On Panama City Beach, you’ll also find St. Andrews State Park - encompassing over 1,063 acres of beaches, dunes, salt and freshwater marshes and pine wooded areas. Camping and picnic facilities are abundant, as well. Just across the Bay is Shell Island, an uninhabited barrier island that can only be visited by boat. Locals and tourists alike find their way by boat tours and are often escorted by friendly dolphins. An encounter so unique, visitors from as far away as Germany come to see these natives up close and personal. Family entertainment in various forms is all along Panama City Beach, including: water parks, zoo, marine park, boating adventures and tours, movie complexes, shopping and numerous southern style restaurants that feature fresh Gulf seafood.
Panama City Beach has often been featured on the media and has received numerous accolades for it’s environment. Rated number one beach in the 1995 survey of the world’s beaches, and the number four beach in America by The Travel Channel in 2000, Panama City Beach is truly a mainland paradise.