Tips on bringing a baby to the beach, how to fly with a 6 month old, and my guide to restaurants and coffee shops in 30A / Seaside, Florida

In September 2021 we spent a week in 30A and had the best trip! Neither Spencer or I have taken a whole week off of work in so long…maybe ever! It was actually really nice because it was in the middle of the week, it was less crowded. We went from Monday to Friday, then when we came back, we still had the weekend to do stuff and get ready for the next work week. Flights were also cheaper and less full than usual.

In this post I am sharing some travel tips with our 6 month old, what we brought to the beach with a baby, and where we stayed, ate, and what we did in 30A. If you’re just here for the baby beach info, scroll down past the travel and restaurant sections, and shop my baby beach essentials here.

FLIGHT

Now that our baby is 6 months old, we brought our travel stroller to the airport and gate checked it. Last time we flew with Jett, he was only 2 months old and was too small for a stroller since he couldn’t hold his head up. Check out my post on traveling with a newborn here. This time since it was just us 3, we brought our car seat with us. I was debating renting one from the rental car company, but I wanted to have it onboard in case our flights weren’t full. (Spoiler alert: we got lucky!)

I highly recommend getting TSA Precheck. The lines are shorter and you don’t have to take off your shoes and all your clothes when going through security. It saves a lot of time and stress while you’re holding a baby!

Here’s what we brought in terms of luggage:

Checked bags: 4

• 2 large suitcases (one for me/Jett, one for Spencer)

• Pack n’ play

• Large lacrosse bag that had a beach tent & go pod that wouldn’t fit in a suitcase

Carry ons: 

• Small suitcase (Jett’s stuff)

• Large tote bag

• My purse

Shop my luggage here

CAR SEAT

We carried our car seat through the airport and had our stroller. If the flight had been full, we would have gate checked both the car seat and stroller. Since our flights had open seats, we got to bring the car seat on board!

Make sure your car seat is FAA approved. There should be a sticker on the back. We have the Nuna Pipa car seat which has a plane icon on the back. Read my review of the Nuna Pipa car seat here. I had to show this and prove it to one of the flight attendants before they allowed it on board. We almost exclusively fly Southwest Airlines. Babies under the age of 2 are free as a lap child. I try to save money when I travel, and don’t want to spend it on a seat for Jett. If there are any empty seats on your flight, you can have a seat for your baby for free. Just ask the person at the gate before the flight. Then you can bring your car seat on board.

STROLLERS

They do not allow strollers on board, so you will need to bring your stroller to the gate agent, and they will put a special tag on it. You can then use it all the way down the jet bridge and then drop it off right before you board the plane. It was really handy! We brought our travel stroller with us because it is smaller, and left our big Uppababy Vista stroller at home because I was paranoid about it getting damaged (have you seen how they throw bags around?) and it’s also pretty bulky. The travel stroller worked out great! I don’t know if all airlines do this, but as we got off the plane, they had the stroller assembled and ready to go for us. It was great!

RENTAL CAR TIPS

One reason I chose our car seat was that it has the ability to be used without a base. This means it can strap into a rental car, taxi, or any other car. The Lite model of our car seat does not have that capability. If you are shopping for a car seat, keep this in mind.

I usually book rental cars through Costco. Since they do not require a credit card to book, I sometimes make multiple reservations, then cancel after I find the best deal. I check back after booking too, because the prices usually fluctuate, even as your date gets closer. Another site to check is Autoslash. I checked this, and got our rental car for $100 less than it was through Costco! I kept both reservations in case there were any issues at the airport, then cancelled the Costco one once we had our other rental car through Autoslash/Priceline/Hertz.

If you are an AAA member, you can rent 1 car seat for free through Hertz and Dollar. Like I said, I considered this, but ultimately decided to take our car seat with us to have on the plane. You can always rent a car seat through the rental car company, but when I checked it was $15 a day and I didn’t want to pay an extra $75 this trip for that. But, it is a convenient option.

We flew into ECP airport which is pretty small! The rental car counters were right by the baggage claim so we didn’t have to take a shuttle to get our car which was nice.

WHERE WE STAYED

I found the cutest place on VRBO. This was my first time using the site – normally we stay in hotels that I book through Costco Travel or Airbnb. We had a great experience. I found a cute carriage house, which was a large room above the garage in the back of a house in the Watercolor neighborhood. It was perfect for the 3 of us, and would be great for any small family with kids. It had a King size bed, pull out couch, kitchenette, table & chairs, and they provided beach towels, bath towels, TV, cups, dishes, and silverware. Jett slept in his pack n’ play.

Because we stayed in Watercolor, we had access to the Watercolor Beach Club, Camp Watercolor, and all the 9 pools in the neighborhood! It was awesome! We spent most of our time at the Watercolor Beach Club, which had 3 pools, and beach access. There were restaurants and a bar at the pool, and poolside service, so mama could sip her margarita while the boys swam! If you’re interested in the listing, send me a message on Instagram @babyroloff.

Watercolor was beautiful & I would definitely stay here again. We were about 5 minutes from the Publix grocery store, where we stocked up on breakfast and lunch food for the week when we got there to save some money. We also got a couple pints of Jeni’s ice cream to have dessert at night while we watched our shows in bed! Watercolor was about 2 minutes from Seaside, where we spent most of our time. The cutest beach town with lovely pastel colored houses & a cute town center. Every night we would go to the beach to watch the beautiful sunsets. This was a highlight for me!

FOOD & DRINKS

Coffee Shops
We got coffee at Amavida Coffee and Beachy Bean. Beachy Bean was my favorite – we went there 3 of the days. I tried an iced vanilla dirty chai latte, and their ham & cheese croissant was also great. They serve Amavida roasted coffee, but I liked the Beachy Bean vibe better.

Restaurants

In our opinion, most of the food was mediocre and overpriced. Here’s where we ate & I’ll rank them from my favorite to least favorite:

1. The Great Southern Cafe
We ate here for lunch the first day. I had a pork sandwich with sweet potato fries and a drink called the “Stress Reliever.” The sweet potato fries were amazing. Spencer had The Carson chicken sandwich. The key lime pie was great! We would come back here.

2. Pizza by the Sea
This was a random spot we found next to Publix. They do close early (8:00pm) and don’t answer their phones. We got a pizza to go one night and ordered while we went grocery shopping then picked it up when we were done & ate it back at our rental house. We like it so much we had it again another night!

3. Fish Out of Water (FOOW)
This is a fancier restaurant in Watercolor. They were severely understaffed, and the food was mediocre. It was way overpriced for the taste, but it would be a good place to come to watch the sunset. They did run a wait.

4. Chiringos
Mexican food was hard to find in 30A, but we tried this place in Grayton Beach. It was okay. The margaritas were good, but again it seemed very overpriced and didn’t taste all that great.

5. Airstream Row
Pickles Burger 
The Meltdown 30A
In the heart of Seaside is Airstream Row with a bunch of little food vendors in airstreams. My husband ate at Pickles – he got a burger, fries & a milkshake. The shake was great! The food took over 30 minutes to be ready and the burger & fries were just okay.
I ate at The Meltdown and had a burnt grilled ham & cheese sandwich. Honestly, my husband makes a better grilled cheese at home! It was convenient given the location, and fun to be in the hustle & bustle, but not great food. I would not eat here again.

I wanted to try Pescado in Rosemary Beach, but they are 18 and up, so we couldn’t bring Jett.

BABY AT THE BEACH

Jett had a blast at the beach! Our beach trip with a baby was definitely different than if it were just the 2 of us, but I had so much fun watching Jett have fun in the water! At the beach, I brought my giant tote bag full of towels, enough formula to make a bottle for Jett, foldable blanket, swim diapers, toys, and snacks (for mom & dad). We set up our beach tent and padded it with the picnic blanket. Jett didn’t end up sleeping on the beach (it was hot, and I forgot our stroller fan at home…oops). So we splashed in the water. But the beach tent was great to keep the sun off of Jett.

Shop my baby beach essentials here.

He wore a swim diaper, swim suit, rash guard, and his beach hat. We brought a baby float for the pool that has a shade attached. This was really nice for Jett to swim and keep the sun out of his eyes. I also brought his baby sunglasses which help his eyes, in addition to being super adorable! He did take a nap at the pool one day, wrapped in a towel in Spencer’s arms. My best tip would be to go to the beach or pool as soon as your baby has woken up & eaten. One of the days we waited too long and he had been up for awhile, so it was just about nap time when we got to the beach & got everything set up that he got super cranky and it wasn’t the most fun time 🙂 And of course bring baby sunscreen!

BUDGET TIPS

Here are some things I did to cut down on the cost:

1. We have the Southwest Rapid Rewards credit card, so we earn flight points when we use it. I was able to book all 4 flights for free with points.

2. Get a ride to the airport (before your departing flight) if you have friends or family who can drop you off so you don’t have to pay to have your car there the whole time, or pay for an Uber.

3. Fly with your infant as a lap child

4. When we arrived, we went to the grocery store to get food for breakfast & lunch. We still got coffee out, because we love exploring new coffee shops, but we didn’t eat out for every single meal. The food in the area was pretty expensive for what it is.

5. We brought our own car seat instead of renting one

6. We brought our pack n’ play instead of renting one

7. Our VRBO had beach access included, so we didn’t need to pay for parking or a pass.

8. Booked our rental car through Autoslash. Normally I book through Costco, but Autoslash found a cheaper option this trip.

We had an absolute blast in 30A and will definitely be back! Hopefully these tips help someone, and if you have any questions feel free to send me a message on Instagram 🙂