Although the City of Destin has a population of just over 12,000 residents this sleepy little fishing village swells to over 200,000 people during any given week in the summer.   All visitors of Destin have something in common; they are all looking for a place to stay! The first thought that comes to mind when planning a vacation for most tourists is finding a good hotel.  Believe it or not, currently there are no hotels on the beach in Destin proper.  There was a Holiday Inn but it has recently been demolished with plans for a new hotel to take its place in mid 2014.  There are however many cheap hotels in Destin off the beach.  These include well known national chains such as Embassy Suites, Hampton Inn, and Ramada.  If you are looking for beachfront accommodations you will want to consider staying in av condo in Destin.  There are many condo buildings all along the coast and they range from affordable to extravagant.  If you are searching for the very best than you will want to consider a home on the beach in Destin.  Home rentals in Destin are common and there are many options from a variety of sources.  You can rent directly from owners with a little research but the easiest way is to locate one of the major rental management companies.  Do It In Destin prefers either Ocean Reef Resorts or Southern Resorts.  With these companies you can enjoy a stay at a home, condo, villa, or townhome.  If you are come down with a loved one you may also want to consider a bed & breakfast, and that would have to be the Henderson Beach Inn (it’s the only one.)  The last type of accommodations in Destin is camp grounds.  There are a couple options and you can bring an RV or pitch a tent and at some locations even rent a cabin.  As you can see the options for places to stay in Destin are as varied as its visitors.  They do have all one thing in common; they all offer access to the world’s best sugar white sand beaches! 

Destin, Florida is home to a vast array of places to eat.  When dining in Destin is the topic, most mention our fresh caught seafood as their number one sought after delicacy.  If you are searching for Seafood Restaurants in Destin, why not take it one step further?  Do It In Destin has decided to break out our top 3 places to eat in Destin on the Beach!

1. The Back Porch - 1740 Scenic Highway 98
This beachfront restaurant has been a favorite of Destin locals since 1974!  With humble beginnings as an old Florida-style A-frame building to one of the best beachfront ambiences in Northwest Florida, this location is so popular it’s nearly considered a landmark!  Rumored to have invented the Amberjack Sandwich, this is one place to eat you will not want to miss.

2. Pompano Joe’s- 2237 Scenic Gulf Highway
Recently featured as the Ultimate Beach Snack Shack on the travel channel, this beachfront place to eat offers outrageously fresh seafood right on the ocean.  With windows that open up and let in the calm beach breeze, your meal may end up being the highlight of your Destin vacation!  Be sure to take time to view the fish tank by the bar, it’s stocked with the full cast of Little Nemo.

3. Beachwalk Café-
Both the previously mentioned places to eat in Destin on the beach are casual and fun.  If you want to take it up a notch consider dining at Beachwalk Café, the only true beachfront fine dining restaurant in Destin.  The last time Do It In Destin visited this location we opted for Mother’s Day Brunch.  The food was great, the views unreal, and the intimacy of the restaurant really made it a special event. 

Well there you have it.  There are so many great seafood restaurants in Destin but only a select few are truly beachfront. With a full stomach and a cool beach breeze, no may never want to go home! View all area restaurants on our Places to Eat in Destin page.

If you are one of the many faithful visitors that have used Do It In Destin as their preferred area and attraction guide while on vacation, you may have noticed we've given our website a facelift!  Hopefully you are enjoying our re-imagined vision of our original concept, a website dedicated on highlighting things to do in Destin.   In the upcoming weeks we plan to continue the improvement to offer a more robust selection of Destin attractions.  We've already expanded our places to eat, places to shop, and places to stay sections.   And if you are reading this, our all new Destin vacation blog is live.  We hope that you follow along and find what we are doing useful.  If you think of any of the things to do in Destin that we have missed be sure to share so we can get the businesses included.  Going forward we will use this vacation blog to take a closer look at the businesses we feature.  If you are one of our visiting families that have used our site for year we'd like to thank you.  If you are new and this is your first time to our site we hope that you use our site as your go to reference while visiting Destin.