Beautiful beach. There's no doubt about that. But if you have pets, this is probably one of the…read moremost unfriendly pet places I have ever been. I'm not just referring to the beach itself because I get it, not everyone wants dogs on the beach. I'm talking about the town itself. I have not found really any places that are pet friendly. There's a few, but they're so few that it makes it very hard to enjoy your vacation with a pet. I came with my son and his family and I guess I should have looked it up first, but I just didn't expect it to be so widespread.

This is a laid back park with a nearby dock. There is a small children's play area and a few…read morebenches around plus a gazebo. The water offers a measure of tranquility and it is a great place to sit back and regroup your thoughts and recharge your batteries.

Very nice and well kept area. Great place for plane photo opportunities. Nice for family and…read moreromantic walks. Friendly people and will return. Cool place!

Hurlburt Field......... I spent over 15 years here stationed in Air Force Special Operations and…read morethis is one brilliant base. They have their own housing, some located right on the sound overlooking the beach and water!! There is the private beach where you can relax, swim not worrying about crashing waves and deadly currents, rent a paddle boat, paddle board, sail boat, ski boat, jet ski, pontoon boat, or C-130 Gunship..... JK. There are grills and picnic tables/pergolas available (we grilled lobster for dinner we picked up alive that day at Joe Patty's seafood in Pensacola). Even the "poor people" have huge boats parked in their front yards!! BX is undergoing renovations, commissary is great, infrastructure is nice, base pool rocks, play ground and splash pad are brilliant! You can see a plethora of planes, helicopters, and planes that turn into helicopters come and go all the time doing their occasional "bikini runs" down the beautiful beaches!! A small piece of my heart never left this base.

Destin, Florida is a city in NW Florida located in the Panhandle. They have gained notoriety as the…read morebeaches are magical with Emerald Waters and Powdery White Sand. Interesting fact, the sand is that way from granite deposits that flow from North GA and beyond all the way down into the Gulf as silt. Because of the beaches, the area attracts more and more tourist every year and IMO is getting more luxurious as the years go by. I've noticed better restaurants, more aesthetically pleasing looking buildings and just a more upscale feel with each visit. I'm writing this here because I noticed many of the beaches along the 6 mile coast are PRIVATE. I'm not sure which beach to actually post this review but I find that simply horrible, ridiculous, backwards and restrictive! Who adds gates with Codes to a beach?!?! I can understand a handful of properties and major resorts but to secure majority of the coastline with Controlled Access? In my particular visit I stayed at a resort and had the codes for entry/exit but found many people having difficulty simply getting to the beach! I don't think they knew the beaches would have controlled Access! Even to exit, you need a code! That's shameful! It was frustrating to see people struggle with umbrellas/coolers and chairs only to have to find the Public Beach and have to walk back to their car. May I add the city also doesn't have any form of boardwalk to enjoy a long walk down the coast or some form of transportation to maneuver the public/private beaches! You're basically on your own! I'm curious Who/When/How that got approved because that's definitely some backwards N. Florida, My Property, ME, ME, ME planning! I'm not a resident but I believe some things on this planet are public and Imo a beach is one of them! Plus their has to be better ways to protect and maintain these beaches than blocking them off from the general public. Any who, for anybody planning a Trip to Destin, Please do your homework! Visit the website below which has hyperlinks for all the beaches which explains access points/fees/sizes of the beach and more details. I'll also attach a picture which shows a few of the main Public Beaches. It does appear the largest beach is Henderson Beach with1.22 miles of shoreline. Seems like the general "Dump the masses" area. The others are significantly smaller! smh. Any who I hope this helps! One Last detail, We had many umbrellas and chairs however this was literally the 1st beach that didn't have Umbrellas for sale on the beach. It's just very restrictive down there and is worthy of a review! https://www.cityofdestin.com/281/Beach-Information

They need more people working here in opening hours helping customers. The store itself needs to be…read morecleaned. The trash bin was broken with a tacky handwritten sign. The one lady Priscilla was friendly but firm. She kept directing customers to use the kiosk. The costs for mailing is getting ridiculously high! My service request was a simple return, completed efficiently.

Mail carrier has left outgoing mail in the box at least three times. He seems to think he doesn't…read morehave to stop to get it if we're not receiving any mail that day.

If you are a local business or are planning to move to the area to open one, I highly recommend…read morethis organization...one of the best I've seen!!!

From the owner: The Fort Walton Beach Chamber is at the center of business and social life in our area. We work to…read morepromote local businesses, tell people about our spectacular area and its possibilities for vacationers and relocaters, and sponsor a variety of festivals throughout the year, including the world-famous Billy Bowlegs Pirate Festival on the first weekend in June.

Beach my family and I visited while on vacation and staying near the fort walton portion of…read moreFlorida. We spent a day here about mid afternoon and the beach was pretty crowded but overall very clean. The water as fun and produces good waves. They had red flags out for strong currents and we could feel it some in the Water so with us having 4 kids we didn't spend much time and stray to far in the water. We will have a lasting memory of this place as we used this beach as our photo op to announce to our friends and family that we are expecting our 5th child. So that will stick with us and the kids when we look back on this place. Overall fun and memorable day at at the beach here. We found a little parking lot that was easy access and parking. So that was nice and not stressful which is always a plus.

Sunrises at 6 AM and Sunsets on Okaloosa Island are gorgeous. The weather was hazy and cloudy yet…read morethe beach was always beautiful and peaceful.

I'm not sure how a post office gets such bad reviews, it's a post office. It's clean, staffed as…read morewell as can be, they are hiring if you don't understand their staffing problem, they have PO Boxes and they'll mail your stuff. Guess it's what to expect from a post office.

One of the worst post offices I have ever visited. I am glad I don't live here. Totally…read moreunfriendly staff who seem to hate their job. They need a gratitude check as I am sure there are others who would love to take their place. Slow moving lines and the negative vibes in the air will not have me coming back. I'll drive to the next closest post office even if it is further away.

This is the worst library in town. It's the largest and the most resources, but the staff here is…read morecompletely uninvolved with its patrons. I called and requested that a book be sent over from another Okaloosa library. The staff member said that she would place the request, but never did. I needed the book for a class and ended up having to order it to get in it time. They closed the childrens' section down during the summer to remodel (a poor management decision). I made a special trip to the library with my children and was turned away. They do not offer many summer programs for children at this location. Space is being wasted here. Bring in new talent or reallocated the money going to the FWB location to the Mary Esther, Destin, and Niceville library.

The Fort Walton Beach Library is a fantastic library with an excellent staff. We've been going to…read morethis library more and more over the last decade and a half because they have everything we need for research and for personal reads. If it isn't in this library the staff finds it at another library and has if for you, if available, in a few days. The wonderful new children's area of the library is just lovely for parents and children. The construction was efficient and well managed and took very little time. I can't wait to take my grandchildren to see the improvements this November! Hope 'Elmo' is available then too!! The Children Section librarian staff goes to great lengths to encourage children to read. The head of this section, Nancy, even dresses up as Elmo for special reading days and the children and parents love it! We love this library!