Budget Weekend on 30A

by The Backseat View

30 A

The towns are picture-perfect, and the food is superb, but sometimes you don’t have an entire week to enjoy 30A. 30A is basically the towns of Florida between Destin and Panama City that limit high rise hotels. The beach towns are charming, mainly weekly rentals and expensive.

With weekend beach runs being my therapy, I need weekend options.

To be fair, there’s nothing budget-friendly about 30A.

Grayton Beach State Park

• As budget-friendly as 30A gets is the Grayton Beach State Park cabins and campgrounds.
• This is my favorite FL state park, and getting a reservation is hard.
• The location is perfect within biking distance to Seaside, restaurants, and Blue Mountain Creamery.
• Grayton is my 2nd favorite town on 30A.

Cabins

• The cabins and camp grounds book up a year out.
• Weekly rentals are not required.
• I always try to book earlier than the day I want to arrive. If I plan to go Thursday to Sunday, I will start looking for reservations the Sunday before. As people check out on Sunday, the units become available. There is a fee for correcting a reservation but that’s the price of this game.
• The cabins are not directly on the beach but a bike ride away.
• Cabins are one or two bedroom duplexes without tv’s.
• The cabins run around $110 per night.
• 30 cabins have a mile of beach so it’s perfect for fishing.

Defuniak Springs

When I’m incredibly broke but need a taste of 30 A, beach time, and dinner at The Great Southern, I drive in from Defuniak Springs.

• It’s a 20-25 minute easy drive, no traffic, with a Chick-fil-A and a Walmart.
• The newly refurbished $ 87-a-night Days Inn hotel is my choice.
• Defuniak has a Holiday Inn and a Best Western, but that’s $200/night.
• For beach access, Grayton Beach State Park will fill up by 11 am on Saturday and close.
• If you are sleeping in, try the free beach tram across from the Grayton shops.
• Spend the day on the beach, then walk to the Red Bar for dinner before catching the Grayton tram back to your car.

• Driving in for the day means paying to park on Smolian Circle to visit Seaside or using WaterColor’s public beach parking and walking into Seaside.

Hibiscus Coffee and Guesthouse

If I have money, but only want to stay a weekend, this is my choice. Old Florida charm resides in these guesthouses and I love riding my bike to the beach.

• The Hibiscus Coffee and Guesthouse in Grayton is a perfect location for a romantic getaway, available for nightly rentals.
• Hibiscus consists of 3 homes and a little cottage with 13 different lodging options.
• The Hibiscus Café delivers a fabulous breakfast.
• At the end of the street is the beach, so walk, bike, or catch the free beach tram.
• Prices vary, starting at a $250 -$350 average.

Combination

• I have combined Defuniak Springs and the Hibiscus for a weekend.
• Days Inn on Friday, just time for dinner at The Great Southern, shopping Seaside and sunset.
• Saturday, check into the Hibiscus so I get Saturday and half a day on the beach Sunday before leaving.

Grayton Beach

For more beach house rentals in Grayton Beach try Ocean Reef Vacation Rentals, itrip vacations, Grayt Life Rentals, Grayton Coast Rentals. You might find a last minute deal but for the most part, the houses are expensive.

Seaside

• The Court is Seaside’s version of eight luxury motel rooms or bungalows, centrally located with two-night minimum stays. Seaside is timeless, simple luxury and the best of 30A. The $400-$500 per night is worth the money.

• Smaller apartments will offer 2-3-night minimums for romantic weekends. As with all VRBO rentals the cleaning and fees make the price high.

• A Paris-style VRBO #62322 is a one-bedroom design in the heart of Seaside. It runs around $300 a night without weekly minimums and is a 4-minute walk to the beach.
• With VRBO #3211078, a one-bedroom studio, runs $250 to $350 with a 4-minute walk to the beach.
• VRBO #431051 is a one bedroom with a 6 minute walk to the beach. It runs $215 to $275 a night with a two night minimum.

• 360 Blue, Homeowners Collection, and Benchmark Management 30A rent the homes in Seaside, but the fees make short trips expensive.

Seagrove

• Seagrove has traditional condos, One Seagrove Place, and Villas at Seagrove Beach with units that have 3-night minimums. These condos are on VRBO.
• While Seagrove is next door to Seaside, the condos are a bike ride away.
• I come to 30A to avoid condos, so I have not stayed here.

Blue Mountain Beach

• Blue Mountain Villas have been my preferred choice, two story beachfront condos for a decade. The public beach is next door, so the beach gets crowded in summer. The condos are on VRBO and Ocean Reef and cost around $400 a night.
• Blue Mountain continues to build condos off the beach, so I’m less happy with this area every visit due to crowds.

• Bella Vita is a larger, nicer condo complex with less public crowding.
• The Blue Mountain Creamery is my favorite ice-cream store.
• Grayton Beach is within biking distance but Seaside requires driving.

WaterColor

• WaterColor is Seaside’s neighbor but with limited beach access.
• The beautiful neighborhood is deep resulting in crowds on the beach.
• I love to ride my bike on WaterColor, but not the mile walk to beach access.
• WaterColor Inn is located beachfront. The rooms cost between $600-$700 a night with a 4 night minimum. Due to its popularity, the hotel is often fully booked.

Escape the crowds &

find your slice of heaven.

We travel to 30A annually, so Thank you for reading my Budget Weekend on 30A guide.

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