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 Whether you’re looking for a long-term vacation or a short week-ender, there are many compelling reasons to choose Panama City Beach.
From an economic standpoint, which, I’m sure, is important to all of us  during these trying times of high gasoline prices and stock market woes, Panama City Beach is a great value. As a result of a condominium construction boom, accommodations during off-season periods are at all-time lows. During season, most condominiums only rent by the week. Right now you can get them by the day or weekend. Some restaurants close for the season but the ones that remain open offer affordable specials. You can find marked-down pricing in most stores.
 The weather is absolutely beautiful! Temperatures range from 70 to 85 through the end of October and drop 7-10 degrees during November, with an occasional short cold front. Gulf waters are still pretty warm.
 No crowds! You can really explore beautiful Panama City Beach without the traffic. There are no waiting lines anywhere.
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Delight your senses in our spectacular beaches (voted “safest in the country” and among the top ten in the country) and the expansive waters of Choctawahatchee Bay. Discover miles and miles of pure playground for shell seeking, sun bronzing, sand castle building, soul searching, and surrendering to sun-drenched solitude.
Four renovated beachfront parks - Beasley Park, James Lee Park, Marler Memorial Park and Wayside Park - and six beach mini-parks featuring ADA accessibility, showers and bathrooms are here for all to enjoy. Okaloosa County values and protects its coastal dunes. Erosion is a serious problem along the 30 miles of coastal areas in the county. The dunes are fragile, easily damaged and require special safeguards to ensure their continued protection of inland areas. Coastal dunes range from seemingly insignificant sand hills to formations more than 50 feet high. Unvegetated dunes are vulnerable to destruction by the same forces that form them - waves and wind. These dunes are built by sand that blows into vegetated areas on the beach. They act as dikes against flooding and as reservoirs of sand to replenish the beach. During storms and hurricanes, dune sand washes into the sea and reduces the energy of storm waves.
The dune restoration project at Beasley Park began in 1991 as an Outdoor Classroom Demonstration project between the Yellow River Soil and Water Conservation District, the NRCS Plant Materials Center, the Three River Resources Conservation, Tourist Development Council and Okaloosa County.
Essential to the project’s success are the hundreds of volunteers who have planted and helped maintain dune vegetation at Beasley Park. What works at Beasley Park has served as a model to conserve, protect and restore dune areas in Okaloosa, Walton, Santa Rosa, and Escambia counties. An educational display at the park helps visitors to identify the plants used in restoration and shows how Beasley Park looked before and after Hurricane Opal.
With more than 60 percent of our lovely beaches protected by law, you can be assured that when you return it will still be the same - natural and undeveloped forever.
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The beaches associated with the Pensacola area are some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Although hurricanes over the past couple of years have changed the landscape, and even washed away many sand dunes, the emerald green waters and white quartz sand still make the areas' beaches unsurpassed in beauty.
A large portion of the beaches are managed by the Gulf Islands National Seashore National Park Service. These include Opal Beach, Fort Pickens, and Johnson Beach in Perdido Key. The National Park Service helps to protect the vegetation, such as the wild oat grass, which prevents erosion beyond the shoreline. They also protect wildlife such as nesting birds and sea turtle egg burial mounds. The National Park Service has also provided many facilities such as restrooms, and pavilions as well as parking lots. All of those provisions help keep vehicles and people from damaging the vegetation and polluting the environment.
In the beaches directory you will see that we have listed 5 beach areas:
Fort Pickens is on the west end of Santa Rosa Island and is part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore.
Navarre Beach is on the east end of Gulf Blvd on Santa Rosa Island. To the east of Navarre Beach is Eglin Air Force Base.
Opal Beach is also on Santa Rosa Island and is about half the distance between Casino Beach and Navarre Beach.
Pensacola Beach is actually the town you enter when you arrive on Santa Rosa Island from Pensacola. Pensacola Beach has Quietwater Beach on the sound side of the island, and Casino Beach which is on the gulf side.
Perdido Key is the barrier island to the west of Santa Rosa Island. Perdido Key is home to Johnson Beach, which is part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore, and also Perdido Key State Park.
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Something magical happens when you visit the Alabama Gulf Coast. The moment you arrive, the world starts to fade away. Maybe it's the sound of waves gently lapping the shore or the smell of coconut oil. Perhaps it's our white sand Gulf Coast beaches and sparkling emerald water. Suddenly building sandcastles moves to the top of your "to-do" list. You remember just how much fun your spouse is. You find yourself laughing at your son's "Knock, knock" joke, even though you've heard it a zillion times. You linger over a succulent, fresh seafood dinner at one of the seaside restaurants in Orange Beach and Gulf Shores, where nobody rushes to get away from the table.
A great getaway is closer than you think. A visit to Orange Beach and Gulf Shores offers the perfect balance of non-stop activity and lay-around-doing-nothing time. Putter around a bit on one of our championship golf courses. Cast your line for deep-sea adventure on one of the Gulf Shores and Orange Beach fishing charters. Travel back in history with a visit to Fort Morgan, the site of the Civil War Battle of Mobile Bay. Commune with Mother Nature as you hike wildlife trails gazing at shorebirds.
Whether vacationing with family, escaping with the one you love, attending an annual Alabama convention or corporate retreat, you can choose from locally-owned or national hotel and motel chains, top-notch rentals in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach condos or a variety of beach houses.
Gulf Shores / Orange Beach is a place where you can slow down, let loose, rediscover yourself and savor your loved ones. It's the Alabama Gulf Coast, and it will cast its spell over you.
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Community 
City of Headland 2003-2010