Trip Report - PCB and Splash - 8/12-8/18

We just returned from our trip to PCB and had an awesome vacation. A few key points.

1. %26#39;Splash%26#39; was awesome. I was a little worried about all the negative comments on here about the place, but I can assure you we loved it. The staff was very friendly, we never had a problem getting a chair, the pools were clean and always open. We never thought the elevators were an issue either. The longest we ever had to wait was probably 2 minutes. If you have young kids (13 and under), I%26#39;d highly recommend %26#39;Splash%26#39;

2. Shell Island was worth the trip. We found about 10 entire sea dollars, saw some sea turtles and found lots of other nice shells. There were quite a few jelly fish the day we went, but we didnt%26#39; get stun.

3. There was some seaweed issues the first few days, but it was mostly just an annoyance. You coud just wade through it to the sand bar and the water was clear again. By Wednesday, it was pretty much gone.

4. %26#39;Boon Docks%26#39; was our favorite restaurant. We also had a good meal at %26#39;Captain Andersons%26#39;. We didn%26#39;t have any bad meals to report.

5. The water and sand were beautiful. I took a stab and snorkling in chest-high water and loved it. You could see all kinds of fish and shells and you could watch the waves crash overhead. It was like swimming inside an aquarium.

5. We did have one issue with the beach. There was a sizable drop off on our beach from the sand down to the water. It sounds silly, but it ended up bothering us a quite a bit. With the wet, compacted sand near the water so sloped, it was a major hassle to take a walk on the beach. The soft, level sand was so soft, it was a hassle to walk in it also (you felt like you were walking in quicksand). So, we never did take any walks of note on the beach nor was I able to run, which I usually love to do when we go to the beach.

The only thing I can think of is they must have trucked in thousands of cubic yards of sand to build the beach up. When you are trying to protect multi-million dollar investments, it makes sense I suppose. But we were NOT fans. Walking along the water line at the beach is something we love to do and we couldn%26#39;t do it last week. I%26#39;m curious if other parts of PCB are the same but at least in front of the Splash and the surrounding areas, it was an issue.

Trip Report - PCB and Splash - 8/12-8/18

The pictures of the condos I%26#39;ve seen at Splash looked a little on the small size. Did you think the condo was roomy? Sounds like you had a wonderful time. How much does it cost to do Shell Island?

Trip Report - PCB and Splash - 8/12-8/18

We had a 1 bedroom and I thought it was roomy enough. The bedroom was nice sized, it had 2 bathrooms. We didn%26#39;t have any dine-in eating area, just a counter with some bar stools, but no one seemed to mind. Usually, somebody was out on the patio eating their meals, enjoying the view.

It was $12 + tax to take the shuttle out to Shell Island. The shuttle runs every half hour. There is 0 shade out there, so I%26#39;d recommend going in the morning or when it%26#39;s not too hot. There is a small boat out there where you can buy drinks and snacks.

That must be what I%26#39;m thinking.....no eating area. Thanks Brad.

No problem.

Let me see, what else should I mention...

There is a Winn Dixie right down the road (to the East) where we did all our shopping.

Thomas Donuts was right up the road (to the West).

Splash is pretty much all the way to the West end of the developed beach, but we never thought the drive to %26#39;downtown%26#39; PCB was that big of a deal. We%26#39;d just cut over to 98 and avoid all the Front Beach Road traffic.

There are towels available around the pool area, but you have to leave them down there.

We did pay $65 to have 2 beach chairs (and umbrella) for the week and it was money well spent. We used those chairs everyday.

Overall, we really liked Splash. Maybe they have worked out the kinks, maybe there just aren%26#39;t as many people down there right now, but we saw none of the problems previous posters spoke about on here. I can%26#39;t imagine you%26#39;ll ever have to wait for more than a few mintues for an elevator and you should never have a problem getting a chair by the pool. We would definitely go back.

The slope is less further east, there%26#39;s a two mile stretch from the Alf Coleman pier to Pineapple Willy%26#39;s that I used to walk in the mornings, it wasn%26#39;t too bad as long as the tide was out!

Hi ohio-brad,

Is it $65 for the whole week of 2 chairs and umbrella, or per day (I thought that%26#39;s what my friend said)?

Thanks!

We were there for a week in May and in front of our Motel the Flamingo there was no slope , nice and level . we walked and collected shells.

We were on the east end of PCB at Seychelles 8/4-8/12 and the beach was flat with no drop off at all until the last day or two, when a 1-1.5%26#39; drop off developed right at the surf line. Funny how the beaches are ever-changing. I thought it was strange how that happened seemingly overnight given there were no storms or overly rough seas. The waves were a little bigger though those last 2 days.

Ohio Brad, where exactly on Shell Island did you see the Sea Turtles? That must have been a real treat for you! We too found LOTS of sand dollars and sea urchins near the Island. Not nearly as many shells there though as we expected. I bet the shells will be rolling in now though due to Dean.

The $65 for the beach chairs and umbrella was for the entire week.

We were on the Gulf side, right near where you cut in to walk back to the shuttle when we saw the sea turtle. There were also a ton of these little jellyfish that day (silver dollar size, gray, with bright blue tentacles). Luckily, we didn%26#39;t get stun. I also saw a big, white jellyfish in the water.

You%26#39;re right, there weren%26#39;t THAT many shells out there, just some sprinkled here and there, but the ones we found were really nice.