Port St. Joe, Florida
Monday, April 6 - Thursday, April 9, 2026
Welcome to part of Florida’s beautiful forgotten coast… Port St. Joe, Florida!
Our Blue Skies camps in Florida are held in the charming coastal town of Port St. Joe. It’s known for the pristine bay, beautiful beach, rich sea life, and majestic sunsets! WindMark Beach is a resort community in Port St. Joe. They opened their doors to Blue Skies as we launched the ministry with our first camp in 2010, and they continues to serve as home base for several camps/activities every year. 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!
This year, we are staying at a bay front hotel called Hotel St. Joseph located in downtown Port St. Joe. Evening activities will be held at WindMark with beach play on Cape San Blas.
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 beautiful bay. 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
Hotel St. Joseph
Address: 504 Monument Ave, Port St. Joe, FL 32456
ARRIVAL/DEPARTURE
Arrival time: Between 4:30pm - 5pm EST.
(Port St. Joe is only a couple of miles from CST, so be sure your phones and watches are set to Eastern time so you’re not late:)
Please call your site director, Tami Armstrong @ 662-275-8070 if you are running late for the 4:30 pm EST check-in. (Remember we are close to central time which is an hour behind.)
Departure time: 9:00am EST
what to pack
You won’t need much! Pack casual clothes, bathing suits, flip flops and your toiletries.We have theme night parties each evening. Feel free to bring any accessories you would like (we will have a few with us to ease your packing!)
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 hotel is right beside pickleball courts if you play, bring your paddle!
We will provide:
Sunscreen (30+ lotion)
Pool and beach towels
Snacks and drinks at the beach/pool
Beach chairs/umbrellas
Sand toys, sand buckets, rafts, and pool toys
Games, arts & crafts
Theme nights
Monday night: Splish Splash Blue Bash (Wear a blue bathing suit if you have one. No worries if you don’t!)
Tuesday night: Blue Skies Hoe Down! BBQ and dance
Wednesday night: Red, White, Blue Skies with a hometown parade (If you have something patriotic to wear, that’d be fun!)
CAMP T—SHIRT
We have fun camp t-shirts designed uniquely for the PSJ camp. You will receive a text with a link to a google form along with a picture of the shirt to let us know if you would like one and your preferred size. (We get it, not everyone is a t-shirt person OR you may not see yourself wearing this year’s shirt. No worries! Just click on the link to the google form and select, no thank you. It will help us be good stewards to give shirts only to those who would like one:))
housing
New this year, volunteers and guests will stay at a local hotel in downtown PSJ. It’s a darling new 27 room hotel that we rented out for camp! Your room assignments will be given at check-in. (For those of you who’ve been to PSJ with us, it overlooks the bay near the public pier, playground and pickleball courts.)
schedule
Here’s an idea of what a day at camp looks like! You’ll get a text a few days out from camp with your final schedule and the camp roster!
what to expect
When you arrive at the hotel, you can expect lots of smiles and excitement! Our team of volunteers will be ready to greet you with open arms!
We will unload your car at check-in and grab a quick family picture. You will meet your Family Host/Team once you finish checking in. Throughout the retreat, your Family Host(s) will greet you at activities and will be available to answer questions, point you in the right direction, and help you have an amazing time with your family!
Our first night together will be a super fun pool party right after dinner. We won’t stay up too late because we know you’ll have had a long day of travel.
Our mornings begin with treats and togetherness! We will offer a continental “grab and go” breakfast at the hotel and then head over to the beach for Good Morning Blue Skies and chapel. (We spend our day at Rish Park on Cape San Blas. There’s an Olympic size swimming pool overlooking the beach, plenty of shaded areas, picnic tables and a boardwalk that extends to the beach and under the road to the bay.)
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.
We will have dinner together and then afterwards get ready for lots of laughs and fun family time at each of our evening activities! On our last night together, we will have a Red, White, and Blue Skies parade!
After watching the glorious sunsets each night, you can grab some milk and cookies before climbing into your comfy 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. This is important so everyone can meet each other and get connected. We hope our guest families participate in all the fun at camp, but, take from this week what your family needs and participate in what you choose.
MEALS
Thanks to our local volunteers in PSJ who pick up the food and serve it for us, we can enjoy sharing meals together, spending time getting to know one another. We will have grab and go continental breakfasts at the hotel. Lunches and dinners we’ll eat together apart from snorkel day. Please help us show our HUGE gratitude by thanking them when you see the volunteers! Some of the sweetest memories and best connections at camp have been made while sharing a meal together! Please let us know if you have any dietary allergies or restrictions.
We will have snacks and drinks at most camp activities. We encourage everyone to bring a reusable water bottle, it helps us be good stewards!
There is a Piggly Wiggly less than a mile from camp if you need anything.
communication at camp
We are going to try GroupMe this year at camp to communicate with our volunteers and guest families. You will receive a team text soon! We will send daily camp schedules, updates, and encouragements via the group text.
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 Port St. Joe, 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 get to WindMark resort for evening activities (about 3 miles from the hotel) and beach day at Cape San Blas.
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!
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!
Welcome from melinda
Click here to read a welcome from Melinda!
JOIN THE FACEBOOK GROUP:
Make sure to join the Facebook group here, for intro’s from other families going to camp!
COST
Thanks to the fundraising that our volunteers participate in and the generous donations of others, this retreat is provided at no cost to you and your family apart from your transportation to and from camp. Each camp costs between $50,000 - $75,000 to host. If you know of a church, business, foundation, school or individual who may be interested in sponsoring an activity at camp, we’d be happy to talk with them!
If you can’t make it to camp
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! Please call your site director, Tami Armstrong @ 662-275-8070 if you need to cancel.
JOIN YOUR FACEBOOK GROUP TODAY!
Join your camp-specific Facebook group for all things updates, information, and to get to know one another before camp! Can’t wait to see y’all soon!
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.