Port St. Joe, Florida

WindMark Beach
Sunday, July 13 - Thursday, July 17, 2025

Welcome to part of Florida’s beautiful forgotten coast… Port St. Joe, Florida!

Join us at Blue Skies in the charming coast community of Windmark Beach in Port St. Joe, Florida. It’s known for the pristine bay, sugar white beaches, rich sea life, and beautiful dunes! Port St. Joe is steeped in history, natural beauty and outdoor adventure! Windmark Beach opened its doors to Blue Skies as we launched the ministry and held our first camp in 2010, and it continues to serve as home base for our spring and many of the summer camps. Port St. Joe is so dear to Blue Skies because of the countless memories we’ve made, the fun we’ve had, the family friendly community it provides and the incredible locals who have become family to us! Port St. Joe is known as a small beach town with a big heart, a place where visitors instantly feel like locals. We love it and know you will too!

snorkeling

One of our favorite activities at camp is snorkeling! Weather permitting, we’ll enjoy a day on the bay together hunting for the treasures in the sea. We find starfish, hermit crabs, sand dollars and have fun looking for dolphins as we cross the bay on our adventure! The most fun is spending time together and getting to know one another.

WHAT TO KNOW

where

WindMark Beach, Port St. Joe, Florida (in the Florida panhandle)

Address: 101 Good Morning Street, Port St. Joe, FL 32456

ARRIVAL/DEPARTURE

Arrival time: Between 4pm - 5pm EST. Port St. Joe is only a couple of miles from CST, so be sure to set your phones to stay on EST!

Departure time: 9:30am EST

what to pack

You won’t need much! Pack casual clothes, bathing suits, flip flops and your toiletries. Remember to bring all of your family's routine medications like Advil, Tylenol, bandaids, etc. along with any prescription medications, medical supplies, equipment and swim diapers if you have little ones. The community is ideal for biking and skating. Feel free to bring bikes, scooters or skates if you like!

We will provide:

  • Bed and bath linens

  • Beach towels

  • Beach chairs and umbrellas

  • Toilet paper, paper towels, laundry detergent, dryer sheets, dishwashing pods

  • Sunscreen (30+ lotion)

  • Snacks and bottled water, canned soda at the beach and pool

  • Sand toys, sand buckets, rafts, and pool toys

  • Games, arts & crafts

Pack for our theme nights:

Sunday: Splish Splash Blue Bash (wear everything BLUE and bring your swimsuit)

Monday: Hoedown (Jeans, plaid shirt, cowboy hat, boots, fake mustache, bandana)

Tuesday: Jingles in July (grab your best or worst Christmas sweater, Santa hat, anything Christmas)

Wednesday: Red, White, and BLUE SKIES (All things USA, red, white, blue, American flag, Blue Skies t-shirt)

schedule

Here’s what a day at camp looks like! You’ll get a text a few days out from camp with your final schedule and a roster!

guidelines

To help keep everyone safe, please review our guidelines for camp by clicking HERE. We ask all campers to abide by these guidelines to ensure we all have an incredible week together!

COST

Thanks to the fundraising that our volunteers participate in and the generous donations of others, our camps and mountain getaways are provided at no cost to you and your family apart from your transportation and possibly a meal or two.

GET YOUR CAMP T—SHIRT

Each person coming to camp is able to purchase one camp shirt half off ($15) for pick up at camp! Payment will be collected via Venmo at check in. Fill out the form below to purchase your camp shirt! Orders must be submitted by June 23rd to be picked up at camp. Order here!

what to expect

You can expect lots of smiles and excitement! Our team of volunteers will be ready to greet you with open arms! When you pull into the community of WindMark Beach just follow the signs to BLUE SKIES.

If you can, have the whole family join you at check-in so we can grab a quick picture of your family and meet everyone. You will also meet your Family Host Team once you finish checking in. Throughout the retreat, your Family Hosts will greet you at activities and will be available to answer questions, point you in the right direction, and help you have an amazing week with your family!

Each day begins with fun and togetherness! We start with a wall of donuts and coffee followed by Chapel. Afterward, parents gather to get to know each other and share their journeys while the kids play and have fun! Afternoons are spent lounging at the beach and pool - and there’s plenty of time for naps or sightseeing, too, if you like. After dinner, get ready for lots of laughs and fun family time at each of our evening activities! One night, we will have a Red, White, and Blue Skies parade. (You may want to throw in something red, white, and blue to wear that night.) Finally, after watching a glorious sunset, you can grab some milk and cookies from the lullaby cart before climbing into bed. It's gonna be a great time!

And hopefully, exactly what you and your family need!!

We ask every guest family to attend our welcome dinner and participate in our first Kindred Journey session. We encourage guest families to participate in all camp activities, but, take from this week what your family needs and participate in what you choose.

MEALS

At check-in, you’ll receive some money to help you with groceries. We serve donuts, breakfast bars, and coffee at Good Morning Blue Skies. If you want a hot breakfast or something else, each house has a fully equipped kitchen (or there’s a McDonald’s in town).

We will serve lunch and eat together apart from snorkel day. After Pizza at our welcome dinner, you’ll be back on your own for dinner to cook or go out before our evening activities.

There is a Piggly Wiggly in town about 3 miles from camp. There is a Walmart about 30 minutes away and a Sam’s Club about an hour away. We will have snacks and bottled water, juice boxes, and canned drinks at the pool and beach.

housing

At WindMark, two families share a house together. We make every effort to thoughtfully pair families in a house. Each family will have two bedrooms and their own bath.

We hear from so many families that they were nervous about sharing a house with someone they didn’t know but it turns out to be one of the favorite parts of their time at Blue Skies. Families find forever friends in their housemates!

travel

We wish we could blink you down to camp, but each family must provide their own transportation. If you need to fly, the closest airport to Windmark Beach in Florida is the Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport in Panama City, Florida. The airport is located in the Central Time Zone (camp is on Eastern Time). It takes about an hour to get to the airport. You will need a car at camp to go to the grocery store, to get to snorkeling, beach day at Cape San Blas, etc.

podcast

Click here to hear Melinda’s heart behind the ministry and the hope Blue Skies brought to the Dryden family as they join Christy Nockels on her podcast!

a letter from melinda

Click here to read a welcome from Melinda!

additional info

Windmark Beach is the ideal place for biking, skating, walking, running, etc.  There are boardwalks throughout the community and a path that runs along the water!

Cancellation Policy

Please let us know right away if for some reason you can not make it to camp. We want to make sure every room is filled with families who need a little Blue Skies! Email Mary Nicholl, our Guest Family Coordinator, signmeup@whereskiesareblue.org.