[This post contains sponsored links. The product featured and linked in this post is provided by Home Exchange , Big Kahuna’s and Vivo Spa 30A – all opinions and reviews are my own.] 

This photo is the gorgeous home we stayed in, in the Blue Mountain Beach area in 30A.

We recently had a fantastic family vacation in 30A, Florida! My family rented a house for the first time, here in June, and we loved it so much! We would love to make it a yearly tradition!

Our youngest daughter made a sand turtle and wrote 30A on it.

30A is a collection of small, unique, gorgeous Florida beach towns. They are nestled quietly between the much busier areas of Panama City and Destin, along Florida’s Scenic Highway 30A.

Blue Mountain Beach

Within this area, you’ll find the beach communities of Blue Mountain Beach, Rosemary Beach, Alys Beach, WaterSound, and several more! If you’re looking for a vacation destination that has stunning ocean views and white sand, pools, restaurants and is kid-friendly, you pretty much hit the jackpot with 30A! 

How To Get There?

This airport is in Panama City, FL, just a short drive from the coast. Flight options include Delta, Southwest, United, and American Airlines. Once we arrived at the airport, you can pick up a rental car or cab. From there, it is about a 30 minute drive from the airport. 

This is the beautiful home we stayed in, in 30A. I love the aesthetic of the home!! 

Where To Stay?

There are several different beach communities within 30A! It’s home to Rosemary Beach, Seacrest, Alys Beach, Seagrove, Seaside, Watercolor and Grayton Beach – to name a few. The entire highway stretches 28.5 miles,  so you can check out all the beaches, since they are so close! ALL of the beach communities are stunning, we stayed in Blue Mountain Beach.

The home we stayed in had this gorgeous plunge pool!

How do I find a house? We use Home Exchange to find homes to rent, while on vacation. We can use our guest points, which means, we get to stay for free! Free in 30A? Yes, all the details are in this blog-The Complete Guide to Home Exchange. You can also check out our reel on IG, about Home Exchange.

Photo of Red Fish Tacos, from their website.

Where To Eat?

There are tons and tons of great restaurants in the 30A area! Here are the ones that we tried and loved:

Photo of Red Fish Taco’s Fish Tacos, from their website.

Red Fish Taco

We tried their Grilled Red Fish Tacos and they were amazing! And I’m not a fish taco person! 5 stars!! We also tried their Goat Cheese, Spinach & Black Bean Quesadillas and they were delicious! 

Photo from Red Fish Tacos website-Quesadillas.

We also tried their Taco Salad Bowl with Tortilla bowl, crisp greens, corn salsa, cucumber, tomato, avocado, cotija cheese, RFT pico, chili lime aioli, black eye pea vinaigrette. Photo below is from the Red Fish Taco’s website. Delicious! Perfect flavors of summer!

Raw & Juicy

This is a great place to find vegetarian and vegan options with the cutest decor in Alys Beach! Their menu is filled with healthy options like açaí bowls, coffee and cold pressed juices. Open air seating with white and black umbrellas & string lights-inviting atmosphere! Right  past the patio tables, you’ll find a fun playground for kids! 

We tried their Sweet Kale Caesar Salad. It had kale with in-house caesar paste, roasted garlic chickpeas, shiitake mushroom bacon, shaved cashew parmesan and cranberries. It was so good!!

We also tried their Lavender Matcha with Oat Milk with one extra pump of lavender. My taste buds were happy!

What To Do?

VISIT THE BEACH: 30A is unique in that most houses come with beach chairs and umbrella rentals!  All we had to do was bring a beach bag, back up our e-bikes and head down to the beach.

The picture below was our first day at Blue Mountain Beach. A small, yet, beautiful white sand beach with magnificent clear emerald green Gulf Coast water!

When To Do?

VISIT THE BEACH: 30A is unique in that most houses come with beach chairs and umbrella rentals!  All we had to do was bring a beach bag, back up our e-bikes and head down to the beach.

RENT A BIKE: Some of the rental houses come with bikes, but if not, you’ll definitely want to rent one for the week! 30A is a  community with bikers, where you can bike from one beach to the next. There are wide sidewalks in between each of the little towns that double as bike paths. One of our favorite activities was biking from our house to the beach!

GO SHOPPING: There are tons of shops along 30A, and you’ll definitely want to reserve a few hours to visit them. Our favorite day was the day we went into Seaside! While you’re shopping, you can pick up a frosé or a snack from one of Seaside’s many food trucks. You’ll definitely want to stop into The Seaside Style, which is known for its corded pullovers and preppy classics. We had a blast and I came home with a few Seaside tee’s!

VISIT THE SPA: You’ll definitely want to take a trip into Rosemary Beach specifically for The Vivo Spa 30A. Vivo Spa 30A is a boutique spa in Rosemary Beach, FL offering a variety of tailored services for guests to feel rejuvenated and relaxed. Vivo Spa focuses on personalized attention, offering a curated selection of services, designed to pamper and uplift every guest. Treat yourself to an exceptional vaca experience! Indulge in their customizable facial treatments, using only the finest Image Skincare or FarmHouse Fresh products. Vivo Spa has expert estheticians that will  work with you to create a personalized experience tailored to your specific skin concerns-fine lines and wrinkles, improve the overall tone and texture of your skin, or simply unwind! Each treatment includes a thorough skin analysis, deep cleansing, exfoliation, mask and moisturizer, and a relaxing massage for the face, neck, and décolleté. You will leave feeling refreshed and revitalized. You can see more in depth of the spa experience with our reel on IG! Mention my name, Shae and receive 10% off!

VISIT BIG KAHUNA’S WATERPARK

We decided to head to Big Kahuna’s Water Park for the day to escape the beach and embrace the cool water!  It was perfect! 

Big Kahuna’s has multiple areas for all ages.  Twister slides, mat slides, tube slides, wave pool, two lazy rivers, and lots of small kiddie slides, sprinkler pads, water toys, and zero entry areas.  

Life vests and tubes are available complimentary. Cabanas and lockers are available for rent.  You cannot bring in a cooler, but there are concessions that have snacks, pizza, drinks, ice cream and beverages.  

We had a great day! Big Kahuna’s is the biggest water park on the Emerald Coast and what a perfect way to cool off this summer! Check out all the fun, here!! 

Visit Blue Mountain Beach Creamery

Our Pastor and his wife told us about this little ice cream place and it was literally walking or biking distance from our house! Blue Mountain Beach Creamery is run by sixth generation locals. As a small family business, they take pride in the quality of their fresh, homemade ice cream, sorbets, and frozen yogurt. Our favorite flavors were chocolate, bourbon, turtle, and blueberry cheesecake! So, so good!! We may or may not have visited them twice, while we were there! 

Conclusion 

This concludes our 30A Travel Guide. I am so happy our family visited 30A. It’s such a quaint little beach area that definitely hit the spot with our family!!

We took the photo below, as we were leaving and headed back to our own little peninsula. Such a beautiful place to visit!

Let me know if you have any questions about 30A! Or please share your 30A experiences in the comments! We’d love to hear your suggestions of fun places to visit!
❤️~Shae