Club Wyndham Bay Club II

Club Wyndham Bay Club II is an amazing Miramar Beach resort. The beach is near Destin, and Panama City Beach, each of which I have stayed at before and enjoyed immensely.

Video by Beach Bummin Dad 

Day One Travel & Arrival

The drive down from Virginia is not a bad one. It is I95 all the way until about Jacksonville, then you start heading East. I enjoy this Panama City Beach area a great deal. There is just something about the feeling of the area, and some of the established businesses that make it unique.

When you arrive, you see that the resort itself is on the sound side amidst a golf course area with some of the nicest waterfront holes you have ever seen.

Villa Amenities

Then the resort itself offers all of these options.

Resort Amenities

I will have to see about getting a shot at the golf course. I used to not play golf and only started recently with maybe only 12 games under my belt as experience at this point. It will be interesting to see how tough the game is here. Often on water like this, the wind is strong and makes play a real challenge.

All the villas here are 2 bedrooms so I have a guest with me on this trip. If we can not find a foursome for a round of golf, we can always run through it ourselves and the game will go faster.

The villas here are large at over 1,200 sq ft, which for a two-bedroom is a very nice size villa at any resort. One thing I noticed on check-in is that they do offer a shuttle service to the beach, which is nice since in season finding parking near the beach can be fun.

The gulf beaches have white sand and very clear water. It makes for an amazing view and I look forward to getting my feet on the sand soon too.

This resort offers a lot of activities and amenities. If you can not find something fun in the sun to do here, you will not find it anywhere.

Day Two Golf & Beach

I scored a round of golf for us first thing after breakfast. The villa has a nice-sized kitchen, so I made some omelets for breakfast with toast and some fresh squeezed Florida Orange Juice, which was amazing.

Golf

All fueled up from breakfast, we headed off to the course. It is all right here at the resort, so it was just a walk over to get our cart and rent some clubs. If I had planned ahead, I would have used ship sticks to send my golf clubs here or carted them down in the car, but this trip was last minute.

The golf game was a little tough because of about 18 miles an hour winds so close to the beach here. This was not a game that I wanted to keep score on or chase all the balls lost in water hazards. The round was still fun and I think we laughed more than anyone should have on the course. But really there was no ball control. Once you hit it and it was in the wind, woosh it went where the wind wanted.

Beach Time

After our round of golf, we headed back to the room and changed for the beach, then got the shuttle service to the appointed beach drop-off. We arranged for the driver to come back for us and call us on our cell phones within 3 hours. We figured by then we would be hungry and ready to head back.

The beach area was very nice and the 3 hours seemed to go by in a second. The water was cool, but still in September nice enough to get in. I think by October most people would not want to be in the water for too long because it would be in the 70s for the water temperature. This area on the gulf has some nice warm weather but not the almost oppressive heat that you get farther South in the state.

Here you can almost feel winter with lows around 50 whereas in Southern Florida the temps rarely change more than a few degrees year-round. This region is amazing from July through October, with the lowest humidity being in the month of October here as well.

Dinner Out

After our beach trip, we were now hungry again. My guest wanted seafood, so we headed back towards Panama City Beach and in that direction found Bayou Bill’s. They had a platter for 2 deal here. That was a great way to sample a lot of fresh local seafood with a friend or that special someone.

They also have a full bar here with some solid options, which I was happy to see. When on vacation having a drink or two just puts me at ease.

Day Three Visiting Local Spots

I wanted to visit some of the places that I went to last time I stayed in nearby Panama City Beach, and in the other direction at Destin Beach.

Panama City Beach

We started the day at Panama City beach with breakfast at the All-American Dinner. They offer the same fantastic breakfast items as they always have, and they also have a buffet at breakfast time too. We ate until that feeling of the need to move or fall asleep set in. What a neat spot and fun location this is. I hope dinner cars continue to make it and stay in business. The one closest to my home closed some years back and I miss going to that as an option.

It may seem silly, but I am a fan and a childlike fool about mini-golf. It goes back to a few summers I spent as a child with my Grandparents looking after me as my mother worked. My grandfather was still working hard in the shipyard and if he had worked the night shift and the weather was OK, I would be sent off to play putt-putt or mini golf for a while. I loved it and would even sneak in some pinball or a video game or two if it started to rain. There was a Putt-Putt branded course and location just about a block from their apartment. It just worked out really well, and I truly loved it.

To this day, I enjoy a little mini-golf. We headed for some of that fun next at Coconut Creak Fun Park. Here they have mini-golf and a newer grand maze that are both old-fashioned fun.

They had a special which would be great for a mini-golf nut like me where you could play for two days all you wanted for $26. Part of me wanted to get those tickets and dive in, but I knew I was pushing it with a fun, quick game or two with my friend. People can enjoy childhood things for a bit, but most adults have their limits.

To balance things out from a fairness of activity standpoint, we went to the local winery next for a tasting and purchased a case of wine while we were there. Some for tonight, and some to take back home with us each. They had a blueberry wine that I think most people would use as a dessert wine, but I just liked it in general.

Destin

After the wine, we headed in the other direction towards Destin, Florida. I have stayed at a resort there before and thought my friend would like to see the boardwalk area, and have a late lunch at a restaurant there.
When we arrived, I was shocked that in September, so many people were still out on the little crab island near the boardwalk and resort area. That is a neat spot, but the water is getting cooler, but I guess they were floating some, then getting back on the boat, and repeating for fun.

The entire boardwalk area and the water here is all about water sports. You can do just about anything you imagine on the water in this area. So many small business owners offer boat rentals, experiences, and neat tours. There is an awesome thing here that I would own if I was a younger guy just for fun. It is a Tiki Cruise business. Basically, they build a tiki bar on pontoons and have a captain slowly cruise you around on the bar while you drink your drinks and enjoy the scenery. The Tiki boats are great fun, and I love everything Tiki, so we took the 1.5-hour cruise and soon as we got there. (I had booked it online with the phone while we were in Panama City Beach).

For dinner, we went to McGuire’s Irish Pub I had lamb stew and then fish and chips and was a happy man. I will confess, however, that I was pulled in by the black and tans and my friend was pronounced designated driver for a short drive back to the resort. Better safe than sorry.

Club Wyndham Bay Club II was a great location for a nice golf and beach vacation. Highly recommended.

Want your own amazing beach vacation with golf as a real option? Consider this resort and book through TZort.