Beach Conditions

Come anyway - worst case scenario you have funn playing in an outfall or coastal dune lake and not IN the ocean.

Still a pretty view and great vacation!

I was at Ed Walline earlier this morning and the water was the clearest I've seen in awhile, but isn't there a storm entering the gulf today? That's sure to stir things up a bit even though it's predicted to stay far to our south.

That would be tropical storm Dolly that is expected to strengthen into a hurricane over the next 24 hours. It'll stir up the june grass a little, but head down to the beach and watch the very happy surfers. Get ready for red and double red flags too.

It was beautiful this morning, had the best swim. And it was the first day in a while that I didn't see a single jellyfish.

When (if) we get some good wave action from soon to be Hurricane Dolly, it will likely push most of the June Grass onshore, and it will quickly get buried by the sand.

In Watersound

I just brought my 18 month old up from the beach for a nap. Yellow and Purple flags. I have yet to see any jellies and the June grass is not what I would call bad at all. Yea there is a little bit but just walk 10 or 15 yards in either direction and it's clear as a bell. We are splitting our time between ocean, lake outflow (kids chasing some nice blue crabs), and the pool. The lake has about another 20 feet to go. This place is awesome and there is nobody here. Last night we were the only people in the Beach Club pool. Amazing. I only saw one canopy and I'm not sure why it was ther b/c there were plenty of Watersound beach chairs/umbrellas empty. I'll try to post more as the week goes by. Is this place a secret or somthing. I feel a little guilty letting the cat out of the bag.

I just brought my 18 month old up from the beach for a nap. Yellow and Purple flags. I have yet to see any jellies and the June grass is not what I would call bad at all. Yea there is a little bit but just walk 10 or 15 yards in either direction and it's clear as a bell. We are splitting our time between ocean, lake outflow (kids chasing some nice blue crabs), and the pool. The lake has about another 20 feet to go. This place is awesome and there is nobody here. Last night we were the only people in the Beach Club pool. Amazing. I only saw one canopy and I'm not sure why it was ther b/c there were plenty of Watersound beach chairs/umbrellas empty. I'll try to post more as the week goes by. Is this place a secret or somthing. I feel a little guilty letting the cat out of the bag.

Welcome to the club.

It was our first trip to this area last year and we have raved about it. I am so glad that we opted for this area instead of Destin. We will be in the Grayton Beach area the same time as some friends of ours are going to be in Destin. I told them they were staying on the wrong side of the tracks.

I think this is probably one of the most beautiful areas in the world and I love and hate to tell people about it!

I have a question though: Aren't their alligators (or are they crocodiles?) around the lakes?

Alligators, yes. You can find them in ANY body of water in Florida. They won't always be there as they do move around, so you can never say for sure on any given day whether there are any there. I have seen gators in Western Lake, several times. The state park has signs posted.
No crocs here. There are a few surviving American Crocodiles in far, far South Florida, I believe, but it is a southern species.

Watersound

My toddler was up at 6:00 this morning. I had to get the little alarm clock out of the house so we took the golf cart and headed down to the beach. I counted two other people. The surf is definately up a bit and no real noticeable june grass. My nephews surf so I think they may be looking for a place to rent some boards. Camp Creek is not open yet. Still several feet to go.

Red flags at Ed Walline...surfer babies everywhere...lots o' jellies

Watersound

Watersound... Red Flag... Jellys too...Ouch!!

Ok, so if there are alligators, how do you know if it is safe to play or not play in the area?

For some reason, I am terrified of alligators and not so much sharks. Maybe it is all the positive publicity that sharks get - like you have a better chance of getting hit by lightning than you do getting bit by a shark. Where do alligator bites fall in this spectrum?

Ok, so if there are alligators, how do you know if it is safe to play or not play in the area?

For some reason, I am terrified of alligators and not so much sharks. Maybe it is all the positive publicity that sharks get - like you have a better chance of getting hit by lightning than you do getting bit by a shark. Where do alligator bites fall in this spectrum?

More remote than shark bites. Personally I was raised in Florida and we only swam in water we could see in, we used boats, kayaks, etc in dark water. Although you should be safe in the shallow areas of outflows in the dune lakes.

The Gulf and waves are up this Wednesday morning in advance of Hurricane Dolly. Weather Channel reported last night that the Northwest Florida area would see some effect. Incredible that over 30 tents (just from Sugar Dunes to Eastern Lake outfall) with all their beach stuff was left up overnight. These polluters and irresponsible people are certainly a detriment to our beaches and threaten the well being of human and beast alike. When there is a tropical storm and certainly a HURRICANE in the Gulf, efforts need to be stepped up to remove everything from the beach overnight.

Watersound

In the A.M.

Waves not as big as yesterday morning. Little to no June grass in Watersound.

Ok, so if there are alligators, how do you know if it is safe to play or not play in the area?

For some reason, I am terrified of alligators and not so much sharks. Maybe it is all the positive publicity that sharks get - like you have a better chance of getting hit by lightning than you do getting bit by a shark. Where do alligator bites fall in this spectrum?

I've been living here, kayaking the dune lakes, and actively looking for alligators for years and the only one I've seen in the "wild" was near the green at Camp Creek.

There are certain areas/times to avoid, but it's pretty much a non-issue around here except where idiots have been feeding them.

I have a pretty healthy respect/paranoia for anything potentially above me on the food chain!

Be very careful of alligators in SoWal during the months of May and October. Play it safe and just come during other months.

How's the beach? It looks great on the Blue Mountain webcam. June grass and Jellies all gone?

Just got back from the beach at Grayton- the water is mostly clear and beautiful! A few concentrated areas of June grass, but not a bother.

There were quite a few bad jellies- but they were easy to spot and avoid.

Jellies this morning.

Watersound

Yellow and Purple flags today. Water was much calmer and no real noticable June grass. I would classify the water conditions this week as good. Had a 3 or 4foot shark swim between me and my wife and neice today. We saw it a little before it was on us. A little excitement! Oh, and I would say about 80% of our party had some sort of jelly sting. The camp creek outflow sure is awesome. It's like a hot tub of sun tea.

Yellow and Purple flags today. Water was much calmer and no real noticable June grass. I would classify the water conditions this week as good. Had a 3 or 4foot shark swim between me and my wife and neice today. We saw it a little before it was on us. A little excitement! Oh, and I would say about 80% of our party had some sort of jelly sting. The camp creek outflow sure is awesome. It's like a hot tub of sun tea.

How far out were you?

Watersound

It was very close to the shore. I'd say it was about 15 to 20 yards. It was so close you could see it from the beach. That's how we knew it was headed our way, b/c the people on the beach were yelling shark. I got a pretty close look at it and it seemed to have a black tip on it's fin. We don't venture too far out in the water.

It was very close to the shore. I'd say it was about 15 to 20 yards. It was so close you could see it from the beach. That's how we knew it was headed our way, b/c the people on the beach were yelling shark. I got a pretty close look at it and it seemed to have a black tip on it's fin. We don't venture too far out in the water.

smart cookie!

I just brought my 18 month old up from the beach for a nap. Yellow and Purple flags. I have yet to see any jellies and the June grass is not what I would call bad at all. Yea there is a little bit but just walk 10 or 15 yards in either direction and it's clear as a bell. We are splitting our time between ocean, lake outflow (kids chasing some nice blue crabs), and the pool. The lake has about another 20 feet to go. This place is awesome and there is nobody here. Last night we were the only people in the Beach Club pool. Amazing. I only saw one canopy and I'm not sure why it was ther b/c there were plenty of Watersound beach chairs/umbrellas empty. I'll try to post more as the week goes by. Is this place a secret or somthing. I feel a little guilty letting the cat out of the bag.

I guess you have probably already returned from your trip. We will be staying at Watersound the week of Aug. 2-9. I'm not familiar with June grass. They have red drift algae on the southwest gulf coast which is awful during the summer. It was piled up 2 feet deep on Siesta Key beach last June. I'll be very disappointed if there is a lot of grass or jellyfish.