Our beaches are unique in that the soft Panama City Beach sand is actually quartz crystals, which over time has been broken down, bleached, polished and deposited on the shoreline. This natural process has made Panama City Beach home to the World's Most Beautiful Beaches.
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The pure white, snow-like sand along Northwest Florida beaches is purely ground quartz mineral.
The unique sand of the beaches in the Destin area is among the whitest and most homogenous of the world. Consisting of small quartz particles, this sand came from a process involving the Appalachian Mountains and the Apalachicola River 20,000 years ago.
Many of the Florida Keys' beaches are manmade, or are just a layer of sand over a sliver of limestone. The north is almost always cooler than south, something to remember in both summer and winter.
Whitehaven Beach, Whitsunday Island, AustraliaWhitehaven Beach is consistently ranked as the world's best beach, and with good reason: It's almost surreally beautiful. Besides its crystal clear waters, it's known for its white sand, consisting of 98% pure silica which gives it a bright white color.
Florida also has a history of “beach nourishment” projects in which sand (brought from inland) is spread onto beaches to replenish the sand lost to erosion. According to a database of 2,000 beach nourishment projects, 500 of them have spread 293 million cubic yards of sand at a price of $2.4 billion dollars.
Centuries of wave and water action eventually ground the quartz into smaller and smaller grains, producing the sugar-fine sand Destin residents enjoy today.
Destin Beach, Emerald CoastOn the hunt for the absolute clearest waters of Florida? Then, Destin Beach is the place to go. This beach is located in a coastal area called the Emerald Coast, which stretches about 100 miles through five counties in the idyllic Gulf of Mexico.
On the hunt for the absolute clearest waters of Florida? Then, Destin Beach is the place to go. This beach is located in a coastal area called the Emerald Coast, which stretches about 100 miles through five counties in the idyllic Gulf of Mexico.
Destin's Sand Comes from the MountainsThis isn't a quick process, by any means. By some estimates, the quartz crystal first started making its way down to Destin a staggering 20,000 years ago. This unusual process is why Destin is blessed with such pristine, world-class beaches.