The EC Guide, short for The Emerald Coast Guide, is a directory and collection of stories about Florida’s Emerald Coast. We cover the stretch from Pensacola and Perdido Key to Panama City Beach, plus the inland towns that make the region what it is.
We have one simple rule: we only list locally owned, independent businesses. You will not find national chains here.
Why chain-free
Anyone can find the nearest chain restaurant. What’s harder to find is the family-run seafood shack, the charter captain who has fished these waters for years, the bookshop with a cat asleep in the window, or the taco stand the locals don’t always want to tell you about.
Those are the places that give the Emerald Coast its character, and they are often the hardest to find online. The EC Guide exists to make them easier to find, and to send a bit more business their way.
Who it’s for
Visitors. If you’re planning a trip, we want to help you eat, stay, shop and explore like someone who knows the coast. Start with our areas to get a feel for each town, then dig into listings and stories.
Locals. If you live here, we hope the guide helps you find something new in your own backyard, or reminds you of a favorite you haven’t visited in a while.
How the guide works
The directory. Every listing is a local business, reviewed by us before it goes live. Listings include the basics (location, hours, contact details, what makes the place worth a visit), and owners can keep their own information up to date.
Stories. Our stories are guides, roundups and seasonal picks: the best restaurants in Destin, dog-friendly spots up and down the coast, and the state parks and natural wonders most visitors drive right past. They are written with local contributors and people who know the coast, and the places we pick are chosen on their merits. You can read more about that on our How We Choose Places page.
Booking links. Some listing pages include links to book tours and activities through partners. If you book through them, we earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Those links never decide what we list or recommend. The details are on our Booking Link Disclosure page.
Who’s behind it
The EC Guide is published by Palmside Press, a small publisher of regional guides that also publishes The FL Guide and others.
The guide was founded by Alison Iddings, a web developer who has spent more than 30 years building for the web. She built The EC Guide to give independent businesses a better home online than the big review sites and search results tend to offer. The guide is written with local contributors and people who know and love the coast.
Get involved
The EC Guide gets better every time someone shares a place worth knowing about. Here’s how you can help:
- Own a local business? Submit your business for free. We review every submission before it’s published.
- Already listed? Claim your listing so you can update your details anytime through a secure link sent to your email. No account or password needed.
- Hosting something? Submit an event so people can find it.
- Love to write about the coast? Apply to contribute to our stories.
You can also follow along on Facebook and Instagram, or get in touch anytime.
Thanks for supporting local.