Page 96 - 2024-2025 Travel Guide to Florida

NORTHWEST FLORIDA
Dead Lakes, a unique ecosystem that’s part swamp, part river, part lake, and all pristine wilderness.
In Panama City Beach, the Man in the Sea Museum covers the history of diving and the Navy’s Man in the Sea Program, which showcases SEALAB-I, the Navy’s first-ever underwater habitat.
Try Swampy Jack’s Wongo Adventure, a hybrid amusement park in Panama City Beach. It features six thrilling rides and attractions including Marrakesh Road Rally—an interactive electric go-kart experi- ence and the Yacuma—a huge serpent wipeout ride. At Pier Park, SkyWheel Panama City Beach is an entertainment venue, which is home to the SkyWheel, a 200-foot, observation wheel with climate- controlled gondolas, including the SkyTrail ropes course—an aerial attraction with suspended bridges, cargo nets and rope ladders, engineered for an adrenaline rush.
Panama City, too, lives on the water. Shell Island Cruises takes you out to snorkel with the dolphins.
Chipley has family activities like the Seacrest Wolf Preserve, where you can interact not only with wolves, but also view foxes, raccoons, skunks and Pecos, the resident coyote. At the biodiverse-rich E.O. Wilson Biophilia Center, check for various educational workshops on birds, turtles and snakes. There are several resident animals like a red-tailed hawk and a rescued snapping turtle.
The Destin/Fort Walton Beach/Okaloosa Island area offers attractions such as the Gulfarium Marine Adventure Park, where you can frolic in the water with rays and spend time observing dolphins. If your kids love dinosaurs, head for Wild Willy’s Adventure Zone, with animatronic dinosaur- themed and pirate-themed mini golf courses, a bungee trampoline, laser tag, arcade, incredible 4-D movie theater and more.
Santa Rosa County’s Gulf Breeze Zoo showcases over 800 animals from around the world, and the Navarre Beach Marine Science Station combines hands-on learning and entertainment.
In Escambia County, historic Pensacola Village is the site of the original Spanish and British forts in a city over which five flags have flown. At the Pensacola Lighthouse, built in 1859, climb the 177 steps for a dramatic panoramic view of the Gulf Coast.
BEACHES AND OUTDOOR GEMS
Northwest Florida’s beaches are world- renowned. Frolic on more than 227 miles of white, fine-grained, sugar-sand beaches stretching from Apalachicola in the east to Pensacola in the west. And often, they’re so uncrowded that you may come to think of them as your own private playgrounds!
The Apalachicola National Forest is perfect for camping, picnicking, hiking, biking, boating, hunting and fishing. Offshore, St. Vincent National Wildlife Refuge is a 12,492-acre undeveloped barrier island accessible only by boat; the only residents you’ll see will be wildlife, such as nesting bald eagles, loggerhead sea turtles, and, if you’re lucky, a red wolf.
Situated on the bluffs overlooking the Apalachicola River, Torreya State Park offers excellent hiking and camping facilities. In addition, the Ochlockonee and Chipola rivers are ideal for kayaking and fishing.
If you’re looking for spectacular sunsets, head to St. Joe Beach and Beacon Hill. Here, a shoreline leading to the horizon offers million-dollar views of the Gulf sun, blazing with color as it sets behind the silhouette of St. Joseph Peninsula.
From there, it’s a short drive to Panama City Beach where outdoor enthusiasts can hike and birdwatch along scenic trails; camp along the shore; enjoy unparalleled boating, fishing and diving; take kayaking tours; go off-road cycling; try stand-up paddle- boarding, and more. And, with everything from airboat adventures to glass-bottom boat tours and marine rescue programs, there are many ways to experience and observe the surrounding wildlife. At the
5 MUST-SEE ATTRACTIONS
GULFARIUM MARINE ADVENTURE PARK, FORT WALTON BEACH
1 gulfarium.com
2 LIGHTHOUSES ACROSS NORTHWEST FLORIDA
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explorenwflorida.com/about-our-region/culture/lighthouses
NATIONAL NAVAL AVIATION MUSEUM, PENSACOLA
navalaviationmuseum.org
SPRINGS OF NORTHWEST FLORIDA
nwfwater.com/water-resources/springs
GULF BREEZE ZOO, GULF BREEZE
gbzoo.com
94 2024-25 TRAVEL GUIDE TO FLORIDA
WATERFRONT DINING IN PANAMA CITY • DESTINATION PANAMA CITY