Panama City Beach Florida offers 27 miles of stunning white sand, emerald green waters and surefire enjoyment in, on or under the water. It is one of the best known and most beloved beach resorts in the world. Beach goers come to Panama City Beach just to relax on its clean, white, sandy beaches, to participate in every imaginable water sport and enjoy some of the hottest party spots anywhere. Explore our vast expanse of things to do, from family-friendly mazes and Florida sport fishing to exciting nightlife and relaxing spa getaways. With boatloads of attractions, top-notch restaurants, beach activities, amazing accommodations and world-class events, you'll have lasting memories from your Panama City Beach vacation!
Panama City Beach is located in Northwest Florida, just 98 miles southwest of Tallahassee and 297 miles southwest of Atlanta.
Ever wonder why the beaches stay so clean and powdery white? The legendary pure white sand of Panama City Beach is attributed to quartz crystals washing down from the Appalachian Mountains centuries ago. Along their journey, the crystals were bleached, ground, smoothed, and polished. The surf and tides of the Gulf of Mexico is responsible for depositing these millions of grains of sugar-white sand onto the pristine shoreline….the result of this rigorous process is the beautiful, renowned beaches of Panama City Beach.
St. Andrews State Park has been named the #2 Beach in America by Trip Advisor. The 1,260 acre park has forests, sand dunes covered with sea oats, fresh and saltwater marshes, a lagoon swimming area, fishing jetties, hiking trails, 1.5 miles of beach and two campgrounds. Panama City Beach is bordered on either side by State Parks: St. Andrews and Camp Helen .
The city is also known as the Wreck Capital of the South due to the large number of historic wrecks for scuba divers to explore and is also the home to one of the country’s largest sport fishing fleets. The fishing is world famous, and fisherman can troll for multiple varieties of fish in our waters, including Blue Marlin, Red Snapper, Mackerel, Trout, Pompano and Cobia.
The area boasts one of the highest concentrations of bottle nose dolphins in the world, one of the many reasons Panama City Beach travel is so popular. A community-coordinated project with Panama City Marine Institute led to the development of 50 artificial reefs off Panama City Beach. The natural reefs range in depth from 80 to 100 feet and are just a few miles offshore. These reefs range in height from three to eight feet and are teeming with sea life, including small corals and colorful sponge.
Panama City Beach is home to the only deep water diving museum in the U.S., the Museum of Man in the Sea.