Florida's 5 Under-The-Radar Panhandle Beaches Tourists Don't Know About

No state is quite as consistently synonymous with "beaches" as sunny Florida. With more than 8,400 miles of stunning coastline along both the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico (renamed the Gulf of America in 2025 by U.S. President Donald Trump), Florida is a beach-lover's paradise in the truest sense. Throughout the state, travelers can find virtually every kind of beach vacation they want. For example, those seeking luxurious vacations in one of the country's most beach-heavy cities can book a stay at something like Miami Beach's iconic Fontainebleau Resort. Those looking for a quieter (and cheaper) beach experience can instead head to the peaceful Crandon Park on Biscayne Key, frequently voted one of the best beaches in the country! And yet, all of these famous Floridian beach destinations are located in South Florida, largely in the vicinity of Miami or the Florida Keys. Left out of many Florida beach rankings and recommendations is the underrated Florida Panhandle, a warm and sunny (yet overlooked) stretch of Florida's northwestern region running along the Gulf of Mexico. While lacking the pop culture mileage of Miami or the Keys, the Florida Panhandle does punch well above its weight when it comes to amazing seaside getaways.

Of course, some Florida Panhandle beaches have received much-deserved acclaim in recent years. Gulf Coast beach escapes like Panama City Beach and Pensacola Beach have earned top spots as elite Florida seaside experiences, boasting warm weather, scintillating waters, and a remarkable stretch of pure white sand that you don't often find in South Florida beaches. Even as these particular city-adjacent beaches are getting their due recognition, however, the Florida Panhandle has plenty more lower-key beaches, coastal escapes, and ocean experiences just waiting to be explored. These five beaches in particular are among the Florida Panhandle's best secluded and under-the-radar beach escapes.

The famed Florida Keys are so closely associated with the warm Atlantic coasts of South Florida that many people forget that the Panhandle has amazing Keys of its own. Of the many Key islands along Florida's "Forgotten Coast," none offers more secluded beach experiences and indulgent scenery than the sensational Perdido Key. Like many of the islands along Florida's Gulf Coast, Perdido Key is a barrier island. This means that the island has a long, narrow shape that runs parallel to the Florida mainland, situated between the Gulf of Mexico, Pensacola Bay, Perdido Bay, and the self-descriptive Big Lagoon. Perdido Key's 16-mile length actually extends into neighboring Alabama, though the entire island presents one single, unbroken stretch of white sand beaches. 

This location along Florida's extreme northwest corner makes Perdido Key one of the most secluded seaside spots along the entire coastline (the name Perdido Key comes from the Spanish word perdido, meaning "lost"). The island's pristine coast retains a rare character among Florida beaches, thanks to its preservation as part of national and state parklands. Florida's portion of the Perdido Key beach is divided between Perdido Key State Park and the National Park Service's Gulf Islands National Seashore. The national park site's Rosamond Johnson Beach is a lovely preserve of bright white dunes, shimmering blue waters, and shorebird habitats, complete with a scenery-rich discovery trail. The state park's beach area has visitor-friendly amenities like boardwalks, picnic tables, and even beach-accessible wheelchairs available at no cost. Both the national and state parks' beach sections are excellent for swimming, snorkeling, and paddling. At the time of writing, entry to Perdido Key State Park is $3 per vehicle (or $2 for pedestrians and cyclists), while entry to the Gulf Islands National Seashore is $25 per vehicle ($15 for pedestrians). 

Further east along Florida's Gulf Coast from Perdido Key is another amazing, yet underrated, barrier island with superb beaches: the tranquil St. George Island. With 22 stunning miles of coastline between the Gulf of Mexico and Apalachicola Bay, St. George Island is a similarly serene preserve of the Florida Panhandle's glorious white sand beaches and gem-like Gulf Coast waters. What makes St. George Island stand out, however, is its remarkable combination of well-established communities (and resulting tourism infrastructure) with a fundamentally unspoiled character. On the former point, the island's villages, accessible via a convenient bridge from the town of Eastport on the mainland, have numerous vacation rentals and overnight stay options. On the other hand, the island's beaches retain their secluded, pristine qualities even in the face of increasing tourism. Essentially, visiting St. George Island is a win-win. 

Much of the island's beach is part of the Dr. Julian G. Bruce St. George Island State Park. Visitors to the park can marvel at enchanting white dunes marked by coastal pine trees and fertile marshes, all while enjoying a dip in the beach's warm Gulf waters. Visitors have a good chance of seeing pods of dolphins, sea turtles, and other prominent examples of marine wildlife. The skies above the beach also offer some of Florida's best birdwatching opportunities. The state park features excellent beachside hiking trails, canoe and kayak rentals, and even seaside campsites. Elsewhere along St. George Island's shore is the picturesque Cape St. George Light. Though the current building is actually a reconstruction of the original historic lighthouse that collapsed in 2005, it is still one of Florida's most photogenic lighthouses (and even has a gift shop and free lighthouse museum). 

Panama City Beach has become such a top Florida Panhandle vacation destination that many visitors will have a hard time believing one of Florida's most secluded beaches awaits just offshore. Yet Shell Island does exist, offering a truly magical Gulf Coast adventure without the excess crowds, noise pollution, and commercialization that often afflicts more popular beaches. Like Perdido Key and St. George Island, Shell Island is a barrier island between the Gulf of Mexico and mainland Florida. Unlike the previous two islands, however, Shell Island has no permanent communities, infrastructure, or development of any kind. As a result, Shell Island is the ideal destination if you're craving a truly "deserted island" experience during your trip to the Florida Panhandle. 

One potential downside of this fundamentally pristine character is that Shell Island is a bit harder to reach than other Florida Panhandle barrier islands. Though the island can be reached by kayak or paddleboard if conditions allow it, most visitors will access the island via the Shell Island Shuttle ferry service. Officially, Shell Island is attached to St. Andrews State Park, itself acclaimed as Florida's family-friendly "kiddie pool" along the Panhandle's crystal waters. Shell Island Ferries depart the state park every hour between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., with fares generally running between $19.95 and $26.95 (at the time of writing). St. Andrews State Park also offers pontoon rentals, if you are feeling daring enough to boat out to Shell Island on your own. Once there, you can enjoy the once-in-a-lifetime experience of swimming in a secluded, undeveloped beach and walking along pristine sugar-white sands (and collecting the many shells that provide the park with its name). Local concessioners also offer Shell Island dolphin watching tours, if you want to enhance your experience with some local wildlife. 

The name T.H. Stone Memorial St. Joseph Peninsula State Park is certainly a mouthful. However, as cumbersome as the name is, the actual park is anything but. The titular "St. Joseph Peninsula" is a gorgeous, 20-mile-long sandy peninsula jutting off the tip of Cape San Blas, separating St. Joseph Bay from the Gulf of Mexico. The intersection of these two bodies of water creates some truly photogenic backdrops, and the park's beach is unsurprisingly highly ranked within both Florida and the United States as a whole. In addition to swimming, the waters offshore are excellent for snorkeling, scuba diving, and paddling. However, do note that the waters off the park's coast are prone to rip tides and other potential hazards, and with no lifeguards on duty, swimmers should be particularly cautious. 

If you don't feel like risking the beach's potential swimming hazards, you can still enjoy T.H. Stone Memorial's blissful scenery on gorgeous beachside hiking trails, paved cycling routes, and camping sites surrounded by white sands, coastal pines, and palmettos (not to mention excellent birdwatching opportunities). The park's developed campsites come equipped with water, electricity, picnic tables, and grills. T.H. Stone Memorial's beach also includes a 1,700-acre wilderness preserve that protects the peninsula's outstanding white sand beaches with no competition from modern developments or infrastructure. The park's wilderness area even includes several primitive camping sites, where you can experience an authentically rugged overnight experience right next to one of Florida's most pristine beaches. At the time of writing, general entry into T.H. Stone Memorial is $4 per single-occupant vehicle (or $6 for multi-person vehicles and $2 for pedestrians and cyclists), while access to the wilderness area requires an additional wilderness permit that you can obtain at the park's ranger station. 

Florida has the distinction of being the "flattest" state in the United States, so it may seem strange to come across a destination here with the word "mountain" in its name. It may seem even stranger to learn that said destination actually lies along Florida's gorgeous — but flat — coastline. As it turns out, the official name of the Florida Panhandle's Blue Mountain Beach is something of a misnomer, referring to the comparatively high dunes that straddle the beach at a whopping height of 65 feet. While this may not sound that impressive, it is actually the highest elevation along the entire Gulf of Mexico coastline! The eye-grabbing contrast between the beach's prominent white dunes and the dazzling waters of the Gulf (not to mention the blue lupine flowers growing atop the dunes and providing the beach with its colorful name easily matches a majestic mountain in terms of splendor, if not altitude. 

Blue Mountain Beach is located between the much more famous Santa Rosa and Grayton Beaches, along Florida's Scenic Highway 30A and within the vibrant seaside community of South Walton. Like other Florida Panhandle beaches, Blue Mountain Beach features photogenic white dunes towering over the Gulf of Mexico coastline. However, Blue Mountain Beach has the added benefit of several lovely (and rare) coastal dune lakes, which visitors can explore on kayaks or paddleboards. The beach's swimming areas provide less-crowded water access, while still offering essential amenities like restrooms and showers. If you're looking for some alone time among the beach's alluring scenery, Blue Mountain Beach also connects to secret trails through placid seaside woods and dunes adorned in bright blue wildflowers. The adjacent town of Blue Mountain Beach is also notable as an inviting, low-key Gulf Shore getaway, with plenty of vacation rentals and tourist amenities. 

The Florida Panhandle has more beaches than can be contained in a single list, so creating a list of any five Panhandle beaches will require some nuanced criteria. For this list, the major challenge was determining a workable criterion for what constitutes "under-the-radar." All Florida Panhandle beaches that are open to the public will have their fans, regardless of how remote or isolated they are. Likewise, each beach is bound to be beloved by a specific community, which probably would not consider that particular beach to be "under-the-radar." Since the criterion is at least partially subjective, we chose a methodology that consisted partly of Tripadvisor reviews, partly of specific beach characteristics, and partly of recommendations from locals. 

Tripadvisor proved helpful not only in seeing which beaches drew the best reviews, but also in seeing which beaches are broadly too popular to include on this list. Famous Florida Panhandle beaches like Panama City Beach, Navarre Beach, and Pensacola Beach all draw thousands of reviews from travelers, more than any other beaches in the region. As such, we can reasonably conclude that these beaches are not "under-the-radar" and thus should be excluded from this list. The beaches we did include have much more modest Tripadvisor review numbers, while still receiving high overall ratings. Additionally, we looked for beaches that are generally secluded, undeveloped, or difficult to reach. For beachside communities like Blue Mountain Beach, we looked for places with noted reputations for being "low-key" and "peaceful." Finally, recommendations from local guides and travel journalists were invaluable in identifying beaches that are considered hidden gems within the Florida Panhandle.