Looking to avoid as many other tourists as possible, any good local places for seafood & fresh oysters ?

  Also any decent pew pew shops around ?

Fresh oysters are hard to come by right now. Nearby Apalachicola Bay was the hotspot for oyster harvest for a long time, but has been closed off to harvest for a few years. You can still order them everywhere, but they aren't cheap like they used to be.


Pier 77 has always been a favorite for seafood that is a little more low key, but they had a fire last year and haven't reopened.

Gary's Oyster Shack is east of Panama City and not really convenient, but is really good. It is definitely out of the way for most tourists but worth the drive if you're staying on the beach.

Hunts Oyster Bar was always the best for oysters but tourists discovered it maybe 15 years ago, so the waits can be unreasonable.