Comments (scroll down to add your own):

1. We like Apalachicola/St. George Island.

   http://www.apalachicolabay.org/

   If you want to go farther east, closer to Tallahassee, my favorite place is Panacea, in Wakulla County (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W.....,_Florida).

   Caveat: Haven’t been up that way for maybe five years. I live in St. Pete.

   Comment by webdoyenne — Jan 7th 2007 @ 6:19 pm

2. We did close to Apalachicola last summer at a place called Barrier Dunes http://www.barrierdunes.com

   A gated community on the beach, VERY nice. Main drawback is it’s about an hour from Panama City Beach, which is where you have to go to hit any store bigger than a Piggly Wiggly.

   Area was absolutely beautiful and very relaxing. We had two couples and 3 kids (one was 4, the others under 2).

   Feel free to email me if you have any specific questions.

   Oh, and as far was what we did, most of the time was spent just on the beach, at the pool, relaxing at the house. Did some deep sea fishing and drove into Panama City Beach one day. It’s also very close to places to rent various types of watercraft.

   Comment by Norm — Jan 7th 2007 @ 6:56 pm

3. My family stayed in florida a few years ago, and we were able to stay with some family in Tampa for nothing! It was way better than any hotel stay, because it was free! If you have any relatives in the state that you can stand, you should seriously consider shacking up with them for a week!

   Comment by Matthew Paulson — Jan 7th 2007 @ 9:41 pm

4. I second the motion by webdoyenne — St. George Island is great. My wife and I along with our dogs have gone there each of the past 5 years or so and love it.

   We go off-season, in the winter, when rates a lower and things aren’t crowded. Usually go in Oct or Nov and rent a house.

   Very nice and relaxing.

   Comment by TMT — Jan 8th 2007 @ 7:36 am

5. I stayed at a condo on Navarre Beach last spring. The complex was on the beach, and we’d walk out of the back porch and be on the beach in about 60 seconds.

   There’s a ‘public’ beach the locals go to right when you come in to the island (NB is a long island), but we were down the beach about a mile, so the only ones on the beach were runners, and other condo-dwellers like us.

   Water temp was a little cool (we went first week in April to avoid spring breakers), but we had a VERY good time.

   Affordable – $140 per night for 2 BR, full kitchen. We went NOWHERE to eat. We went to the grocery store, and cooked all our meals. We got out of there spending roughly $700 for 5 solid days on the beach.

   We could have rented kayaks, etc, but water was too choppy….

   Comment by Allen — Jan 8th 2007 @ 5:18 pm

6. I third St. George Island. If you’re just looking for a good beach without all the fuss of a tourist trap, it’s the place to be.

   Comment by Stingy Student — Jan 8th 2007 @ 7:28 pm

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