Lower Grand Lagoon, FL

Grand Lagoon is Panama City Beach’s other waterfront: the protected waterway that runs behind the beach along the Thomas Drive corridor, separating the resort strip from St. Andrews State Park and opening to the Gulf at the pass. Lower Grand Lagoon is the neighborhood along its lower reaches, and it is the boating and fishing capital of Bay County: a working shoreline of marinas, charter docks, and waterfront restaurants that feels a world away from Front Beach Road, even though it is minutes from it.

This is where PCB goes to sea. Capt. Anderson’s Marina has been sending out deep-sea fishing boats and dolphin cruises since 1935, and its docks are still the classic late-afternoon scene: charter boats backing in, deckhands hanging the day’s snapper and grouper on the racks, pelicans supervising. Lighthouse Marina has served Grand Lagoon boaters since 1979, outfits like Adventures at Sea rent pontoons and jet skis and run parasailing, and charter operations such as Catch It Fishing Charters run everything from family trips to serious offshore days. If you want to get on the water in Panama City Beach (to fish, to see dolphins, or to reach Shell Island), this is the launching point.

Where the lagoon meets the park

The lagoon’s eastern end runs up against St. Andrews State Park, one of Florida’s most-visited state parks, with its rock jetties, clear-water swimming, and ferry access to undeveloped Shell Island. That geography shapes the whole neighborhood: it is quieter, greener, and more local than the Gulf-front strip, which makes it a favorite for repeat visitors and anyone traveling with a boat.

Eating well is easy here. Capt. Anderson’s Restaurant has been a Gulf Coast seafood landmark since the 1960s (arrive early and watch the fleet unload), while The Grand Marlin serves a daily-changing Gulf seafood menu right on the lagoon and Big Easy PCB brings New Orleans-style Cajun and Creole cooking to the neighborhood. Stay nearby on Thomas Drive and you can have it both ways: Gulf beach in the morning, lagoon docks at sunset. For visitors who measure a vacation in boat trips and fish dinners rather than beach bars, Lower Grand Lagoon is the best address in Panama City Beach.