I am only sharing the dog friendly activities that we did personally. There are lots more and hopefully I’ll be able to share those after our next trip. Some of these are outside 30a but are nearby and easily doable if you are vacationing in the area.
1. Pontoon Boat
DOG: 5 stars
HUMAN: 5 stars
This was Spetna’s favorite activity! He has never been on a boat before (shame on us Wisconsinites! Seriously not sure how he went boat-less 8 years) and he LOVED every min of the boat trip. It was actually pretty hilarious to see him at the front of the boat with the breeze in his fur like he was auditioning for Titanic. All the fellow pontooners waved to him, not us mind you, just him. Ha! Hopefully the fame didn’t go to his head.
He saw lots of wildlife and even got to see dolphins close up! I brought lots of treats and toys to calm him in case he ended up panicking but we didn’t need any of it. We did the shortest rental but next time we will do a full day because we all loved it so much.
We used Adventures by Sea and would recommend them: www.watersportspc.com
2. Panama City Dog Beach
DOG: 2 stars
HUMAN: 3 stars
Possibly our dog’s least favorite stop? Not through any fault of the Panama City Dog Beach. We blame the waves! He hated the waves. He’s been on ocean beaches before but it was double red flag (super strong current and waves) and he wasn’t keen. All the other dogs are frolicking in the waves, digging and catching balls and here is Spetsna. A picture is worth a thousand words right?
It was a bit crowded and it was only a weekday morning so I can imagine what it is on a weekend. Spetsna is super friendly with other dogs but tends to not realize his own strength so we tried to keep to the furthest end of the beach in order to avoid frightening the other dogs with his energetic greetings. Its on the smaller side for a dog beach in my opinion but worth the visit since it is very pretty and nicely laid out.
3. Camp Helen
DOG: 5 stars
HUMAN: 5 stars
This park was great; it has woods, salt water dune lake, and old buildings. We ended up going multiple times during our stay in Florida and I’d still go back again. In the 1950’s it was a vacation camp for a company employees so there are tons of fun buildings to check out. The history nerd in me couldn’t get enough. Spetsna loved the trails through the woods and along the camp area. Lots of shade so he didnt get too hot. Nothing huge but a good mid day outing if you have a free hour or so. Like all of 30a’s beaches, their beach is not dog friendly. But everywhere else is!
Visit Camp Helen
4. Outdoor Movies
DOG: 3 stars
HUMAN: 5 stars
If you don’t know already, we have 2 young boys. And that means we needed to attend every single outdoor movie viewing there was. Truthfully it had nothing to do with the boys, I just wanted to go and they were my excuse.
The movies are: FREE, outside in the awesome salty air, super fun because it is a novelty, and dog friendly. We would pack some snacks and blankets and curl up under the stars to enjoy the movie.
Spetsna was neutral on his opinion of this one. He liked being able to be with us but didn’t quite get what we were doing. A bit on the boring side for a dog maybe? Still super nice that our dog was welcome.
Seaside Movies
The Hub
Rosemary
(there are even more outdoor movies than these but these are the ones we went to)
5. Pensacola Fort Pickens
DOG: 5 stars
HUMAN: 5 stars
Not technically 30a but we hit this up on a day trip out to Pensacola so here it is.
More fun for history nerds (me me me!) But for real anyone will love this place. It is like a playground for adults, kids and dogs. All of us loved exploring all the little passageways and Spetsna had a blast trying to find where the kiddos went. Like a game of hide and seek in all the different nooks, rooms and walkways.
This place is huge so it ended up being a good walk for Spetsna. Be aware of the brush though, we made the mistake of cutting across some overgrown grassy areas and got stuck with burrs and other weird sharp plants that us tourists have never seen. Spetsna was even limping because of this so stick to the paths if you want to avoid that.
There is also a dog friendly beach just down the road. We didn’t have time to stop but it looked really nice as we drove by.
More info: Fort Pickens
6. Dog Harmony Events
DOG: 5 stars
HUMAN: 5 stars
We hit up their Easter Egg hunt in SanDestin. It was such a unique experience and very nicely set up so Id recommend checking out their other events to see if you have time to squeeze one in on your trip.
Our full Egg Hunt review is posted HERE
And check out other Dog Harmony events
7. Panama City Beach Pier Park
DOG: 4 stars
HUMAN: 4 stars
This is another stop we hit up multiple times. There is a lot of traffic, loud noises and overall busy-ness so if your dog is afraid of any of those things I’d skip this one.
Spetsna got lots of love from everyone and even got some drinks from the water dishes outside the shops. It is a super nice area to walk around even if you aren’t into shopping.
More info on Panama City Pier Park
8. Walks!
DOG: 5 stars
HUMAN: 5 stars
The most frequent dog friendly thing we did was walks (and jogs) up and down the pathways that run 20 miles alongside 30a. After hours of walking we had lots of memories and a very tired dog. Got his lazy butt back into shape 😉
The path has some space between it and the road so although the road is busy you dont feel like you will get run over. The path itself gets very busy with pedestrians and bikers so our favorite time to walk was mornings or evenings.
Spetsna went to town (literally) smelling all the interesting things on each walk. Once we got to each town we would walk and explore the path ways there too so it was never ever boring. Rosemary Beach and Alys Beach were our favorites since their paths are so quaint (how often can you use that word!) and very peaceful. Spetsna requested a trendy white on white photo of him self here in Alys.
Of course there are shops, restaurants and more dog dishes with fresh water so we were able to make very leisurely days out of just walking from town to town. Doesn’t it sound so vacationy?
9. Resuraunts (there are lots!)
DOG: 5 stars
HUMAN: 5 stars
There are numerous great restaurants where pets are allowed on the outdoor patios.
Our fav food stop was the food truck area in Seaside. There’s lots of shade and water for the dogs plus so many different food options for the humans. The picture is of The Hub which also has a lot of relaxed eating options.
Here is more info on Seaside Food Trucks & The Hub
10. Geochaching at Topsail Park
DOG: 5 stars
HUMAN: 4 stars
Topsail park is really big but most of it was closed due to smoke because of the controlled fires. Thankfully there was enough open to do some geocaching. They have their own in house geocache system and the kids got some prizes at the end which was a nice surprise.
Spetsna loved being able to walk pretty much everywhere because the park is really spread out. Probably reminded him of being back home in the WI back country.
He even got into finding the geocaches! I think he kept expecting a treat to come out so next time ill bring some for him so he can be more involved. It’ll also be less heartbreaking for me to watch, haha!
More info on Top Sail
11. Hiking Deer Lake Trail
DOG: 3 stars
HUMAN: 3 stars
Its a pretty short trail but a nice change of scenery with the pine forest all around. It was super windy the day we visited and we went to try to get a break from the wind on the beach.
This is the link for Deer Lake park but since dogs aren’t allowed on the beach we only did the trail.
12. Farmers Markets
DOG: 4 stars
HUMAN: 4 stars
Another must do is the farmers markets. Yes there are multiple ones and they are all nice! All the ones we went to had a couple specialty dog vendors so you can pick up fun stuff for the pups.
Somehow we didn’t get a picture of Spetsna at the farmers markets so here is a picture of him photo shopped in over my kids (haha!!)
These were our two fav farmers markets: Seaside & Rosemary
If you need pet friendly accommodations, you are in luck because there are lots of options. We highly recommend the rental house we used. Here Spetsna is on the dock of a sand dune lake just a short walk from the house. We fished a bit from here and he got so excited every time we got a fish. like a little kid!
Seacrest Rental Home
Only down side to 30a with dogs? The beaches. The regular beaches do not allow dogs (unless you are a resident). But hopefully you’ll tire your dog out with all the other fun things so that he wont even miss the beach!
