The Sundial guide to Panama City Beach
We’ve been writing this guide one paragraph at a time, every time a guest asked us where to eat or what to do with kids on a rainy afternoon. It’s not the Top 10 list every other website has. It’s what we’d actually tell our friends if they were staying with us.
We update it. The “What’s open this weekend” line at the top changes weekly during peak season — Reanna writes that one.
Where we are on the map
318 Sundial Street is on the West End of Panama City Beach. That matters because PCB has two sides. The east side, around Pier Park, is the busy one — the chain restaurants, the rides, the high-rises. The West End is quieter, the buildings get shorter, and the beach gets emptier the further west you go. We’re at the start of that.
Drive a few minutes west of us and you’re in Carillon Beach. Twelve minutes and you’re at Inlet Beach, the eastern edge of 30A. Drive six minutes east and you’re at Pier Park.
The right move is to use the West End as your base, then drive to whatever you’re in the mood for. Sandbar mornings on the West End. Pier Park afternoons. 30A on the day you want to feel like you’re somewhere different.
What we cover
Beach Guide — Where the public access points are, where the wind blows clean, where to park if you’re driving.
Restaurants — The places we send guests to first. The places we send them when those are full. The fish sandwich we love. The seafood place that isn’t a tourist trap.
Things to Do — Sandbar tours, Shell Island ferry, mini-golf, the Wonder Works museum, kid-friendly mornings, day boats, snorkeling at the jetties.
Family-Friendly — Where to take kids when they’re bored, when it’s raining, when it’s too hot, and when they need a break from the beach.
Couples and Romance — Where to go if you’re here without the kids. Sunset spots, dinner spots, the coffee place we’d go to on a slow morning.
Events This Weekend — Live music, fireworks, festivals. Updated weekly.
30A from Sundial — The day-trip route. Inlet, Rosemary, Alys, Seacrest, WaterColor, Seaside. Where to start, where to eat, when to come home.
Three things every guest should know
1. The water is the warmest from late June through September. If you want to swim every day without a goose-bump morning, plan for those months. May and October are still warm enough for most people; November through March is for walking, not swimming.
2. Pier Park is closer than you think. Fifteen minutes east. If you want chain restaurants, a movie theater, mini-golf, or a place to walk after dinner with the kids, that’s the move. We don’t send guests to Pier Park for atmosphere — we send them for the practical stuff.
3. The West End beach is quieter than you’d guess for PCB. The high-rises are east of us. From the public beach access at Sundial Street, walk west fifty yards and you’re often in your own piece of beach.
What you won’t find here
We don’t list every restaurant in PCB. We list the ones we’d send a friend to.
We don’t list activities we haven’t tried. If we recommend the Shell Island ferry, it’s because we’ve taken it.
We don’t get paid for any of these recommendations. If a place gives Sundial guests a discount, we’ll say so. The rest is just us telling you what we like.
Open the beach guide → · [Check Availability →]