Westwinds

Turn south toward the water on Sandestin's beach side and the resort's low villa lanes give way to a single pale tower rising over the dunes, its stacked balconies catching the sun above a beach of blinding white sand. This is Westwinds, the Gulf-front high-rise address within Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort - a vertical, view-first counterpoint to the tree-shaded townhome neighborhoods behind it. Where much of the beachfront district reads as two- and three-story villas tucked among natural lakes and bike paths, Westwinds stands tall and squarely on the Gulf, a wall of glass and balconies where the sand is not a distant amenity but the ground the building rises from.

Westwinds sits on the south, Gulf-facing side of U.S. Highway 98 inside Sandestin, directly on the sugar-white quartz sand that gives the Emerald Coast its name. The beach here is the region's famously fine, soft shoreline, fronting turquoise, green-shot water, and the tower's position puts private beach access only steps from the lobby - a short walk over the dunes rather than a drive or a shuttle ride. Set within Sandestin's Beachside quarter, it belongs to the resort's beachfront district south of the highway, distinct from the bay-side energy of Baytowne and the quieter interior around Lakeside. Because it lies inside the gates of Sandestin, Westwinds is best understood as one Gulf-front building within a much larger world. Its residents share the full 2,400-acre resort - beaches, marina, village, and four golf courses - while their own address is the tall tower on the sand. For the wider Gulf-to-bay span of the resort and its layered history, the parent Sandestin community tells that story; Westwinds is its high-rise on the water, alongside the neighboring Beachside towers.

Westwinds has no separate founding of its own; its history is Sandestin's. The resort took shape from the early 1970s on a stretch reaching from the Gulf to Choctawhatchee Bay, its name a portmanteau of Santa Rosa Beach to the east and Destin to the west. The tower itself dates to 1998, one of the later Gulf-front additions to a beachfront edge that filled in over decades - the twin Beachside towers among the earliest, Westwinds among the tall high-rises that completed the resort's shoreline skyline. Rather than a standalone development, it arrived as a piece of Sandestin's steady beachside build-out, set behind the same protected dune line as the rest.

Westwinds is a Gulf-front high-rise - most sources describe a roughly 21-story tower, its pale flank stepping skyward over the beach. Inside are one-, two-, and three-bedroom residences, each opening to a private, wraparound Gulf-front balcony with long views down the coast and out over the water. The units are individually owned, so interiors vary from owner to owner, but the shared frame is consistent: open floor plans, full kitchens, and floor-to-ceiling light off the Gulf. A two-story lobby, four elevators, and a covered, gated parking structure serve the building, and secured entry keeps the tower private within the already-gated resort. The higher floors trade proximity to the pool deck for the widest horizons, where the curve of the shoreline and the changing color of the Gulf fill the glass.

Daily life at Westwinds orbits its beachfront pool deck. A tropical, lagoon-shaped pool sits among clusters of palms, fed by cascading waterfalls and seasonally heated, with an outdoor hot tub overlooking the Gulf, an expansive sun deck, and a seasonal tiki bar and grilling area that runs through the warmer months. There is a state-of-the-art fitness center, a playground and picnic area for younger guests, and the beach itself just beyond the dune. Beyond the building, the whole of Sandestin is reachable by golf cart, bike, or resort tram: the shops, restaurants, and boardwalk of the Village of Baytowne Wharf on the bay, the resort marina, the four golf courses, and the tennis and pickleball complex. Just outside the resort gates, the shops and dining of Grand Boulevard extend the menu further. The rhythm is one of moving between water and amenity on foot or by cart, rarely reaching for a car.

Like the rest of Sandestin, Westwinds is built for low-car living. Dedicated bike and golf-cart paths and resort shuttles connect the tower to the beach, the bay, and Baytowne Wharf, so much of the day can unfold without the highway. When the highway is needed, U.S. 98 runs straight through the resort, putting Destin's harbor and shops a short drive to the west and the scenic beach towns of 30A close to the east. Destin Executive Airport is nearby, with commercial service available from Northwest Florida Beaches International near Panama City within a comfortable drive.

Westwinds suits those who want the Gulf itself as their address in vertical form - buyers who would rather wake to surf and a wide horizon from a high balcony than to a fairway or a villa lane, with the full breadth of Sandestin waiting just inland. It draws second-home owners and beach-lovers who prefer a tower to a townhome, and anyone who wants resort-style amenities on the pool deck and the white sand at the door. For those choosing among Sandestin's beachfront addresses, Westwinds is the high-rise on the water: a Gulf-front tower with the whole resort behind it.