Miramar Beach Florida: Best Beaches in Florida

ByLisa Dworkin Hours

Beach Personality: Great Beach in the Middle of a Concrete Jungle

Miramar Beach

Miramar Beach’s physical characteristics are the same as the other South Walton County public beaches. They share the same beautiful, cool (even when air temps are hot), soft, white, quartz sand. They share the same clean, clear, almost always warm Gulf of Mexico water. Yet the ambiance of Miramar Beach is completely different. While the other South Walton County beaches tend to be residential and low key in nature, Miramar Beach feels more like Panama City Beach because it’s surrounded by high-rise condos and has a restaurant/bar adjacent to the beach.

Although I personally prefer quieter, lower key beaches, the fact that Miramar Beach is a public beach in South Walton County is a good thing since we all have different ideas of what makes a good beach. When your choices are of one gorgeous beach versus another and the only difference is the ambiance, well, choices don’t get much better than that. If gulf view condos and a beach bar are your “thing”, I highly recommend Miramar Beach. If cottages, cute towns, and the quiet life are what you enjoy, you can’t go wrong at one of the beaches off of Hwy 30A.

Beach Activities:

  • Lounging
  • Swimming
  • Walking on the beach
  • Surf fishing
  • Kayaking
  • Paddle boarding (SUP)
  • Surfing
  • Vollyeball

Beach Amenities:

  • Public bathrooms – Yes.
  • Showers – Yes.
  • Parking – Yes, although limited.
  • Food – Yes, at Pompano Joe’s .
  • Lifeguard – Yes, seasonally from the first Saturday in March until the last Sunday in September.
  • Dogs allowed on the beach – Yes, with significant limitations. See Walton County Clerk of the Courts for complete information.

Additional amenities – handicap accessible, beach wheelchairs available during the lifeguard season, drinking water fountain.

Beach Rentals:

Ride On Surf School (850-240-7822) rents kayaks, surfboards, and stand up paddleboards. They also offer surfing lessons. They are on the beach seasonally from March 1 to October 31.

Beach Services (850-978-2287) has chairs and umbrellas for rent seasonally.

FantaSea (850-654-7772) is located at 1646 Scenic Gulf Drive in Destin. That’s less than a mile from the Miramar Beach access point. They rent scooters, golf carts, motorcycles, surfboards, metal detectors, fishing rods, kayaks, bikes, and beach wheelchairs.

Coastal Cruisers (850-543-6146 or 850-543-3454) is located at 50 S. Holiday Road at CVS Plaza in Destin. It’s also less than a mile from Miramar Beach and offers kayaks, bikes, and scooters for rent.

Directions:

To reach the public beach access point at Miramar Beach from the Destin area, take US 98/Emerald Coast Parkway east to Driftwood Rd. Turn right on Driftwood. Continue on Driftwood until you reach Scenic Gulf Drive, also known as Old Highway 98, Highway 2378 and Scenic Highway 98. Turn right or left onto Scenic Gulf Drive and look for the nearest available parking spot.

To reach the public beach access point at Miramar Beach from the Sandestin area, take US 98/Emerald Coast Parkway west to Scenic Gulf Drive/Old Highway 98/Scenic Highway 98/Highway 2378. Turn left (the only choice you have here) and continue on this road until you see Pompano Joe’s on your left. Miramar Beach is adjacent to Pompano Joe’s.

To many joyful beach experiences!

— Lisa Dworkin

Image Source: Lisa Dworkin. All rights reserved.

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