There are two beachside communities called Laguna Beach.  One is located in California on the cold waters of the Pacific with lots of rocks and the other is on the warm, jewel toned Gulf waters of the Emerald Coast with soft, pure white sand!  Our Florida version, the small community of Laguna Beach, is nestled on sunny, sparkling, sugar white sand beaches a little over two miles west of Panama City Beach. This centralized location is only minutes away from popular Pier Park, unique venues for family entertainment in Panama City Beach, the waterfront peninsula of the beautiful Camp Helen State Park as well as the far eastern edge of Scenic 30A and the Beaches of South Walton.

Ocean Reef is proud to offer four private vacation rentals along Laguna Beach and all of them have ring side seats on the Gulf! One of them is at the elegant Palazzo which is a new high rise that towers above the surf. The beachfront deck is fairly expansive with waterfalls trickling down near the comfortable wrap around pool, complete with hot tub and views of the beach from five stories up. The unit itself has a sleek, Tropical decor with a long balcony to watch para-sailers soar above the waters or the dolphins swim below. Palazzo 602 has three bedrooms and three baths with sleeping for eight.

Two special places are available right next door to each other. Beach Front At Last and Blessed are part of a small, private, five unit town home complex on the beach. These Laguna Beach neighbors will host you and your family in comfortable lodgings in spacious, four bedroom, and four and one half bath units. Extra beds in the sleeping quarters allow up to fourteen to sixteen guests since these three story town homes offers lots of room. Besides the upper level vistas, the plunge pool and decks have beautiful, straight line views of the emerald green waters of the Gulf of Mexico and offer easy access to its sugar white sand beaches.

If a classic Laguna Beach home is what you are wanting, look no further than Sand Dollar. This sun filled, beachfront private home has four bedrooms, three baths and sleeps twelve. Everything is all on one level with a large breezy, screened-in porch overlooking an open deck which is just steps to the beach below. It's the perfect place to catch a sunset over the Gulf in Winter or a moonrise over the same waters in the Summer!

Besides swimming, tanning and walking the beach, there are plenty of other things to do that are nearby. If shopping, drinking and dining sound good, you have to experience the popular shopping mecca at the newly completed Pier Park in Panama City Beach. This one million square foot, new Florida styled complex extends from Highway 98 all the way out to the public pier which juts into the Gulf of Mexico. Fun times, music and live entertainment can be found here. You have the iconic Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville Restaurant for beach music with good food, (and who could resist getting a margarita?); Reggae J's Island Grill with jaunty island music; Tootsie's Orchid Lounge with live Country Music; and a Sports Bar at Buffalo Wild Wing's. All in all, there are about nineteen restaurants and eateries throughout Pier Park offering everything from fresh seafood to tasty burgers. The stores in the interior mall at the north end are anchored by Dillard's, J.C. Penney and Target. The rest of the individual shops spread down in pedestrian friendly, village fashion, all the way to the southern pier. There are twenty-eight stores with woman's fashions, fourteen for men, eleven for shoes, ten specialty gift boutiques, nine health and beauty salons, eight jewelry stores, seven candy stores or bakeries, six home accessory stores, six kid clothing venues and one electronics outlet!

There is more entertainment just minutes away for everyone at places like Shipwreck Island for a memorable pirate adventure; Coconut Creek for expansive mini golf in lush, tropical surroundings and waterfalls; Gulf World to watch live action sea life shows and Zoo World to view a myriad of wild animals. Other outdoor adventures should include a day at Camp Helen State Park, just three miles to the west of Laguna Beach. This 180 acre preserve straddles a peninsula between Lake Powell and the Gulf of Mexico with three sides of waterfront. Lake Powell is a rare and precious Coastal Dune Lake with lots of wild life. There are only a few dozen of these pristine lakes existing in the entire world and Lake Powell is the largest one located in the United States! Originally this land was inhabited by ancient natives some 4,000 years ago as evidenced by some burial mounds and other artifacts found here. In the early 1930s it was purchased by Avondale Mills, a textile company from Alabama. Cabins and a lodge were built so that the family members of all its employees could vacation there. (Nice perk!) It was used for this purpose up until 1987 when it became a state park. A rustic log lodge with a stone fireplace sits near the center of the park set among giant, Spanish moss drenched, Live Oak trees. You may picnic, hike the oak canopied trails, fish on the shores of Lake Powell or swim in the clear waters near the white sandy beaches of Philip's Inlet, which is on the Gulf side.

For all you golfers, remember that one round a day is on us here at Ocean Reef for all of our guests who want to play at the beautiful Hombre Golf Club in Panama City. Known as "the good, the bad and the ugly" for it's varied, challenging fairways, Hombre has a total of twenty-seven holes on three courses. You may shoot nine, eighteen or whatever amount of holes, with a wide arrangement of choice, since they are all adjacent to one another for play. The Hombre Golf Club has the proud distinction of being a Qualifying School for the PGA over the past fourteen years. The sprawling course has twenty-one holes with water abounding in all shapes and forms. Palm studded pine forests sweep across the course, decorated with abundant azaleas which border lazy lagoons and shimmering small lakes. Although lush and beautiful throughout the year, it is particularly heavenly when the azaleas bloom in the Spring.

Whatever you decide to do for fun while staying at Laguna Beach, it's never far away. Here at Ocean Reef Resorts, we hope you and yours have the utmost pleasure during your vacation with us, creating happy memories to last for years to come!