Not every moment of a beach vacation needs to be spent on the sand. There’s a version of the Emerald Coast that most visitors never see, not because it’s hidden, but because they never get in the car and look for it. May is one of the best months to change that. The weather is warm but not punishing, the roads are clear before summer traffic builds, and the light in May has a particular quality that makes everything along the coast look genuinely beautiful.
Miramar Beach puts you at an ideal midpoint for exploration. Within 30 minutes in either direction, you have access to some of the most scenic stretches of coastal highway in the Florida Panhandle. Whether you want salt air and dune views, small-town charm, or bay vistas that most travelers drive straight past, it’s all within easy reach.
Here are the drives worth taking this May and how to make the most of each one.
Drive 1: Scenic Highway 30A East Through South Walton
This is the drive people mean when they talk about the Emerald Coast being different from the rest of Florida. Scenic 30A runs roughly 24 miles east from just past Miramar Beach through a series of small coastal communities like Dune Allen, Grayton Beach, WaterColor, Seaside, WaterSound, Alys Beach, Rosemary Beach, and Inlet Beach — before reconnecting with US-98 near Panama City Beach.
What makes 30A worth the time is the variety packed into a short stretch of road. You move between open dune landscapes and dense coastal forest, between polished planned communities and funky old-Florida beach towns, between Gulf views and the rare coastal dune lakes that make this part of the Panhandle ecologically unique. These lakes are found naturally in only a handful of places on Earth, sit just inland from the Gulf and are visible from the road in several spots. In May, with the vegetation fully leafed out and the light warm and golden, they look like something out of a travel magazine.
Grayton Beach is worth a slow stop. It’s one of the oldest beach communities with deliberately low-key, shaded, and resistant to the resort development that defines much of the coast. There’s a good state park here with a rare coastal dune lake walk and a stretch of beach that feels genuinely different from the more commercial areas nearby.
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Seaside is the most-visited stop on 30A and worth it. The town was built from scratch in the 1980s as a model of traditional neighborhood design, and it became internationally known after being used as the filming location for The Truman Show. What it offers practically is a walkable town center with independent coffee shops, bookstores, food trucks, an outdoor amphitheater, and direct beach access. It’s pleasant without being overwhelming, and May keeps it from being packed.
Rosemary Beach at the eastern end of 30A has a different feel and more architecturally European, slightly quieter, with a well-curated town square and some of the better restaurant options on the strip. If you’re planning a long 30A day with a proper sit-down lunch, this is a good destination.
Allow 3 to 4 hours if you’re making real stops. The road itself is short enough that you can drive the whole thing in under an hour, but that misses the point entirely. Distance from Miramar Beach: approximately 5 to 7 miles to the western entrance of 30A.
Drive 2: US-98 West Toward Fort Walton Beach and Okaloosa Island
Heading west from Miramar Beach on US-98 takes you through the heart of Destin and out the other side onto a stretch of coast that most resort visitors completely ignore. Past the busy mid-Destin strip, the road crosses the bridge over Choctawhatchee Bay, a genuinely impressive span with open water views in both directions and arrives at Okaloosa Island and Fort Walton Beach.
Fort Walton has a character that’s noticeably different from Destin. It’s older, less polished, more working-class in the best sense for a real town that was here before tourism defined the area. The waterfront district has local seafood restaurants, a small boardwalk, and a relaxed pace that makes it a good lunch or early dinner stop.
Okaloosa Island sits on a narrow barrier strip between the Gulf and the bay and has some well-maintained public beach access points that are far less crowded than the Destin strips, even in May. The island has a strip of casual beach bars and rental shops that give it a classic Florida beach-town feel without pretension.
The Gulfarium Marine Adventure Park is on this stretch and worth mentioning if you’re traveling with children or just curious, it’s one of the older marine parks in Florida and has a different atmosphere from the large commercial parks. Dolphin encounters, sea lion shows, and marine exhibits run daily in May.
Round trip from Miramar Beach: about 45 to 60 minutes of driving, longer with stops. Traffic through central Destin on US-98 can add time on weekends, so weekday mornings are best for this direction.
Drive 3: Old Scenic 98 and the Original Coastal Route
Before the widened version of US-98 took over as the main corridor, the original highway ran closer to the Gulf, threading through the older sections of the coast. Parts of this original alignment still exist and are drivable, particularly around Fort Walton Beach and through sections of Niceville’s waterfront approach.
This isn’t a destination drive in the conventional sense as there’s no single landmark anchoring it but that’s actually why it’s worth doing. You get a more honest look at what the Emerald Coast looked like before it became a resort corridor: older beach cottages, local fish houses, bait shops, waterfront parks without admission fees, and the kind of roadside Gulf glimpses that feel earned rather than packaged.
Destin Harbor is a natural waypoint on any westbound drive along this original alignment. The working harbor with fishing charter boats, dive operators, tour boats gives you a sense of what the city was before it became synonymous with beach vacations. Stop for coffee at one of the waterfront spots and watch the charter fleet come and go. In May, the mornings are busy with anglers heading out for grouper and king mackerel.
Drive 4: North to Niceville and Bluewater Bay Along the Bay Shore
Most Destin and Miramar Beach visitors never go north of US-98. That’s understandable as the Gulf is the draw but the bay side of the Panhandle offers a completely different kind of scenic drive, and in May it’s genuinely beautiful in ways that are easy to miss.
Heading north from Miramar Beach across the Mid-Bay Bridge and into Niceville puts you on the northern shore of Choctawhatchee Bay, where the water is calm, the pace is unhurried, and the views stretch across several miles of open bay toward the Gulf communities on the south shore.
Niceville is a small city with a genuine local character and not a tourist destination, but a good one for understanding the wider region. There are waterfront parks along Rocky Bayou, a state park worth a brief visit, and some locally owned restaurants that offer a different flavor from the resort-oriented dining on the coast.
Bluewater Bay is a planned residential community nearby with a marina, some restaurant options, and long stretches of bay-facing greenway. It’s calm, shaded, and entirely removed from the beach energy which is exactly the point.
Total drive from Miramar Beach to Niceville: about 20 minutes. Worth it as a half-day contrast, particularly if you’ve had a few days of beach intensity and want something quieter.
Tips for Making the Most of May Drives on the Emerald Coast
A few practical notes that will improve any of these routes:
US-98 through Destin is heavily trafficked on Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings in May. If you’re heading west toward Fort Walton, leave before 9 AM or after 6 PM for a noticeably smoother drive. 30A is most enjoyable Tuesday through Thursday, when the weekend visitors have cleared and the small community parking areas aren’t filled by 9 AM.
Download offline maps before you go. Cell signal has gaps on stretches of 30A, particularly between Grayton Beach and WaterSound where the road passes through heavier tree cover and fewer commercial zones. It’s rarely a problem, but worth not being caught out.
May afternoons can build afternoon storms quickly, particularly between 3 and 5 PM. If you’re on a long drive and see clouds developing to the northwest, start thinking about where to shelter. Storms typically pass within 30 to 45 minutes, but getting caught on an open bridge or on 30A’s exposed dune sections is unpleasant.
Bring a small cooler with drinks and snacks. The pull-off points along 30A and the bay-side routes don’t always have services nearby, and stopping to eat adds significant time to any drive that already has good stops built in.
A Well-Paced May Day on the Road
A day that combines these routes well might look like this: leave your base at 8 AM and drive east on 30A, stopping at Grayton Beach for a walk and Seaside for coffee and a browse. Continue to Inlet Beach for a Gulf view before looping back on US-98 west. Stop in Destin Harbor for a late lunch at one of the waterfront spots. If energy allows, a short detour onto Old Scenic 98 toward Fort Walton adds another half-hour of coastal character before heading back.
You’ve seen four distinct faces of the Emerald Coast in one day, driven through a landscape that changes every few miles, and done it all before the afternoon heat and potential storms complicate things. It’s an unhurried, genuinely interesting way to spend a May day and a good reminder that the beach isn’t the only thing worth seeing here.Find the Complete stay guide for TOPS’L Miramar Beach which is centrally located for all these drives with easy access in both directions.
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