chicagoahc

I reserved a house in Seaside in mid-August for a group of 7 girlfriends. The reservation has been cancelled due to damage from Hurricane Dennis. We want to salvage our vacation and I am hoping that some of my Fodor's friends can offer some suggestions.

Should I look for another house to rent in Seaside or has the entire area been damaged too much? Would a different beach community be better? Or do we need to abandon the beach and find a resort away from the beach for spa treatments, pool, etc?

We are all flying into Pensacola and will need to choose something in that area.

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Tandoori_Girl

Jeez, what was the problem with the house? Possibly roof damage? I have family in Sunnyside, about fifteen miles east of Seaside and the damage was very minimal. They had a limb go through their pool screen-enclosure, that was it. I would look for another house at Seaside if that's what you want to do. Hurricane related damage was minimal, even in Pensacola. And I don't recall there being any flooding at Seaside. You might want to call Seaside and ask about the beach itself, how it was affected. I would hope that you can get honest answers from people who are there.

stjohnbound

I would agree with TG. I'm surprised they had damage in Seaside - must have been the roof. I wouldn't try to find something in Navarre or Pensacola Beach as both sustained major damage again in Dennis, much more than is being reported. I would look for another house in Seaside or try Grayton Beach, definitely my favorite in the area!

chicagoahc

Thank you for your help! Happy to hear that Seaside should be in good shape. Are there any rental companies or a particular area that you would suggest?

It sounds as if roof damage affected the floors of the second story of the house and the repair work will not be completed in time for our arrival.

stjohnbound

Have you done a search on this forum? If not, just search Seaside, Florida, and you'll see a bunch of recent posts. Many of them have good recommendations for real estate companies, etc.

bamakelly

I just got back from Seaside yesterday. I stayed in Seagrove Beach, about a mile away, at One Seagrove Place. You can rent from them directly at oneseagroveplace.com and even view the unit you are renting. Not sure how big they get; we have a 2 bedroom with a sofa sleeper. Garrett Realty is also very reliable; try www.garrettrealty.com for their info and properties.

That said, I am shocked that your reservations was cancelled. It was pretty much business as usual while we were there. There was DEFINTELY evidence of a recent hurricane, but none of it was structurally related (as in buildings). It was more inconvenience-related (see below). But all the places were full at our condo and we waited for an hour for a table at the Red Bar, so it didn't slow down too much!

You will notice beach damage for sure. There is a 20 foot drop cliff that people were trying to jump to get ontot the beach behind our condo. (Not sure how they got back up!) All the docks and boardwalks were wiped out for as far as we could see. We stayed at the hotel pool one day, until we learned that there was one stretch of open beach, which we udrove to for the rest of our trip. It was a bit of a pain to not have an open beach behond our condo but we were just glad to have it at all. The open beach was right behind Bud and Ally's in Seaside, where they have had sand brought in to make a ramp so everyone can walk down to the beach. The umbrellas and chairs were for rent and in business there. If you still go to Seaside, make sure you call first to see if the beach is open behind wherever you stay, and if it is giong to ruin your trip to have to drive to the beach, you may want to consider going somewhere else.

Also, the water was offically closed but everyone (including us) was in it anyway. There just are no lifeguards and flags. No one will tell you to get out, but the reason it is not officailly open is becasue Grayton Beach experienced had some septic tanks washed into the gulf, dumping raw sewage into the water. The water quality was offically very poor. Of course I did not realize this until after I'd been swimming in the water but it was hot and I would have never known had I not read it in the paper.

Also, beware of sharks. There was a huge sandbar literally a few feet off shore from where the beach washed into the gulf. Our condo was on th 20th floor where we could see clearly into the water below. There were tons of sharks - no joke - and they were actually closer in than I ever thought they would be, even ON the shallow parts of the sand bar. We still got in the water (so hot!) but we made sure to stay in populated areas and only go in a few feet.

So, I guess the bottom line is that we had a nice time anyway but we did not mind the drive to the beach. If this will bother you, you might want to look elsewhere.

Hope this helps!

bamakelly

sorry for typos. ugh!

chicagoahc

Thank you all so much for your help. Bamakelly, I am comforted to know that you had such a nice trip recently. We will continue to do some research and I am confident, with the guidance of our Fodor's friends, we'll find a substitute house. The drive certainly seems reasonable. Thank you so. Happy travels.