Discover the other Florida - Panama City Beach and South Walton

In the sixth part of the series, Simon Calder eats on the beach, goes dolphin spotting and visits the real Truman Show

Every year, people arrive at Panama City, Florida, by mistake — having erroneously booked to the small, friendly airport rather than its Central American cousin. The sensible ones make the most of the situation — enjoying Panama City Beach and the string of smaller resorts that decorate the Gulf of Mexico coastline in South Walton.

All you can eat

Eating out is a joy. Mike’s Diner was established in 1986, which was rather later than some of the customers and staff. A few years ago it went upmarket to become Mike’s Oyster Bar, but the breakfasts are still excellent: try the Beach Hash, while some French toast saw me through to elevenses. For lunch, Schooner’s calls itself the last local beach club and serves up superb seafood.

Nature takes over

Just east of here, the beachside buildings end abruptly at St Andrew State Park — until 1951, off limits to the public because it was part of a military base. Now nature has begun to reclaim the wilderness. It’s a similar story on Shell Island — home to one of the world’s highest concentrations of bottle-nosed dolphins. There used to be a casino and a zoo on the isle, but now just two family houses remain; once they’ve gone, they’ve gone — no more can be built.

Shell Island, Panama City Beach

Back on the main strip there’s no end of places to stay — such as The Driftwood Lodge, a family-run beachside property that celebrates its 60th anniversary this year at 15811 Front Beach Road; despite the magnitude of the number in the address, it’s close to Pier Park — the heart of town.

Pier Park, Panama City Beach

Going west from Panama City Beach takes you along what’s officially known as Scenic Highway 30A through a string of communities of South Walton — selected by Lonely Planet for its top 10 Best of the US for 2017. See it yourself by hiring a compact car for seven days from Jacksonville International Airport from £187. Book with Hertz.co.uk

Picture Perfect

Seaside, Panama City Beach

The treasure is Seaside - the name of the town, though you may know it by a slightly different title. The 1998 film The Truman Show starred Jim Carrey as Truman Burbank, the unknowing star of a reality TV series. He lived in a town called Seahaven, which was really Seaside — a comforting throwback to simpler times. Seaside was an idealistic experiment in new urbanism by the property developer Robert Davis. It’s designed so that no home is more than a five-minute walk from the centre, designated by the post office. And the beach is only a minute further. Since the filming, Seaside has blossomed with plenty of places to eat and drink. You can visit Truman’s actual house at 31 Natchez Street, though it was re-numbered 36 at the request of the director.

What I love about this curve of coastline is that it embraces so much: the frivolity of the great American beach vacation, the impeccable good looks of a film set, and the perfection of raw nature.

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