Panama City Beach offers tons of attractions and events on its sandy shores, but if you're here during spring break, be ready to party. Panama City Beach is a hot spring-break destination for college kids gone wild, and MTV broadcasts its annual rollicking beach parties from Panama City Beach. But the fun doesn't end after May.

In autumn, Panama City Beach's Boardwalk Beach Resort (www.boardwalk beachresort.com) gears up for high speed and full-throttle macho men and ladies with the Thunder Beach Motorcycle Rally ( www.thunderbeach productions.com) and the Super Boat Florida / National Championship (www.superboat.com). Thunder Beach's annual four-day event of in-your-face biker dudes and chicks, exhibitions and stunt shows takes place in September. The wildly popular Super Boat National Championship (www.superboat.com) makes huge waves with equally huge boats in October with more than 85 water vessels competing.

Despite its many attractions skewed to adults, Panama City Beach is kid-friendly as well. Little ones will go wild for ZooWorld Zoological and Botanical Park (www.zooworldpcb.net), with more than 275 exotic and endangered animals in a tropical landscape that's open all year. Lions, monkeys, snow leopards, Bengal tigers, camels, giraffes, snakes and more slither and slink about the grounds. And you can watch the zoo's adorable baby animals being fed and cared for by ZooWorld staff at the Infant Care Facility. When the kids need to cool off, bring them to Shipwreck Island (www.miraclestrippark.com), the city's only waterpark. Tadpole Hole offers rides for small shipwreckers, while parents can relax on the lazy river or go for a bumpier ride on Raging Rapids.

Shoppers will want to visit Pier Park. The open-air mall has all of the usual staples, such as Old Navy and Victoria's Secret, and some Florida-appropriate selections such as Ron Jon Surf Shop. After a day of shopping, you can catch some live honky-tonk tunes at the Pier Park outpost of Nashville's Tootsies Orchid Lounge. But you'll likely want to head across from the mall to see PCB's main attraction: the gorgeous white-sand beach.

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"Panama City Beach Attractions ". October 23, 2008 http://mobiltravelguide.howstuffworks.com/tc-beaches-panama-city-beach-attractions.htm (November 24, 2009)