The Ultimate Travel Guide to 30A: Family Friendly Vacation

This post may contain affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Please read my disclaimer for more info.

Have you heard of 30A? In the last few years it has become an extremely popular vacation destination. 30A refers to the scenic highway in Florida that runs from Panama City Beach to Destin. There are miles of the whitest sand and the most crystal clear emerald green water. It has been on my list of places to visit for several years. We recently made it happen over Fall Break in October and I already can’t wait to plan a return trip to this charming area! It’s the perfect family friendly vacation.

Where We Stayed

There are a string of picturesque beach towns along this highway and each has its own unique vibe. I’m pretty sure you could stay at any one of these quaint little towns and not be disappointed.

One important aspect when deciding where to stay is how close you’ll be to the beach, activities, and attractions. It wasn’t important for us to be right on the beach. We knew we wanted to explore the different beach areas and we had a car, so it was easy to do. This is also where going in the off-season is helpful. The traffic wasn’t bad at all.

The hotel options are slim, but there are tons of beautiful beach houses to rent. There are so many choices, it can be a bit overwhelming deciding on one. I basically narrowed down by picking my favorite houses that were within our budget and then I looked at location. Accommodations are very important to me, and I will research to death before picking the perfect spot. I knew that a great pool was a must-have amenity for my girls. That’s how we landed in Prominence. The pool there looked beautiful online (and it was!) It is a neighborhood full of adorable townhouses and they all look brand new. We rented through Airbnb. We all loved our 2 bed, 2 bath townhouse and the host, Dixie, was amazing to work with. She had restaurant suggestions, beach suggestions, etc. Dixie was also super quick to respond to any questions that I had and left us a sweet welcome gift. We would definitely stay at Driftwood Cottage again.

Pro-tip:

Reach out to the homeowner directly and ask if they would be willing to offer a discounted rate. This can work especially well if you wait until the last minute to book (and/or go during the off-season). I didn’t book until the week before we were leaving and ended up getting a discounted rate.

What We Did

Walk to the pool

Every morning we packed up some snacks and walked to the pool.

Pro Tip:

There is a Publix just a few miles down the road in Watercolor. We stopped there on our first day and picked up some snacks, breakfast food, and bottles of water. This will save you time and money by not having to go out for breakfast every morning, which means more pool/beach time for us! Of course you could grab some lunch and/or dinner items as well, but for us, part of the fun of being on vacation is trying out the many different eateries.

The pool in Prominence is amazing! It’s a 5,000 sq. ft. resort-style pool with plenty of chairs, grills, and some nice shaded areas. There is also a fitness center at the pool area with a few workout machines, but it is really small. It was nice because the pool was never very crowded. Fall is definitely the time to go to 30A if you want to avoid huge crowds. And we were so lucky with the weather being sunny and in the 80’s. It was perfection!

Go To The Hub

Prominence’s town center has a central gathering spot called “The Hub”. It’s just across the street from where we stayed, so it was really convenient to walk over. The Hub is home to great shopping, dining, and live music performances. It’s a great area for kids to be able to run around and get some energy out. I was really impressed by the selection of shops. One of my favorites was Yellow Fly Trading Co. I found some great clothes in this little boutique and they didn’t even break the bank! Another one of my faves for home furnishings was 13 Hub Lane. This store was just stunning!

Check Out The Beaches

There are so many beach options that we didn’t even begin to scratch the surface. Deer Lake State Park was the closest beach access to where we stayed (about 0.6 miles.) We drove there, and finding a parking spot was no problem. It’s $3 per vehicle and you pay by dropping your money in an honor box.

There is a fairly long boardwalk to get to the beach from this access point, so I would recommend a wagon if you’re taking a bunch of stuff. This park holds the freshwater coastal dune lake known as Deer Lake, as well as pristine beaches where you won’t find as many crowds.

We also liked Rosemary Beach and Seaside. I’m sure it’s not always this way, but I have never seen such calm ocean water. Our girls had a little more freedom to go further out since there were essentially no waves. They loved it!

We spent most of our beach time at Seaside. We found a pretty large parking lot at the edge of Watercolor and Seaside with plenty of free parking spaces. It was an easy walk to the beach.

Explore Other Towns

There are so many unique little communities. We spent an evening and a day exploring Seaside and part of a day in Rosemary Beach. We drove to both, but you could easily bicycle or take a golf cart. Seaside has the cutest town square with many boutiques and restaurants.

I would love to spend more time in Rosemary Beach. I fell in love with the architecture and the cobblestone streets. Wide-open porches wrap around every beautiful home. Secret pathways wind between the cottages. There are plenty of boutiques and restaurant options for dining al fresco. It’s just the prettiest!

Where We Ate

The Hub

I honestly wouldn’t recommend The Hub for food when there are so many other good options. We ate there the first night because of convenience. It was late and we were tired and hungry. It’s a quick walk across the street from the Prominence area where we stayed. The girls had pizza and pasta from Sauce It and they loved it. Scott and I had tacos from Macho Taco. They weren’t terrible-just nothing to write home about. One day we spent several hours at the neighborhood pool, so again, we walked across the street to grab a quick bite at Duos and brought it back to the pool out of convenience. The burgers and fries were pretty good, but tons of better options are available within a short drive in my opinion.

Airstream Row

These vintage silver airstreams were in Seaside way before food trucks started trending, and they serve up some pretty good food options. The airstreams are a great way to cater to a variety of cravings and picky kids. My girls loved eating here and were so happy with just a soft salted pretzel from Wild Bill’s Beach Dogs for a couple of meals. They also loved the Frito pie in a bag. I had a Chicago dog from Wild Bill’s Beach Dogs that was good.

Scott tried out a gyro from Mr. Gyro Hero that he really liked. They have a variety of Mediterranean options in this Airstream.

I’m a sucker for some good shaved ice, so I had to try Frost Bites. Peaches n cream is always my flavor of choice no matter where I’m getting a sno cone or shaved ice. It was delicious, and a small was actually giant!

The Shrimp Shack

The Shrimp Shack is across the street from Airstream Row where Scott and I had some of the best shrimp and best views! This is a very casual, order at the counter place and you can grab a table outside with ocean views. Scott had the peel and eat gulf shrimp and I had the shrimp salad roll. They were both so good and fresh! I also highly recommend their fresh-squeezed lemonade. The girls loved the gelato on a stick shaped like a cat and a paw.

The Perfect Pig

There are 3 The Perfect Pig locations on 30A, and we liked it so much we went to 2 of them. I highly recommend the fried green tomatoes, crab cakes, and bacon Caesar salad. The girls loved the kids buttered pasta and Sadie had grilled shrimp added to hers. Sydni also liked the kids grilled cheese. I hear their breakfast is amazing and would love to try it when we go back.

Great Southern Cafe

Every person I talked to about 30A, recommended this restaurant. I did love the grapefruit mojito and the pimento cheese appetizer, but our experience went downhill from there. I think we caught them on a bad night. Scott and my food were both cold when they brought it out and it wasn’t good. So many good recommendations though, so we will definitely give it another shot next time.

Cowgirl Kitchen

We ate outside at the Cowgirl Kitchen in Rosemary Beach and it was beautiful! I love when the weather is perfect enough to dine al fresco. The chopped salad and grouper sandwich were both really good. The girls both ordered the kids pizza and it was excellent and gigantic! They could have shared one pizza.

Stinky’s Fish Camp

Stinky’s Fish Camp was by far our fave meal of the trip. We did have about a 40 minute wait, but it was so worth it! I highly recommend the oysters with bacon and gruyere and the shrimp and grits. Sydni loved the kids fried catfish and Sadie loved the kids fried shrimp. It was all SO good!

30A is a stunning vacation spot and it’s so family friendly. You won’t want to leave!

Have you been to 30A? I would love to know where you stayed and what restaurants you recommend.

Check out some of my other family friendly vacation blog posts:

Our Trip to Disney Aulani

Big Cedar Lodge-Branson, MO

Cabo San Lucas