Driving from margartaville

Question

I’m wondering how easy the driving is? I do not like big city highway driving on the regular routes I may need to get to places. I don’t mind traffic. Any inside on the whole area would be great.

Answer

If you’re staying at Margaritaville Beach Cottage Resort (or Margaritaville-branded properties) in Panama City Beach, the good news is that driving in this area is generally very manageable—especially if you’re someone who prefers to avoid large highways and big-city driving. Panama City Beach is laid out along a simple coastal corridor where most routes are surface roads with predictable traffic patterns.

The main road you’ll use is Front Beach Road (Hwy 30), Back Beach Road (Hwy 98), and sometimes Middle Beach Road (Hutchison Blvd). These are not high-speed interstates—just multi-lane local roads with stoplights. Even Hwy 98, although busy at times, feels more like a commercial boulevard than a major highway.

Here’s a detailed overview of what to expect and what areas/drives feel easiest:

Front Beach Road (30A/30) – Slower, beachfront route with lots of pedestrian activity. Not stressful, just slow during busy times.
Hutchison Blvd (Middle Beach Road) – A good alternative to Front Beach with fewer crowds. Still stoplight-based and straightforward.
Highway 98 (Back Beach Road) – This is the “busiest” road you’ll encounter, but it’s not a scary highway. It’s wide, well-marked, and full of big shopping plazas, signals, and turn lanes.
Local resort areas – Neighborhood-style, easy to navigate, and low speed.

If you're traveling to popular spots—Pier Park, grocery stores, restaurants, St. Andrews State Park—you’ll mostly be using low-stress city roads. You absolutely do not need to get on an interstate like I-10 unless you choose to.

Traffic is mostly seasonal rather than overwhelming or fast-paced. Summer afternoons and Saturday turnover days are the only times it gets congested, but even then it’s slow moving, not high-speed or intimidating.

To Pier Park – Easiest drive. Straight down Front Beach or Hwy 98.
To restaurants and attractions – Nearly everything is within a few miles and on simple, predictable routes.
To the airport (ECP) – Also easy: Hwy 79 north, lightly trafficked, open, and simple.

If you’re coming from the resort and just want to explore PCB, you’ll find the driving very beginner-friendly compared to major cities. Most visitors who dislike interstate driving feel perfectly comfortable navigating PCB’s roads.

Overall, expect well-marked roads, steady traffic, very little high-speed stress, and plenty of alternate routes if one road gets crowded. It’s a good area for someone who prefers to avoid big-city driving.