[JCIV]

Which is better for activities, nightlife, dating scene and general amenities.

Mid 30's, single and will be there November-December.

(I didn't see a Destin or PCB sub-forum so I'm gonna leave this here in the main FL thread.)

[CaptCephus]

hmmm....my opinion


Neither. Both cities are havens for a bunch of sometimes rednecks driving down from Memphis/Shelby County, Jackson MS, Birmingham AL and a few from the ATL MSA.


November to December in the Panhandle is pretty dead by comparison to the rest of Florida, because it's cold as hell in the Panhandle in November...you can't swim and the beach is miserable.


During this winter timetable at your age and single status, go to Tampa-St Pete-Clearwater Beach, Sarasota, Ft Myers/Bonita, Ft. Lauderdale, Jupiter.


My first recommendation is the Tampa "Bay" region.


Again, the weather sucks for Destin and Panama City Beach Nov-Dec, it might get into the low 70s but the lows are in the 50s - but who knows this year. Tampa Bay is more likely to be high 70s to low 80s, with lows in the 60s

[JCIV]

Originally Posted by CaptCephus

hmmm....my opinion


Neither. Both cities are havens for a bunch of sometimes rednecks driving down from Memphis/Shelby County, Jackson MS, Birmingham AL and a few from the ATL MSA.


November to December in the Panhandle is pretty dead by comparison to the rest of Florida, because it's cold as hell in the Panhandle in November...you can't swim and the beach is miserable.


During this winter timetable at your age and single status, go to Tampa-St Pete-Clearwater Beach, Sarasota, Ft Myers/Bonita, Ft. Lauderdale, Jupiter.


My first recommendation is the Tampa "Bay" region.


Again, the weather sucks for Destin and Panama City Beach Nov-Dec, it might get into the low 70s but the lows are in the 50s - but who knows this year. Tampa Bay is more likely to be high 70s to low 80s, with lows in the 60s

Makes sense seeing as the rates are dirt cheap for some of the places I was looking at. Thanks for the info Capt!

[cjairo191]

Yeah I responded to the OP in his other post. I recommended Panama Beach. but yeah its too cold in that area to enjoy the water. November to Dec you can still enjoy the water in Tampa Bay beaches and we have city night life.

[OTownKnight]

If you're forced to choose between the two then PCB will be your better option for nightlife, dating, etc. More to do and it's a bigger city.

Destin is still very nice though, if you end up picking PCB then I would still make a weekend trip or go for a full Saturday to check it out. Beaches are going to be about the same but they're all beautiful up there. Check out Destin Commons, Baytowne Wharf, HarborWalk where the Margaritaville is, and McGuire's Irish Pub across the street.

All of these places won't be busy so you won't get a true sense of the tourism the town attracts in the summer, but they're still very nice places.

[mikeWarren]

No comparison for an active 30 something during Nov and DEC - choose Tampa area, ORL, Ft Myers, FTL - far more to do and much better weather with warmer more pleasant nights. You'll meet a far far different crowd in SWFL than in PCB or Destin for godsake. The panhandle is full or southerners even in the hot summer months - the rest of Florida has people from all OVER the US, Europe, South America, Canada....but few people really from places like Jackson, Memphis, Atlanta, Birmingham, NOLA etc - just a very very different type of person and backgrounds. Keep in mind, Florida is really 3 or 4 "states" : the panhandle over to Jacksonville (might as well be in Georgia/AL), then central FL around Orlando, then SWFL including Tampa south to Naples, then "South Florida" (the Miami FTL scene).


My personal experience is that PCB/Destin is "south Alabama on the Gulf" - not my idea of FL at all.