When Should You Visit Destin Florida [Updated 2022]

So, you're thinking about coming and visiting here in Destin, Florida and you're wondering, when's the best time for me to come out here? Well, in this video, we're going to go exactly that. And, this is now updated since summer of 2022.

But, let's get into visiting first. Right? Let's talk about that. Now, if you haven't been to Destin, Florida before, where is it? We call it right in the heart of the Emerald Coast. Where's the Emerald Coast, Tim? Well, it's in Northwest Florida between Pensacola and Panama City Beach. So, if you could put that right in the middle, that's where it is. It's absolutely gorgeous sitting there on the coast. So, what is this area known for? Big thing is the white sand beaches that we have down here flanked with the Emerald Color Water thus, you know, Emerald Coast. Of course, the weather, absolutely gorgeous weather throughout the year, and we're going to go into that a little bit more depending upon what gorgeous means to you. And of course, world class, just fantastic boating, fishing all throughout this area. And of course, a great community. This community here that we have in the Destin area is just unique in its own. It's got it's own southern charm with a bit of Floridian in-ness to it. And not only that, but this area brings in a lot of people from all over the place thanks to the four military installations that we have throughout here. And a lot of people like me, stuck around and just give back to this community. It's absolutely wonderful.

So, what's the difference between my previous video a couple of years ago versus now? Well, spend some time. So, what has happened since then? Well, jeez. We're looking at the mid to late end of 2022, that real estate spike really took a hit. Right? Not only that, but COVID came in and a bunch of people flooded down to Florida during that time, has kind of changed the industry a little bit. And of course, our ongoing construction is throughout this area. And it's getting finished. Maybe, I don't know, I think Miramar has been under construction. Miramar Beach, that has been under construction since, I don't know, 1995. It seems like it never ends. There have been quite a bit of different changes since that has come about. That being said, things have been getting more expensive. Things got crowded, and then they kind of come down a little bit. COVID being what it is, now it's lifted restrictions to figure, oh, that would slow down a little. Well, it didn't. Now, people are coming back that we're afraid to come out. So, we're definitely getting all the different traffic coming this way.

So, let's get going. Let's start with our first season, which is winter. Alright? So that's going to be December, January, and February, those are three months. Start with the weather. What's it going to feel like if you come down here to Northwest Florida? We think Florida, like it's always hot, like all throughout the year. Well, not necessarily. Up here in Northwest Florida, we can see temperatures as low as 37 or as high as 64 during those 3 months. We typically stick around 55 degrees Fahrenheit throughout this amount of time. However, it is what it is, sometimes it's colder, sometimes it's warmer. Seems like every four years or so, we get a nice big cold front that comes in, and it'll sit at 20 degrees for a couple of days. But more or less is somewhere between 45 to 55 as a median.

So, what are the PROS coming during this time? Well, it's not as busy. We locals used to or still call it, we get our town back during this time. Traffic's very light, so you can get around very quickly, which is great. The rentals are more affordable. Now, if you're going to come down here in snowbird, and if you don't know what that means, means that you come down when maybe you live up north and come down for warmer weathers, whether that's relative, like you are in North Dakota or something and you're freezing and it's negative twenty versus positive twenty. That's a forty-degree swing right there. So, yeah, come on down. But you stay here for that prolonged period once it warms up and back north. But, yeah, so the rentals are affordable. The beaches, beach walks are really nice. Doesn't feel like you're melting when you're walking down the beach. Like, I just need to jump in the golf right now just to cool down. But it's really nice to have that. It's almost like you have your own secluded beach to yourself, which in this area, especially, it kind of feels like that in some cases, as you're walking down the undeveloped areas, let's say, of Okaloosa Island in Fort Walton Beach. So, those are some good pros about being out this year.

Now, CONS. There's not going to be as many vendors out. There's not a ton of water sports that are available. They are available, but there's not as many that you're going to see out there. The water's going to be cooler. I do try out the lawns and one of the things that I enjoyed in the winter was still going out and doing open water swims because I'm crazy apparently. But I'll throw on a wet suit and go out and it seems perfectly fine. But still, you would probably jump in there depending upon where you're from and it wouldn't be that bad. You may need to bring a jacket to a kid, depending on where you're coming from. Thus, Floridians, when it gets around 55, like, we're wearing jackets for sure. It gets below that, we're wearing, like, Arctic ear. So, yes, depending on how that goes.

Alright. Let's roll into spring. Spring is at March, April, May time period. The weather at this time is a low around 53 to up to 89 degrees. It really is just going to depend how that goes. And each year, it seems to surprise us every single time. So, it's kind of hard to plan.

But, PROS coming this time, you get a good mix of weather, good mix attempts when you're coming out here. So, it doesn't feel too bad. Doesn't seem overwhelming like what you get in the summer. The water is beginning to warm up. So again, it's relative to you whether you want to go out there. I know in the springtime I've driven over the Destin Bridge, looks and people out there on pontoons standing out in Crab Island. There's maybe like four boats or something like that. And, they're just out there and board shorts and whatever. Right? Bikini's, you name it. And they are looking like they're just doing fine. Like, well, they clearly don't live here. But again, that's something that you could do. Spring break activities, since it's March, we see a lot of those things happening. People come down to the beaches and having some extra parties. Rental prices still seem pretty low, but once March hits, they start to climb all the way up into the summer, which is our peak season, and the local event start. You know, we start to do a lot more outdoor event, you start to see more things start happening around the areas in the popular spots.

Now, the CONS coming at this time is the weather can go randomly cold at any time. I don't know how many times. We're like, hey, we're let's go up for a beach day, and it could be, you know, May at the beginning of May. And this actually happened this year where we went out. We're super excited bright and sunny, but the temperature just plummeted within like a day. So we're sitting out there, the wind's blowing, and of course, at that time, it doesn't feel so hot. So we're like, I don't need any sunblock. Got so burned, it was so bad. Of course, a wind was kicking too because it's, you know, that time is of the year. Man, it was rough. We've also planned on boat days where we go out and rent a boat or just take a boat out. Right? And we're thinking, man, just yesterday it was in the 80's and then you get out there, it's like high 60's. So, you're going to have to go with that. Sometimes it's very unpredictable. And then the traffic starts to pick back up as you can see more people start coming back in this way.

And then of course, we get into the summertime. Summertime is June July and August time. This is the most popular for people to come and visit. The weather is 69 to 90 degrees. Humidity is up there too, usually, sometime or somewhere around 60 to 90%. Sometimes, it gets a little brutal. So, some of the pro spark is that, that's where the events are in full swing. Right? Although all the water activities are now open, Crab Islands just booming at this point. Usually, just at the end of June, mid to end of June, we start to see a lot more people out there, and it's a Crab Island that we all know and love. Big time party good times going on out there. And of course, you have the bigger crowds if you like the big crowds and just lots of happy people because this is where people are coming down with their families having a great time. So, yeah, summertime, good times.

Some of the cons as well, that's when hurricanes are. Hurricane season starts. It starts at the 30th of June is when it kicks off, I believe. And, it goes for six months. So it could be whatever. Again, it becomes really, really hot. Especially if you come from a cooler climate, this becomes very, very hot area and almost this seems devastatingly, so even for us that live here. The traffic, again, probably is my biggest pet peeve around here. Because there's not a lot of different places that you can go to get around certain things. So, if you're like, hey, I'm going Fort Walton to Destin, it's going to take me 45 minutes. It would normally take me 18 minutes to get there. Or, I could drive all the way for 45 minutes to go up and around the bay, and get there at the same time. You know, the traffic can be pretty rough. Again, there's a high potential for rain because it is hurricane season. This is where we get the most rainfall. It's usually in July, sometimes August, and it will just dump. And then it may be good for a couple of days. Or you may just look up at the 7-day forecast and every day is 30% chance of thunderstorms. That makes sense. That's pretty, pretty common around here. So, again, you always take your chances when you are planning to come to visit.

Then, of course, we roll into the fall. That's at September, October, and November area if you have been keeping up. So, whether it's somewhere between 46 to 87 degrees Fahrenheit, very comfortable as it starts to kind of dip down. The pros is the weather cools off of it. Well, sort of. As we have a lot of events going on, there's tons of stuff going on out in the 30A region as well, in San Destin and all of these different places. And it's mainly because it's not so darn hot and everybody else can kind of join in. And it's not as busy as the summertime, usually it's because we get a lot of families and people that want to come down during that time. The kids are back in school, which kind of alleviate some of that crowd. And you're going to get better rental rates. And I mean, better rental rates all around because it's kind of late in the season when you are coming in here. So, that means rentals for places you're going to stay, rentals for any other equipment that you're getting, so on and so forth.

Some of the cons coming in here is when it does cool off, it typically doesn't bounce back. Although you can get into the beginning of our winter season in December. Be planning, hey, we're going to go out and, you know, do something Christmasy with sweaters. And next thing you know, it's 70 degrees out when you were used to, you know, 50's. So, yeah, you know, it is what it is, but it is Florida. But, yes, once it kind of cools off, we don't see those big high temperatures much more than that. This is the second highest potential for rain during the year was during September, October time period. And, of course, the days are getting short. So, you don't get as much sunshine and things like that if that's what you're coming down for.

So, there you have it. Those are all the things that you need to know for each season. Obviously, depending upon what you value is going to determine what time you're going to be coming down here. So, if you have any questions about anything that I said here, please feel free to call/text us at 850.320.7757 or email us at Admin@WhittemoreGroupRE.com