Panama City Beach: Photo Slideshow

The only thing better than a bar at the end of a pier is a bar at the end of the pier that you can dock your boat at. This water-bound, open-air bar, Pelican’s, feels more like a Caribbean waterfront bar than a Florida Panhandle beach bar, with its wave runners and sailboats that line the dock by vacationers eager to enjoy a happy hour beverage while catching a beautiful view of sunset. 

Mix a pedal-powered kayak with waterways teeming with wildlife and you get kayak fishing with Bay County Outdoors. These versatile kayaks don’t require as much work as traditional kayaks and take you around nooks and crannies that a boat can’t quite do. On a day like this around Burnt Mill Creek, you may even see a couple pods of dolphins like I saw. 

But don’t forget your sunscreen and fishing license when you hit the waters in and around Panama City Beach. Guides from Bay County Outdoors have scouted the best places for you to put in, but make sure you come prepared with the essentials, lest you look like a lobster like I did while on the water just a few hours.

It’s not unlikely to see dolphins swimming and playing around Panama City Beach. However, for an up-close and personal encounter, go snorkeling and diving with Diver’s Den, where we had this fella swimming alongside the boat.

Head out with Diver’s Den several miles off the coast of Panama City Beach where you could encounter shipwrecks, several-hundred-pound goliath groupers, dolphins and more. Not certified? You can get certified with them in as little as three days.

Yet another example of how Panama City Beach at times has an island feel to it. Enter Finns Island Style Grub, which will satisfy your shrimp taco cravings.  Get there before they close mid-afternoon and expect a line, but you’ll thank me later.

Panama City Beach has often been referred to as the Emerald Coast, but go a little deeper into the cut with a kayak or standup paddleboard and you’ll find marshes that are unique to this part of the U.S. Burnt Mill Creek Boat Ramp and West Bay are a couple such areas. 

It’s impossible to go to Panama City Beach and not be treated to a beach sunset. There are tons of great spots to catch an iconic Gulf Coast sunset, many of which are on an outdoor patio or balcony, such as this one at Harpoon Harry’s. 

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