26 Best Things To Do In Destin, Florida

Destin is a harbor town on the Florida Panhandle where the days revolve around the Gulf, the charter boats and the Crab Island sandbar. Families will find animal parks and go-kart tracks along US 98. Without kids, spend the evenings on the harbor or at Baytowne Wharf.

1. Henderson Beach State Park

Henderson Beach State Park backs its beach with natural dunes. The City of Destin's listing for the park describes more than 6,000 feet of Gulf shoreline, a pet-friendly nature trail and 60 campsites, along with boardwalks to the sand and pavilions for picnics and grilling.

Book before you drive over. The same listing says entry requires a day-use reservation made online up to 60 days ahead. The fee is $6 per vehicle of up to eight people.

2. James Lee Park, Crystal Beach and Norriego Point

The city and county also run smaller beach parks. James Lee Park sits near the Walton County line. It has three pavilions, 41 picnic tables, a playground and showers, with free admission from dawn to dusk.

Norriego Point Beach Park covers about 9 acres overlooking East Pass, with 27 parking spaces. The Shore at Crystal Beach Park is smaller still, with 9 spaces and a covered picnic area.

At city beach parking, visitors pay $20 for four hours.

3. Crab Island

Crab Island is a large submerged sandbar inside Gulf Islands National Seashore, just north of the Destin Bridge, where boaters anchor and swim in the summer.

Visitors arrive by boat, in a rented pontoon or on a tour boat. The local tourism board warns that the water around the sandbar can get very crowded and potentially dangerous. The park service closes Crab Island in bad weather, so check the seashore's closures page before you rent a boat.

4. Dolphin cruise or snorkel trip with Flipper's Adventures

Flipper's Adventures, run by Sunshine Water Sports, offers a rain check if no dolphins show up. Its sunset dolphin cruise lasts 1.5 hours. Tickets cost $33 for adults and $23 for kids 12 and under. The daytime run is $27 for adults.

The two-stop snorkel trip includes masks and snorkels and looks for dolphins between stops. It runs 2.5 hours. It costs $50 for adults and $35 for kids.

5. Boogies Watersports

Boogies Watersports handles parasailing, jet skis and pontoons you drive yourself. It has worked out of HarborWalk Village since 1991. Its rentals include 25-foot and double-deck pontoons, and it runs guided jet ski dolphin tours plus sunset and fireworks cruises.

6. A fishing charter (and the Destin Fishing Rodeo)

The harbor is lined with charter boats. Intracoastal Experience is one of the outfits, running bay trips for families with young kids and offshore deep-sea runs for serious anglers.

Every October the Destin Fishing Rodeo, held since 1948, holds daily weigh-ins that are free to watch at the docks behind AJ's Seafood & Oyster Bar on Harbor Boulevard.

7. Buccaneer Pirate Cruise

This one's for the kids. The Buccaneer Pirate Cruise sails from HarborWalk Village with a sword-fighting challenge, cannon fire and a hunt for buried treasure. The family cruise lasts 1.5 to 2 hours and costs $34 to $44 per person.

8. Timberview Helicopters

Timberview Helicopters flies over Crab Island, HarborWalk Village and Henderson Beach. Flights run daily from 10 a.m. until sunset. The 8-mile Coastal Tour starts at $59 per person. The 50-mile Seaside Tour starts at $209.

9. Sandcastle lessons with Beach Sand Sculptures

Beach Sand Sculptures sends a coach who teaches the carving techniques while kids and adults build together. Destin lessons last two hours, at 1 p.m. or 4 p.m. Each one ends with a 3½-foot sandcastle. Prices start at $419.

10. Destin Harbor Boardwalk and HarborWalk Village

The Destin Harbor Boardwalk runs past charter boat slips and restaurants. The city puts its length at nearly a quarter of a mile. In the city's Harbor District lots, visitors pay a flat $15 for the day.

11. HarborWalk Adventures zipline and rock wall

At HarborWalk Adventures, the zipline runs between two towers over the harbor. The ride is a 1,000-foot round trip from $34. The main tower also holds a 40-foot climbing wall with LED handholds that light up for games, priced from $19.

12. Destin History & Fishing Museum

Give the Destin History & Fishing Museum an hour, ideally on a rainy morning. Inside are more than 100 fish mounts and a 3-D reef scene with sharks.

It's open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with $10 general admission and free entry for children 2 and under.

13. Gulfarium Marine Adventure Park

Gulfarium Marine Adventure Park sits on Okaloosa Island, a quarter mile east of the Brooks Bridge in Fort Walton Beach and about 5 miles west of the Destin bridge. Paid encounters with penguins, dolphins and other animals cost extra, and the park also runs a sea turtle rescue center.

The park is open 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and admissions close at 3:30. Plan the visit around the dolphin presentation; the day's show times are on the Gulfarium site.

14. Gator Beach

Gator Beach is an alligator park inside Fudpucker's Beachside Bar & Grill on US 98, across from Henderson Beach. It keeps more than 200 alligators. Admission, gator shows and parking are all free, and the park opens daily at 11 a.m. Guided tours and a VIP experience where you feed the gators cost extra.

15. The Track

The Track is a family fun park on US 98. It has five go-kart tracks and two mini golf courses, plus bumper cars, a spinning coaster, kiddie rides and an arcade. Its signature ride is the Wild Woody, an elevated kart track that climbs three and a half stories before dropping back down.

Rides are paid for with points on a card, and the posted hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Single karts on the Wild Woody need drivers at least 4 feet 6 inches tall, so check before promising a younger kid a ride.

16. Big Kahuna's Water & Adventure Park

Big Kahuna's is Destin's water park, with slides, wave pools, a lazy river and kids' splash areas, plus an adventure side with tropical mini golf and a Skycoaster.

17. Wild Willy's Adventure Zone

Wild Willy's Adventure Zone on Okaloosa Island splits into an indoor half with an arcade and interactive games and an outdoor half with go-karts and mini golf, so a thunderstorm doesn't end the visit.

18. Emerald Coast Science Center

The Emerald Coast Science Center in Fort Walton Beach is a small hands-on museum with live animals and planetarium programs, pitched at young kids. Its hours change with the season: between Labor Day and Memorial Day it's open Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

19. The Back Porch

The Back Porch is a beachfront seafood house on Scenic Highway 98. It started in a small A-frame on the beach in 1974, and the restaurant says it invented the amberjack sandwich a few years later. It also serves raw and baked Apalachicola oysters with a Gulf view. It opens daily at 11 a.m., with happy hour from 3 to 5 p.m.

20. Boshamps Seafood & Oyster House

Boshamps serves seafood on the water at 414 Harbor Boulevard. Before it opened, the same family ran The Flamingo Cafe, a white-tablecloth restaurant, on the property for almost 30 years. Check the live music schedule on its site before picking a night.

21. Dewey Destin's Harborside

Leonard Destin, Dewey Destin's great-great-grandfather, founded the town in 1835, and the family still serves Gulf seafood at Dewey Destin's Harborside, 202 Harbor Boulevard. It's open daily from 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.

22. Destin Brewery

Destin Brewery is a craft brewer pouring year-round and seasonal beers. Drink them at The Deck, its taproom at 110 Melvin Street, open Tuesday through Friday from noon to 9 p.m., Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday until 6 p.m.

23. Village of Baytowne Wharf

The Village of Baytowne Wharf sits on Choctawhatchee Bay inside the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort, a pedestrian village of shops, restaurants and bars. Its events calendar runs through the year and lists free concerts and outdoor movie nights. In winter the village sets up a seasonal ice rink, Baytowne on Ice.

24. Destin Commons

Destin Commons is an open-air mall. It has more than 80 stores and restaurants.

25. Grand Boulevard

Grand Boulevard in Miramar Beach mixes shops and restaurants with the AMC Boulevard 10 cinema and the Emerald Coast Theatre Company.

26. Rosemary Beach

Rosemary Beach is a South Walton town built for walking, with a brick-sidewalk Main Street of locally owned shops and restaurants such as Restaurant Paradis. For what to do once you're there, see our guide to Rosemary Beach.