, check with your hotel, Airbnb, or a welcome center.
Although there are many other great things about a girls’ trip to Panama City Beach, I hope you enjoyed some of my favorite highlights of a perfect beach vacation. For more girls’ trip ideas, check out my itineraries for some great weekend spots in Tennessee.
Do you have any favorite beach destinations? I’m always looking for new beaches to visit, so leave me a comment!
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