Looking for a summer vacation spot we haven't been to yet. Would prefer less than 12 hour drive from DFW. Will be a large family trip. Guys like to fish, girls like to lounge on beach and shop. Kids will play on the beach as well. Any suggestions?

TIA!

join the rest of the Texans and drive over to the 30A beaches(seaside, rosemary, grayton, etc.) in the Florida Panhandle.
Probably not a great deal of inventory this late in the game, but you might get lucky.

VRBO is a good place to start looking.

South padre Island. About 9 hours south.

I second 30A but Gulf Shores area isnt bad either. With the blue angels /pensicola 30 mins away and other things like USS Alabama in Mobile

I wouldnt go to Texas beaches if willing to drive 12 plus hours. outer banks in NC is a possibility as well although that goes past the 12 hours most likely for travel

Matsui said:

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South padre Island. About 9 hours south.

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SPI is a nice place to visit for a quick cheap getaway...and don't get me wrong I like Padre.
But I don't think I have ever heard anyone associate SPI and " best beach".
Unless you're strictly talking about Texas beaches
Gulf shores, Destin, Pensacola all within 10 hours of DFW

Best beach is Destin (around 14 hours), best beach in Texas is SPI (around 9 hours).

Sarasota and Clearwater have amazing beaches. Sarasota is consistently rated the best beach in America.

yes Sarasota and Clearwater both great beach towns... Been to both.
Both of them much farther drive than 12 hours from DFW

Ag CPA said:

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Best beach is Destin (around 14 hours), best beach in Texas is SPI (around 9 hours).

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Destin not 14 hours from DFW .. Closer to 10

Siesta Key is the best beach in Florida

Norfork Lake in Northern Arkansas has some great beaches.

Anywhere on the Florida Panhandle is great. SPI is a great alternative, but maybe not for a week. SPI is a 3-4 day type of place.

Aggie said:

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Ag CPA said:

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EBest beach is Destin (around 14 hours), best beach in Texas is SPI (around 9 hours).

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Destin not 14 hours from DFW .. Closer to 10

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Google says it's 12 so we'll split the difference.

Definitely 30A. Destin is too crowded. Beaches on 30A are beautiful and building height rules prevent it from being Destin, Panama City Beach, etc. Can surfcast or fish in the ocean (fewer options than if you went to Destin on this) or fish in the Choctawatchee Bay. Wimmens can spend money in Seaside while you are out providing food for the table. Beautiful turquoise waters and sugary white sand.
Edited - grabbed a few of my old photos of the area. Note how beautiful the natural dunes and coastline are when the hotels are NOT built directly onto the beach. Dune photo is taken from the boardwalk at WaterSound. Others are Old Seagrove and Eastern Lake.

Thanks everyone

We go to Navarre beach every year in Florida. Really low key spot. A couple of condo properties on the beach, a beach club for renting kayaks and jet skis and a pier to fish off of. Some small private shops so not much in the way of shopping. We generally drive to Pensacola and Destin each one day for bay fishing, shopping and dinner. Spend most of our days on the beach and then eat in the condo and play games with the kids. Always a good time. And the beach isn't nearly as crowded as what you'll find at Pensacola, Ft Walton or Destin. It's between Pensacola and Destin (about 10 hrs from DFW)

Could do gulf shores Alabama. A tad closer than Destin.

Anywhere from Pensacola Beach to Rosemary Beach. Within that geography it really comes down to personal preferences - a lot of that being how much one is willing to trade some crowds and traffic for readily accessible "conveniences" - and, to some extent, how much one is willing to spend.