Guide to Ponte Vedra Beach, FL + A Recap

We just got back from a short 5 day vacation to Ponte Vedra Beach & I’m going to give you a guide to Ponte Vedra Beach!

Ever since we got back from Panama City Beach in July, Macy was itching to go again. This time we were able to get Grammy & Andy to go with us so it was more of a family vacation this go round. We haven’t been on vacation with them in 10+ years so it was fun to be able to take a trip with them again.

None of us except for Mom had ever been to Ponte Vedra so it was fun to be in a new city & try all new restaurants. I’m going to give you the full run-down of where we ate, what the town was like, what we did while we were there & all that fun stuff so here we go!

Guide to Ponte Vedra Beach’s Location

In case you don’t know (I didn’t), Ponte Vedra Beach is located right between Jacksonville & St. Augustine. Literally, right in the middle on A1A. If you want to shop, you’re gonna have to go into either town. There are two restaurants close by to where we stayed which I’m gonna talk about later, that were a little closer to St. Augustine but our house was honestly pretty much halfway between both cities.

Guide to Ponte Vedra Beach’s Sand

Let me just take a moment to discuss the “sand” with you. I put that in quotes because weeellll it’s not quite sand, at least not the entire beach. It’s mostly shells. Stepping right off our deck (can’t believe how close we were to the water!), you’d step right onto shells. Full shells, half shells, crushed up shells. It was hard on your feet & shoes were a must. It’s a miracle all of the shells didn’t cut your feet. There were little stretches where there was sand and to me the sand reminded me of brown sugar. There were still crushed up shells in that sand but it didn’t hurt in that stretch of beach. You couldn’t even go in the ocean without shoes because of the shells so be aware of that too.

I’ve heard that that area is like that year round & I’ve also heard that it happens more in the fall. I’ve only been there in the fall so I can only speak to that.

I also decided to go for a run/walk on the beach one morning when the tide was out & it’s not all hard, packed sand like I’ve usually found on the Atlantic side. There are plenty of stretches where it’s softer like brown sugar. I, along with other runners, would have to drift up and down the beach to find the spots with more packed sand to make the run easier.

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Guide to Ponte Vedra Beach Restaurants

Since it was such a short trip, we wanted to try as many restaurants as we could so we ate out more than we probably would have if it was a long trip but that’s great for you because I can tell you all the best places to go.

Day 1 Lunch:

We got sandwiches from Old City Subs. The sandwiches were good. I’m probably not going to dream about these sandwiches but we all enjoyed them for a quick lunch so we could go right back out to the beach.

Day 1 Dinner:

We ate at Schooner’s Seafood House in St. Augustine for dinner. It was about 20-25 minutes away from us so it was a little bit of drive but not too bad. This restaurant is not to be confused with the Schooner’s in Panama City Beach. They are not the same. The food was good but the atmosphere is not what you’re probably hoping for at the beach. We love eating on the water or having water nearby or just some sort of nice atmosphere. There wasn’t any water in sight & no real beach-y atmosphere so just know that before going there.

Day 2 Dinner:

Day 2 we ate at Cap’s on the Water which was maybe 5 miles from where we were staying so that was perfect. It was my mom’s birthday and that’s where she wanted to go so that’s where we went! Y’all…the food is so good. SO GOOD. I ate the crab cakes and they were fantastic-pure crab & not full of a ton of filler. The sauce for them was a smoked pepper aioli, which I didn’t know if I would like, and I had to ask for more. It was that good.

This place is pretty fancy, not necessarily in attire though I didn’t see anyone wearing jean shorts and a tank top, but the food is a little bit fancy & so are the prices, so that’s something to keep in mind. Oh, & the French fries are really good. Everybody had some and we all loved them. They were the best I had the whole time at the beach.

Day 3 Lunch:

Day 3, our final day, we had lunch at The Reef Restaurant. Well, we did takeout. To me, the menu is seafood heavy (duh, we’re at the beach & The Reef is on the water) & to me, seafood just doesn’t travel well to-go. So none of us got seafood so I can’t comment on that. But I can say that I would prefer to eat there in person to be able to eat the seafood instead of eating a Caesar salad. It was good but I felt like my options were limited in terms of what would travel well. The Reef was super close to where we were staying so that was definitely a plus and what helped us decide to get lunch from there. My advice would be to eat there instead of doing to-go, you’ll have more options (in my opinion).

Day 3 Dinner:

For dinner we ate at Palm Valley Fish Camp. It looks nothing like what you’re picturing in your head. It’s more upscale, bistro-y and not outdoors at picnic tables. We ate outside which was decorated with a bunch of string lights and it just created a really nice atmosphere. The food was GOOD. I had the roasted cod with parsley potatoes & steamed vegetables and it was probably one of the best meals I’ve ever had. The Shrimp & Grits were really good too so I hear. 🙂 Definitely recommend Palm Valley Fish Camp. It was closer to Jacksonville & was about a 25 minute drive for us but definitely worth it!

Top Restaurant Choices:

If I had to pick my top 2 restaurants they would be Cap’s on the Water & Palm Valley Fish Camp. Both are can’t miss in my book!

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Guide to Ponte Vedra Beach Shopping:

There’s a little convenience store that’s great for the little things but the grocery stores are in St. Augustine or Jacksonville. There’s also some great stores nearby in Jax Beach so my mom & grandmother went out shopping one day.

Now let me take you on a little journey of our trip…

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Day to Day Ponte Vedra Recap:

–I am very much a sit on the beach all day type of girl. Hand me a book & point me towards a chair and an umbrella and I’m a happy girl! So that’s what I did every day, all day.

–We’ve never stayed in a house before. We’ve always stayed in a condo but let me tell you how nice it was to stay in a house. I loved being able to just walk down some stairs & immediately be on the beach. I also loved grabbing my lunch & taking it right outside to sit in the sand & eat my lunch.

Pro-Tip (that I never thought of):

A little tip that somehow never crossed our mind before: make a meal, something easy & that can travel well in a little cooler, to eat your first night there & then you can have leftovers for lunch while you’re there too. Every time we go on vacation we always struggle with what to do for dinner on the first night. We’re tired from traveling and don’t want to go out but don’t know what to order in (usually Domino’s or some sort of Italian restaurant that delivers) but this year Grammy said she’d make a family favorite to bring. She made a big bowl of goulash & we ate that the first & then for lunch one day & it was perfect.

From now on, we will be making something the day before we leave to have for dinner our first night. (I think my Summer Garden Pasta with some garlic toast would be perfect!)

–Grammy used to make French toast when we’d go on vacation together & Macy requested we have them one morning while we were there. Grammy cooked & then we all sat down together for breakfast & laughed through the whole breakfast. It was a great way to start the day!

–And for the at-home entertainment guide to Ponte Vedra Beach: puzzles. Puzzles have been a long standing vacation tradition and that did not change even though it’s been years since we’ve all vacationed together. I’m not a big puzzle person aka I don’t do them but Macy & Andy did 2 while we were there. Both were 1000 pieces but one was easier than the other & the difficult one kept them up late on our last night there. Turns out long rectangular puzzles are not easy at all!

Zoe has never done super on well on the beach but this trip she did. Well, except for when she saw other dogs, she’d lose her marbles when that happened. But she did actually relax and lay on the beach this trip which was super nice. It was great to be able to bring her out there with us & not be stressed about her hating her life outside on the beach. Haha

She also really liked to stick her nose in the sand. How cute?!

I really hope you enjoyed my guide to Ponte Vedra Beach & my little recap of our trip. Thanks for coming along with me. 🙂

Love,

I have more vacation recaps & guides here, here, and here. Enjoy!