Voted #1 Beach in America
USA Today

Best Beach Destination (2 Years in a Row)
People magazine

Over 16% of all U.S. beaches certified by the Clean Beaches Council are located in Walton County.  All 14 communities (out of 49 in FL) and 3 state parks have been certified by the Blue Wave Campaign. 

"The beach communities on Scenic Highway 30A somehow manage to drip Southern family charm, pioneer cutting-edge design, and stay out of the limelight. They also share what may be the best beach in the continental U.S."
The New York Times

#3 "Best Beach" in the U.S.
National Geographic Traveler

"Seaside could be the most astounding design achievement of its era..."Time Magazine

2007 BEST BEACH HONORS
#1: Destin, Florida
#2: Cancún, Mexico
#3: Myrtle Beach / Kiawah Island (tie)
Diversions Magazine

 "Alys Beach may well be the most truly innovative community under construction in the U.S. today, and it will eventually be imitated everywhere."         Adres Duany of DPZ

designer of 300 towns around the world

"Seaside - with its cozy, narrow streets and its jumble of pastel-colored homes - is probably the most influential resort community since Versailles."  Newsweek

"30A has become a major upscale tourist attraction with its eclectic palette of bright Caribbean colors and soft pastels, and architecture ranging from weathered wood beach homes to the New Urbanist community of Seaside

(featured in the Jim Carrey movie The Truman Show)."
Executive Traveler

Travel+Leisure magazine recently ranked 30A's WaterColor Inn:

#1 Family-Friendly Resort in North America,

#7 Best Hotel in North America, &

#36 Best Hotel in the World

"Northwest Florida's chic coastal village corridor oozes charm, Southern hospitality and great golf."
Private Clubs Magazine

"Atlantans are flocking to towns like the idyllic Seaside, where houses go for $1,300 per square foot, 12-year-old Rosemary Beach, scenic WaterColor and the new Alys Beach, which combines the best in architecture, real estate and lifestyle."  The Atlantan

"Families can stroll the sands, hike the nature trails and canoe the lake at Grayton Beach. Upscale inns and cottages in beachfront communities such as WaterColor offer dune-bordered beaches, golf, tennis, sailing clinics and kids' programs."  USA Today

"Best Beach in the South"
(13 years in a row)
Southern Living Readers

Rare Coastal Dune Lakes found only along the Emerald Coast of Florida, Madagascar, Australia & New Zealand

Grayton Beach - #1 beach in America. Dr. Beach - World's top "beachologist.

Hwy 30A construction restrictions prevent high rise building resulting in less density on our beaches.

Destin has been called the "Luckiest Fishing Village".  Folklore aside - our area is a fisherman's delight due to the proximity to the 100 Fathom Curve.  Our area offers the fastest deep-water access to the Gulf of Mexico where the Continental Shelf drops into the abyssal descent. 

This is over my head - it means where the big fish are.

Most importantly - Sunshine 343 days a year