When Should You visit Destin Florida?

So you're thinking about moving to the Destin area or coming to visit and you're wondering what time of year is best to come out here or perhaps when the best time to do stuff here is. Well, what I've done is we've actually put together the different seasons and some of the pros and cons about each. And what we're going to do is we're going to go from the worst time, of course, in my opinion, to the best time.

So let's just kind of jump into it here. We're going to go from the worst time to be here all the way to the best time. All right? So I'm going to start off first with the spring time. Yep, spring time. That's mid February to mid May. Some of the cons for that time is the crowds. It's kind of a mix of crowds. It could be super crowded one day and then there's nobody on the road so it's really unpredictable there. You're going to see mostly families because it's spring break time and lots of college spring breakers are coming into our area as well. Now from the Destin area, they usually have age restrictions from 21 to 25, at least, for people to rent out those rooms. And that's really just to push those crowds a little bit further towards Panama City and try to keep it out of Destin. Not a huge, huge deal. I still don't understand why you wouldn't want to go to South Florida where you don't have to worry about the water temperatures being so cold, but whatever.

Some of the pros are the weather. It can be chilly at times, but overall it's really comfortable while you're here. The prices, well, they're moderate prices all the way to peak prices because of course we're going to be getting into the summertime. And of course these local businesses know when you're going to be in town, so they like to jack it up when you're here. And that's more so when it comes to your vacation rentals and hotel stays, things of that nature. Now the festivals also really start to kick off as well. We've got the Sandestin Wine Festival and also the Beer Fest down in Fort Walton Beach which happens in the first week of May actually. So some cool things here for this spring.

So let's move on over to the next one, which will be the winter time. The winter time's the second worst or the third best, whatever you want to put there. All right, so our cons for that time is the weather's just really, really unpredictable. It could be nice and beautiful one day, and the other day you're with a parka freezing. Especially to us Floridians, we're not used to this cold weather. If it's below 50, we're freezing. And sometimes temperatures can get below freezing temperatures here, believe it or not, in the panhandle of Florida. There's not as many activities because of the colder weather. Some businesses actually shut down because of the less amount of people that are here. There are still fishing charters, but just know that there's less availability for them, but they do like to fish year round.

Now, some of the pros that we do have here is that there's very low crowds. We mostly see snowbirds. If you don't know what that is, it's those people that are from up North and then they see it's snowing there and it gets super cold so they come on down and then spend their summers here on the Emerald Coast and we love having them here. We also have low pricing, so it's going to be the lowest amount that you're going to pay to stay in a vacation rental, condo, hotel stays, things of that nature. And some other cool things too is because of the colder weather, you can actually get out on the beach and they have little bonfires on the beach. So you can hang out there, feet in the sand, that cool sand. You can hear the ocean with the bonfires in the back. It's super cool.

Not only that, but there are some great festivals because winter is the time for what? Christmas? Yes. New Years? Awesome. So one of the things that Destin is really known for is the Destin Lighted Boat Parade, which happens where they go out and people dress up their boats and they kind of go back and forth. If you've ever had the pleasure of being on one of those boats, it's kind of cold, but it's super awesome to kind of be out there. I've noticed plenty of times from the sidelines kind of just waving at them.

Some other good things is, to keep yourself warm, is you can go out to the Santa Pub Crawl that happens each year down on the HarborWalk. And, well, some of the whiskey may keep you warm or make you think that you are. Others, we have New Years on the Baytowne Wharf which is really, really nice. They've got fireworks, they've got drink specials, they've got music. It's a lot of fun. And also because of the lower temperatures, if you're more of an active person, they have a lot more races like local run clubs and things like that. There'll be 5Ks, 10Ks, things like that going on in the area that you can definitely be part of.

So let's move on in. What is the number three worst or two best? It is going to be the summer time. Yes, the summertime isn't the actual best time. Why? Well, let me tell you why. Some of the cons are the traffic. Oh, the traffic is terrible. Make sure that you get your phone out with the Google Maps or whatever app that you're using just so that you can plan out some amount of time that it's going to take to get to that destination. It will take longer because everybody's in here. It's a peak of tourist season. Because of that too, it's going to have lots of crowds. There's going to be tons of people everywhere. So anticipate that you're going to have to wait. Know that because everybody knows that you're here, that the prices are going to be much higher than they are all year. That includes your rentals, your food, everything. The price is definitely jacked up.

And during the summer, that's where we see the most amount of rainfall, so the highest amount of rainfall that's going to be coming in. You could be looking at the forecast for the next seven days and all of them say thunderstorms 30%. Now, I'm going to tell you just from living here for a while, that don't plan your days based off of what that says, just because it could be pouring rain and then 10 minutes later it could be sunshine. That's just how our weather is here.

So some of the pros of the summer time, why everybody's here, is there's tons of activities to do. Yes, well, we have one of the most beautiful beaches in the world so there are lots of water activities to do to include parasailing, there's zip lining down the HarborWalk. You've got lots and lots of fishing. Destin is known as the luckiest fishing village. We also have paddle boarding. There's fireworks that happen at least once or twice a week. You can get boat rentals. You can head out to Crab Island, which is always a fun little party to go hang out with no matter what day it is. There's just lots of stuff to do. During that time, the HarborWalk's really in full swing. They've got concerts, all the events are going on that are going down there. They even got a little tacos and tequila thing that happens during the summertime, which is super cool to check out.

Also note that in the month of June, you also have Billy Bowlegs Festival. Now, in Fort Walton Beach, they've got the stuff that's on the actual sand there, or on land, which is really fun for families and events. Now they have another one if you have a boat or rent a boat to go out there and they actually rack those boats together and that's an entirely different scene all in itself. I just don't think I can go into the details here so Google it. And of course, it's just great, great swimming weather during the summer times.

And the number one is going to be the fall time. That's between mid August to mid November. The cons for that is it's still crowded, but it's starting to kind of fade away. It is peak hurricane season so if you do come into the area and there's a named hurricane that comes in and you're like, "Hey, we're not going to chance it," the hotel policies and things like that, you probably won't get much or any of your deposit back just to let you know.

And at the beginning of the fall season, it could be really, really debilitatingly hot. Although, as we move into the pros, it's actually got some of the best weather that we find here. Once the summer finally kind of kicks down, it's gorgeous, comfortable weather that we have. Just know that the crowds are a little bit more moderate. You're going to see as far as the tourist demographic are concerned, it's mostly couples, adults if you will. We've got pricing is now starting to fall. It's now a moderate type of pricing as far as your lodging and everything else here. Just the beaches, I can't say it enough just how beautiful it is to be out there. That's where the emerald color is really, really coming in. All the seaweed's gone. It's still really nice and warm, the water temperatures are, just a fantastic time.

Not only that, when you're done with the beaches, this is the most time for festivals and outdoor things where people get to come in and really, really have a good time. And just for an example, we have the Baytowne Wharf, they've got lots of festivals. They've got the Beer Fest that happens once a year, which is just a really, really fun time. They've got a wine festival there. You've got the fishing rodeo that happens each year in Destin, the Kitty Hawk kite festival, the seafood festival, just to name a few. So if you're really coming out here to be active, to be in the nice weather, as long as you're not that busy, then come in the fall. That's the best time to be here in the Destin area.

Tim Whittemore:
But that's all that I do have for you. If you know anybody that could use this information, make sure to like this and share this with them. All right? If you are going to be moving to our area, make sure to call, text, email us, send us a little paper airplane. Whatever you need to do, we've got your back when moving here to Destin, Florida.

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