This was our first family trip to Destin. So I will start with some of the good memories.
The white sand and turquoise waters are absolutely beautiful. The area has many attractions, shops, and recreational things to do. If you can't find somewhere to eat nearby, you must not be hungry. Overall the area offers many attributes to make this a great place to vacation.
Now to the not so good.
As much as we loved the condo, the views, and the hospitality the condo owner gave us, the Pelican Beach Resort apparently has policies that dictate where you may or may not set up your beach chairs and things. We booked this resort over many others available, because we (being a group of 4 families with 16 young children), wanted to have easy access to the beach. Well come to find out, even though it was only a quick elevator ride down to the beach, upon arrival you find rows of umbrellas and lounge chairs sitting at the waterfront. First thought was maybe we were too late setting up and didn't get our choice. So the next day we get up at 6:30 to set up an area on the beach. Once again, we see men setting up the beach service chairs and umbrellas at the waterfront, causing us to set up 20 yards away from the water. Once seeing a pattern of this, we just had to ask what is going on. Well to make a long story short, the Pelican Beach Resort has decided to "Commercialize" their beach. They have given the right of access to a beach service company that, depending on the day, will use anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2 of the beach in front of the Pelican. So if you have small children like we do, you can't see them by the water because of so many umbrellas and chairs in front of you. The condo buildings also on the left and right of the Pelican have security personnel and chains in place to make sure you don't wander onto their "property". It seemed much different compared to other areas in both Florida and Alabama we've been too. So to sum it up, if you are looking for a resort for a great beach access and waterfront, you may want to look into their beach policies before booking.