I just wondered if anyone was on the boards today that knows what the weather is doing and what is the condition of the surf and beach. We're suppose to be down there all next week. Thanks to you!

The weather has been terrible today (remnants of tropical Storm Bill moving through) but, it should be clearing up. Typical weather this summer has been a little more rain than usual, but it's mostly in short rain showers. If you're here for a week, you'll definitely have some sunny weather to enjoy.

I'm sorry the weather hasn't been cooperating. It always seems that when it's time for us to head down there, some sort of storm moves through. I'll keep checking back, perhaps someone could let me know by Thursday what the water is looking like. I'm still coming down, just wanted to know.

Get ready for nasty water in the bay, crab island, under the Destin bridge, and around the jetties. The water in the bay is contaminated, since all the rain has overloaded the sewer system. (Tropical Storm Bill didn't help either.) When the tide goes out, it sucks the bay water under the bridge, and crab island becomes dark, murky, and putrid. The only pretty water was out on the beach in the rough surf. Be very wary of the riptides and watch the warning flags posted.

We just returned last Sunday from Destin. Waste of money for us. Out of the 7 days we were there, we could only snorkle 2 mornings, very early before the tide went out. While the tide was in, the gulf water pushed the bay water back for a while.

I won't be spending my time or money in Destin again unless it has been a dry year. Mother Nature just didn't treat us right this year.

check out weather.gov (no i don't trust the weather.com) and type in zips 32569 32567 or hurlburt field.

tdtvro

hey luckylizard can i suggest something to you? come here during the spring and the fall (our falls start around halloween onward) you will be surprised. but remember keep an eye on the weather because this is the tropics and i hate to see you have another bad expierence down here.

summers here suck hot and sticky and RAINY why you people come here during this time is beyond me.

(ohh and did i mention that the rates go down??)

tdtvro

We vacationed in Destin/FWB this time(end of June) last year; the water was beautiful as was the weather. This year was just not a good year.

My husband (luckily) gets 4 weeks vacation a year, but he doesn't get to choose WHEN. He gets the last 2 weeks of June
and the last 2 weeks of December. So we have no other choice of when we can go on vacation. And that is assuming that I can get the same days off from my job.

What's the old saying....live and learn. We consider this to be
a learning experience. We learned what to look for, so we can avoid it in the future.

Unfortunately, we've had WAY more than our share of rain this year (could be worse though - I remember a drought and heat wave a couple years ago). All of the extra water has really tested the runoff and drainage systems in our area. There are a few beaches that are affected more than others. I'll see if I can find a current list.

For snorkeling, you should try state parks ( Topsail Hill, Grayton Beach, St. Andrews, etc.). The rain shouldn't affect them since there's no sewer or runoff systems. Also try Shell Island in PCBeach... the jetties provide lots of interesting stuff for snorkelers.

I guess water quality at Crab Island (or anywhere around public roadways) is probably questionable during periods of heavy rain.

My family just returned from the Sandestin area (we stayed down by Mainsail off of Gulf Open way in the Cottages). We had a blast! I was very disappointed in the beach condition, as far as the seaweed (algea). Other than that, I was very satisfied with our week there. I just wish I could have had more pictures of a completely WHITE beach. The water was a little rough at times, but we had 2 toddlers with us, one of which that HATED the sand, so we spent a lot of time at the pool. I think that it's always a draw of the straw as to weather and conditions, you just have to make the best of it. The only BAD experience we had was at Bill's Bayou Crab Shack. The food was good, our waitress was HORRIBLE! We were a party of 6+ so they added tip on bill, otherwise she would have gotten the meekest tip ever! If you have the opportunity to visit the Destin area, I'd suggest a trip there, but like many others, we always take our trips down there in the spring and best of all after Labor Day, which is our favorite time to go. We had to go during this past week because my brother works for FORD and that's the week he had off.

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well december is not bad - avoid xmas time and you will be happy. i suggest to you to stay at a hotel and not a condo because they have problems with limited staff during that time of the year (which is really dumb btw)

tdtvro - http://www.cband.info