One of my goals for the year 2021 is to do more local travel. I know everyone is hopping on planes to Mexico and PR, but please know that there are amazing and fun things you can do right here in the states too. So in today’s blog post, I am sharing all the details about my girl’s trip to Alys and Panama City Beach. I will talk about the best time to travel, my favorite eating places, and all the activities I did. If you are interested in learning more about this trip, keep on reading.

Before we get started I want to give a HUGE thank you to my girl Emily who helped me plan this trip. I also want to thank Martha from Marthamari.com. I found out about Alys beach through her Youtube channel and blog (which you should definitely check out) and gained a lot of inspiration from her channel. Lastly, shout-out to Faith who also helped me plan a lot of this trip. You were a great help, and I am glad we were able to travel together.

WHY WE WENT TO ALYS BEACH

The funny thing about this vacation is that it was originally supposed to be a solo trip just for me. Thankfully, my mom convinced me to travel with friends, so it ended up being a girl’s trip instead ( I still plan to do a solo trip one day).

Now as far as how I chose Alys beach, I knew for sure that I wanted to get out of Georgia, but I wasn’t quite ready to travel outside the country. I also knew I wanted a luxurious trip (or at least to feel luxurious), but I didn’t want to overspend, especially since I was originally going to travel alone. So I did some research and remembered that Martha did a video about a place called Alys beach on her YouTube channel. Now the first time I watched this video, I was shocked to know that this place was in Florida. The architecture is incredible and the views are amazing.

So after watching her video again, calling Emily like 10 times (because she has been to Alys beach before), and reading other travel guides, I decided to go to Alys beach. After that, I told my girls and we began planning our trip.

BEST TIME TO TRAVEL

We decided to go to Florida at the end of May because most of the girls were graduating in May or were about to enter grad school (we basically saw this vacation as a graduation/celebration trip for us). I would say early spring or fall are the best times to go here because the place isn’t too crowded and the weather is still fairly nice. I also personally don’t like traveling during peak seasons/holidays because I don’t like being around a lot of people. So when I travel, I always try to go during the off-season. I find that I enjoy my trip a lot better this way.

WHERE WE STAYED

If you plan to go to Alys or Rosemary beach I recommend booking months in advance. We booked our Airbnb about 2 months in advance and even that was only by the Grace of God. Alys Beach is a popular hot spot, so every place we found and liked booked out fast. This was probably because it was the end of May and most people were getting out of school and planning to travel (this is another reason why you should travel during off-seasons). Another thing to note is that Alys beach is very expensive. There are no hotels there so you have to stay in an Airbnb. Their houses are absolutely beautiful, but if you are not traveling with a big group of people, you will end up spending a lot of money on an Airbnb.

We decided to stay in Panama because it was more affordable and only a 20-minute drive from Alys. The Airbnb we stayed at was called Pineapple Doors. This place can house up to 8 people and has amazing aesthetics. Not to mention, the beach is literally a 5-minute walk from the Airbnb which was perfect for catching the sunrise and sunset. I also enjoyed our Airbnb hostess; she had a list of eating places and activities we could do when we arrived, which proved to be a huge help throughout the trip.

WHAT WE DID

Although this was a more chill and relaxing trip, we still wanted to explore the city since it was our first time here. I had an itinerary planned for us that would allow us to not only relax but also have fun.

DAY 1:

Day one was a really chill day for us. We arrived at our Airbnb around 2 p.m and planned to have a birthday dinner for one of the girls later that evening. We dressed up and went to a restaurant called Saltwater Grill. Saltwater Grill is a very classy, yet affordable restaurant. They have a variety of food including fish, steak, and even pasta. BUT the best part about this restaurant is their huge fish tank full of live fishes. This place is beautiful, and we really enjoyed our evening.

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DAY 2:

Day two was our brunch and Alys beach tour. We ate at a place called Big Bad Breakfast, located about 5-7 minutes from Alys. I love this brunch spot because they have an outside seating area with the most amazing aesthetics. They also have a pool and the food and customer service are great! After our brunch, we headed to Alys/Rosemary beach. The plan was to tour Rosemary first and then Alys, but we ended up just touring Alys.

The Alys beach tour was extremely beautiful but also extremely hot. We got some amazing pictures though, so I’m glad we decided to do it! Here is a quick tip: If you decide to tour the houses at Alys, I recommend going in the morning or late in the afternoon. You can still get great pictures around 5 or 6 p.m, especially since the sun won’t be shining so bright.

After touring the town we then proceeded to enter the beach. One thing to note about Alys Beach is that it is a gated, private beach meaning you can’t just walk in. You have to have a code to enter, and you can only get this code if you stay in one of the Alys beach houses. Because we didn’t book our Airbnb at Alys, we didn’t have a code to enter. So we (actually Nellie) asked a nice group of people if we could follow them into the beach.

They were so sweet and agreed to let us in. I’m not going to lie though, getting in was a hassle because some people just weren’t having it lol, but it only takes that one nice person and you are in. We also got beach chairs and water for FREE. We met a worker on the beach and he gave us all we needed without asking for a thing (God bless that man).

Alys Beach is beautiful and the water is very clear, but I honestly don’t think it’s the best beach in the world. In my opinion, it is just as beautiful as Panama Beach, but I think they hype it up because it is a “private beach” that most people do not know about. I will say though that the beach is less crowded and very clean which is a plus for someone like me who does not like being around a lot of people. We enjoyed it overall, and I would recommend checking it out if you can.

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Once we left Alys beach, we ended our day by watching the sunset on Panama beach.

DAY 3:

Day 3 was our beach day and my personal favorite day. Our activities for the day included a private boat ride to Shell Island, snorkeling, and a sunset helicopter ride. We booked our boat tour through funpcb.com. The boat ride was $40 per person for 2 hours. This includes snorkeling and a trip to Shell Island. I really enjoyed the boat ride because it was just me, my girls, and some good ol fun. We also had an amazing driver who was a former marine and had over 30 years of experience. Not to mention, he has traveled to many countries in Africa (which made us feel welcomed since we are all African). If you decide to book him tell him Joyce from JoyceChekwa.com sent you :).

Anyways, this was the best day of the trip. We brought our speaker, took loads of pictures, and saw dolphins close up. The best part about this trip though was our visit to Shell Island. This is the most beautiful Island/beach I have ever been to. I have never seen water so clean and clear. Not to mention, the area of the island we were in was very private and empty. I felt like I was on a private island out of the country or something; it was truly amazing.

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Quick tip: Make sure you book with the company I mentioned above if you want to go to the semi-private part of Shell Island. We went back to Shell Island on Day 4 but ended up taking a round-trip boat. Unfortunately, the part of Shell Island they dropped us off at was not the same. It was crowded and not as beautiful. We ended up finding a nice place on the island (I’ll talk about that later), but to avoid all this, just book the $40 trip with Pcbfun.com

After our Shell Island boat ride, we went home, showered, and prepared for our sunset helicopter ride. I was the most excited about this part of the trip because I have never been on a helicopter. We chose the basic ride which was about 10 minutes and cost $59 total with tax. We ended up getting a discount and paid $54 for the ride. It was worth every penny because the view was breathtaking. Being able to see the world from this angle gave me so much appreciation for my creator…God! It was beautiful, and I can’t wait to do it again.

After our helicopter ride, we grabbed some ice cream at a local shop called Beaches & Cream Icecream.

DAY 4:

Day four was our free day. The only thing we knew we wanted to do was to have dinner on the beach. When we woke up we decided to go parasailing at Panama Beach. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to parasail because the cost was $89-$100, and we weren’t willing to pay that to fly in the air for 10 minutes. If you plan to go parasailing in Florida during the summer season, I recommend booking online in advance. Paying in person will cost you $30-$40 more and online booking sells out fast.

After parasailing failed, we decided to go back to Shell Island since we loved it so much. We made sure to bring food, a speaker, and a lot of sunscreen.

We decided to do a roundtrip boat ride to the island. This trip costs $23 per person and takes about 55 people at a time to the island. This trip also allows you to stay as long as you want meaning you can be on the Island from 10 a.m until the last shuttle pick-up at 5 p.m. It is an all-day activity, which is perfect for families. The only downside is the part of the island they dropped us off at isn’t as beautiful and private as the other part I mentioned earlier. Thankfully, we were able to find a secluded area where we ate, danced, and just enjoyed ourselves. It was a lot of fun overall.

After Shell Island, we headed to dinner on the beach. We ate at Sharkey’s Beach Front Restaurant which is a laid-back fried food restaurant on the beach. The place was really nice but also windy because of the ocean, so make sure you bring a jacket if you plan to go.

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DAY 5:

Day 5 was our check-out day. We had to leave by 11 a.m so we made sure to pack and clean most of our stuff up the night before. After checking out, we headed to the city to buy souvenirs for ourselves and our family. After that, we headed on the road and that was the end of our trip.

MORE TIPS:

Before I end this post, here are a couple more tips that I thought you might want to know if you plan to come to Alys/Panama beach.

1. Drive– We decided to rent a car and drive to Alys/Panama because it was only 5 hours from Atlanta. This was definitely cost-efficient and saved us a lot of money in the end. Driving made our trip easy and smooth and I would recommend it if you can. If you live further, you can fly but still rent a car once you get to Alys. It will save you a lot of money and stress.
2. Plan– Plan as much as you can before getting here. Like I mentioned earlier, I like to plan before going to Alys. This not only saves you time but gives you a schedule to follow once you get to your destination. Obviously, schedules change and everything doesn’t always happen on time, but I think planning keeps you organized especially if you travel with a group.
3. Travel with people if possible-Traveling with people definitely saves you a lot of money, BUT make sure you travel with people that want to do the same thing as you. I made sure to invite people on this trip that had similar personalities and would get along well. Again, nothing is perfect but you want everyone to have fun and enjoy themselves without wahala.
4. Book everything early– Please make sure you book your Airbnb early, rental car early, and your restaurant early, if you can. Don’t wait until the last minute or you will be stressed. Thankfully, we were able to get an amazing Airbnb and great car, but that might not be the same for you so do everything 3-4 months in advance.

BTW, if you are interested in knowing where I got my vacation outfits from, check out my blog post here. I hope this Alys & Panama city beach tour guide was helpful. Let me know if you plan to travel to these places soon. Have a blessed day!