Shell Island - Florida

Next time you are in Panama City Beach rent a boat and take a trip out to Shell Island. Shell Island is a little island just out a ways in the Gulf and easily accessible from Panama City Beach, Florida. I promise you it will be an awesome day. You can rent a boat like we did or catch a shuttle from St. Andrews State Park - $16.95 Adults - $8.95 Children - Infants free. There are several places that rent boats, including the Tyndall AFB if your military.

Shell Island (Photo credit: pamramsey)

 On a nice day there will be a lot of boats out there. The water on the side that faces toward Panama City Beach, FL is quite calm. You can walk over the the other side that faces into the open Gulf of Mexico and the waves are much larger and there's more shells. 

This is the side with larger waves. You can see the difference.

We mostly stuck to the calm side where the kids could run, play, and swim.

Just for fun here's a few pictures of my kids having fun on the boat!