We stayed here for a week in September. Still very hot this time of year. Not crowded at all. We... read more
We stayed here for a week in September. Still very hot this time of year. Not crowded at all. We... read more
This is a wonderful quiet beach. The bay is great for boating. St Joe Shrimp restaurant is... read more
Cape San Blas, FL is a tiny strip of land off the coast of Northwest Florida just outside the small town of Port St. Joe, FL. What makes Cape San Blas so special are the sugar white beaches, friendly people, and slow paced beach life that you'll not necessarily experience in a tourist ridden vacation hot spot like Panama City, FL. or Pensacola, FL.
While the tourists do flock to Cape San Blas and rent the beautiful beach homes and apartments sitting directly on the Cape San Blas beaches, the atmosphere is reminiscent of a by-gone era where families gathered on the beach by day playing together and by night cooking their fresh sea catch in an open fire pit dug on the shore. You will probably not see a parachute sail, hear a noisy jet ski, or witness a drunken wet t-shirt contest at Cape San Blas. However, if you’re interested in relaxing on one of the top ten beaches in the U.S. along with other families with children, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc, then Cape San Blas Florida is the place for your next vacation.
When we were not lounging on the white sands or reading on our front porch overlooking the aqua blue waters of the Florida Gulf Coast, our family enjoyed shopping at the local Scallop Cove General Store for quick supply needs, running down to the Beachcomber for a pizza, hopping down to Conehead’s for ice cream, trekking into Port St. Joe for boat and snorkel rental to go scalloping (Seahorse Safari at Port St. Joe Marina), and making our way around the beautiful beaches and quaint towns in the area (e.g., Apalachicola – biggest fish sandwich in the world; Indian Pass beaches and family style raw oyster and steamed shrimp dining at the Indian Pass Raw Bar). Of course, if you want to experience the essence of pristine natural Gulf Coast Florida you’ll need to make a run down to the St. Joseph State Park just a few minutes from where you’ll probably be staying at Cape San Blas.
Bottom line, Cape San Blas is a vacation that will keep all members of your family happy (children, teens and parents alike). You can find excellent beach rental companies at: Paradise Coast Vacation Rentals (ask for Melanie - (---) and (---)) or Anchor Vacation Rentals ((---) and (---)). Both companies offer a variety of properties ranging from large stately Gulf Front Homes to Gulf Front midsize duplex homes, to small Gulf Front apartment-like units.
Enjoy.
Papdadio
We rented a house on Cape San Blas last week. The house itself wasn't much to write home about (although it is listed for sale with Pristine Realty at $1.43mil !?!?!?!!!) but overall it was a great trip.
Cape San Blas is in the middle of nowhere, which is great if you are looking to avoid crowds/traffic/hustle/bustle. The water isn't that beautiful emerald color you get further west near Seaside and Seagrove but the place is so remote and private, who cares.
A couple of warnings/advice:
1. The mosquitos go into full attack mode at sunset. We found we were OK until dark. At that point we couldn't even sit on the deck any longer.
2. There was only 1 store on the Cape as far as we knew. There is a Piggly Wiggly in Port St. Joe, which we visited too often.
3. There is a restaurant called the Beachcomber on the Cape. We expected very little and were pleasantly suprised. We had a bunch of heart-attack, fried junk but it was tasty as well as unhealthy I'm sure.
4. What's with the Bio-Dome house?
5. Bull shark attack on the teenager fishing here occurred 3 days after we left.......
This was the perfect family vacation. We rented a beautiful home from Pristine Realtywith a gulf view that had a small pool. We opted for the pool instead of gulf front for the kids. Good move. The beach is spectacular but you're not always at the the beach. The kids enjoyed to pool while dinner was being fixed or until they literally were falling asleep in the water. We brought our boat and launched at the State Park, a wonderful launch and facility. The snorkeling on the bay side was a lot of fun for the kids with a lot of interesting wildlife. The fishing was good if you talked to the bait shop and found out were to go. The rangers are friendly but do enforce all rules. The beach at the State Park is the most beautiful beach in America. It certainly deserves the honor. You can also rent kayaks and explore the shallows at the back of the bay. A wonderful nature trip for the kids and adults.
We went before any of the hurricanes hit last year. I believe that there were only nine beachfront homes destroyed but a lot of beach was washed away. But overall the Cape fared well compared to further west. The beach erosion in this area will be the biggest problem. It is a natural beach and I hope they don't do a beach nourishment like Pensacola. There are some stumps in the water and near the lighthouse you can see the effects of the erosion problem. If you go to the Cape stay nearer to the State Park to avoid most of the stumps on the beach. But they do attract fish if you like to surf fish.
There are very few restauraunts but you can get pizza and sandwiches on the Cape. The Raw Oyster Bar at Indian Beach was fun and the oysters were very good. There is a nice Piggly Wiggly in Port St. Joe to stock up on groceries. The drive is long to get to the Cape but it is very pleasant and all the roads are good. I just hope it is not overrun now that so much of the Emerald Coast was destroed by Hurricane Ivan. You can already see the signs of over-developement.
Also, the Cape is adjacent to two Air Force bases. You will have your own air show several days a week while training is going on. This was a highlight of the trip as we are pilots and aircraft enthusiasts. We actually had two F-15's do a flyby over our boat in the bay. The kids were thrilled. But the noise is never a problem. We are proud of our service men and women and felt honored to watch them train.