Ever wondered why the sand along the Emerald Coast from Destin to Panama City is so white? You can thank the Appalachian mountains and the Apalachicola river for our beautiful beaches. Thousands of years ago, as the earth warmed, the water from the base of the mountain carried these pure quartz particles we now know as the beach down towards the ocean to form a new shoreline. Our sand is the one of the most homogenous sands in the world!