It’s nearly February and you can already feel the hint of love in the air. That’s right, Valentine’s Day is just days away, and if you don’t already have some plans set into place, well, we can help.

We’ve put together a list of romantic date ideas and restaurants sure to impress.

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Sunset cruises

Sunset cruises are the perfect way to begin a romantic evening since the sun tends to set fairly early in Florida. These cruises tend to be about one-and-a-half hours to two hours long. Different cruises will launch at different spots, but most tend to take guests through Pensacola Bay just before sunset, giving them a unique, panoramic view they won’t find anywhere else.

Sunset cruises typically aren’t cheap. You can expect to spend a few hundred dollars or more depending on whether the cruise is public or private. Some will have drinks available for purchase, while others will allow you to bring small coolers, but it will depend on which cruise you choose. Check out the options below.

Condor Sailing

Condor Sailing’s two-hour sunset cruises are $109 per person and cruises max out at about six people, making it a semi-private affair. What makes these cruises great is that you get to hang out in their “lazy-boy” sport chairs, go surfing or flying on the bows, dangle your feet in the water and you aren’t likely to get seasick thanks to the Condor boat you’ll be cruising on.

Frisky Mermaid Dolphin Tours

Frisky Mermaid Dolphin Tours are a less expensive affair, if you don’t mind sharing the experience with some others. Tickets for the public cruise start off at about $25. These cruises last between one-and-a-half to two hours. Private tours are also available and start out at around $295. However, if you have a minimum party of four, you can split the bill for $69 per person.

Jolly Sailing and Dolphin Cruise

Jolly Sailing offers cruises onboard the Jollymoon, a sporty, custom 27-foot American Mariner sailboat. Like Condor sailing, this boat carries six passengers though these cruises can range between two and four hours, and may include snorkeling. Sunset tours start at about $75 per person or $325 for a private cruise.

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Art classes

Regardless of whether you and your partner think of yourselves as the artistic type, art classes can be an extremely fun way to spend quality time with each other. Between Painting with a Twist and First City Arts Center, there are classes and even shorter sessions that help you transform a canvas into a true work of art no matter your experience.

Painting with a Twist

At Painting with a Twist, you let the image nearly paint itself, with the help of the always-entertaining instructor, of course. Over the course of a few hours, your energetic and hilarious instructor will take your through a journey as you transform your blank canvas to a deceptively good painting of your choice. Paintings are chosen ahead of time and one of the best parts about the experience is that it’s a bring-your-own-bottle affair, so you can make it as fun or dry as you want.

First City Art Center

While Painting with a Twist is a fun experience that can teach you some painting fundamentals, First City Art Center offers classes and workshops that will transform you into an artist. These classes are aimed at curious beginners to seasoned practitioners, and they expand beyond just painting. There are classes for hot glass, pottery, sewing and more. These classes tend to be a bit more expensive because they teach you over the course of six weeks. Purchasing a membership provides a good discount and helps support the center.

Cooking Classes

Cooking classes, like art classes, are another way to explore a creative outlet with a partner. These might be a little more accessible to most since cooking is more of a universal skill. We've picked out two places that routinely offer cooking classes but scour social media because you never know when one of your favorite restaurants might have a pop-up class.

Pensacola Cooks Kitchen

Pensacola Cooks is a cooking education company offering a variety of culinary experiences for adults, children, families and food entrepreneurs. The culinary team has designed these experiences since 2005 and has become one of the best in the area. Classes are broken into adult, kids, teens and private lessons. Classes focus on a wide range of skills and recipes like developing knife skills and learning baking fundamentals to things like learning to cook the latest food trends or Japanese foods.

Bodacious Shoppes

Exploring the Bodacious Shops space would make for the perfect coffee date alone. But on the second floor, just above the cafe, So Gourmet has a kitchen and event space where it hosts public and private cooking lessons. The classes will help you chop, mix and knead your way through each recipe. Each class is small, having no more than 20 people per class, which allows for the instructor to provide personal attention and guidance. The best part is, of course, eating the three-course meal you’ve just whipped up at the end of every lesson.

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Pensacola Beach date

The beach is Pensacola’s greatest natural attraction and no slouch when it comes to providing the perfect ambience for a romantic night out. Its wide breath of things to do requires a little more creativity in nailing down how to create that experience, however. Here's a few ways to make the beach the perfect date night.

Restaurants

A nice dinner is hard to pass up, especially when you can have the Gulf of Mexico’s natural beauty serving as the perfect backdrop. There are several restaurants scattered across the beach that offer tasty food and waterfront views.

The Grand Marlin

400 Pensacola Beach Blvd.

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When it comes to fine dining on the beach, The Grand Marlin has it all: panoramic waterfront views, an ever-changing menu based on locally caught fish, island cocktails and more.

Why it’s a great date spot: While Pensacola proper has a myriad of great, romantic restaurants, The Grand Marlin is almost one-of-a-kind on Pensacola Beach when it comes to atmosphere.

On the menu: The menu is printed daily to account for fresh, local catches. Award-winning chef Gregg McCarthy helms the kitchen and uses high-quality ingredients to bring his simple concepts to life.

Drift

41 Fort Pickens Road, Floor 2

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Drift touts itself as a modern coastal cuisine restaurant, which means that it serves creative seafood dishes, hot and cold small plates, prime steak and a robust cocktail menu. Drift is located just above Casino Beach Bar and Grille and offers a more upscale experience than its downstairs neighbor.

Why it’s a great date spot: Drift is another one of Pensacola Beach’s limited fine dining options. What sets this one apart is its rooftop bar.

On the menu: Start with some char siu pork belly or Thai grouper ceviche, move onto braised rabbit cacio e pepe or a plum wine braised short rib and top it all off with one of the bar’s many signature cocktails.

Shaggy’s Pensacola Beach

701 Pensacola Beach Blvd.

Shaggy’s is arguably the highest-rated restaurant on Pensacola Beach. It’s a family and dog-friendly restaurant that not only has great food and drinks but it has an atmosphere that embodies Pensacola Beach Vibes with an island-style ambiance, waterfront views and more.

Why it’s a great date spot: Shaggy’s doubles as a great lunch spot or a fun way to close out the evening after you’ve spent a long day at the beach. Regardless of how “beachy” you feel, you’ll never feel too out of place to dine here.

On the menu: As with many restaurants on the beach, you’ll find plenty of seafood-inspired dishes like seafood macaroni and cheese, along with grilled and fried fish. For non-seafood lovers, there are burgers, steak and more.

Paradise Bar & Grill

21 Via de Luna Dr.

Paradise is an award-winning, open-air bar that sits just behind Paradise Inn on the Santa Rosa Sound. Like Shaggy’s, Paradise does a fantastic job incorporating the beach into its identity, but it’s also one of the best places on the beach to catch live music.

Why it’s a great date spot: If you’re wanting a beachy restaurant with live tunes, this is the place to go.

On the menu: Paradise keeps things simple by providing mostly pub foods like burgers, fried seafood baskets and sandwiches.

Make it an experience

Shared experiences create stronger bonds and there are plenty of experiences to be had at the beach. From parasailing and jet skis to picnics and long walks, there are plenty of things to do.

Pack a picnic

Perhaps food isn’t the main event but merely its precursor. Try packing a picnic. If you’re planning on spending your time doing other things, packing a light picnic can be a perfect way to soak in the atmosphere while indulging but leaving plenty of room to do anything else the evening entails.

Fort Pickens

Fort Pickens makes for an excellent picnic spot thanks for all of the auxiliary things to do in the area. Before or after the picnic, explore historic structures like Battery Cooper, Battery Worth and the fort itself. Battery Worth has a specific picnic area that offers restrooms, picnic tables and additional trails to check out.

Park East

If you're looking to get away from the crowds, head to Park East. Park East is where most locals go to visit the beach because it's out of the way from Casino Beach. It's quieter, has a mini board walk and makes for a great spot to watch the sun set.

UFO’s Pensacola Beach

For about a year in the late ‘80s, Gulf Breeze received national attention when a local contractor claimed to have photographic evidence of a UFO sighting. While it was ultimately proven to be a hoax, the theme has stuck around. UFO’s on the beach is a mini golf course and arcade based on the UFO sighting. The course is currently closed as it undergoes renovations, but it’s expected to reopen on Feb. 11.

Laguna's Beach Bar + Grill

Laguna's is a restaurant, yes, but it's so much more. In 2020, the Premier Adventure Park on Pensacola Beach rebranded as Laguna's, adding the restaurant, tiki bar and new attractions. You can ride go karts, traverse ropes hanging three stories above the ground, scale the Clip N' Climb structures, play at the splash pads and play mini golf.

Parasailing

Have you ever wanted to get a bird’s eye view of Pensacola Beach? Parasailing is the best way to do that. Parasail boats are rigorously inspected by the United States Coast Guard and carry up to 12 passengers. You can expect to be in the air for about 10 to 12 minutes per ride and you’ll be flying between 500 and 600 feet in the air, linked with 1,200 foot of tow line.

Key Sailing

Key Sailing is the oldest parasail service on the beach. Single rides start at $125 a person, tandem rides are $150 and tripe rides are $225. Tickets can be purchased on their website or calling 877-932-7272. Once purchased, tickets can then be used at any time. Parasail services are currently closed but will resume in March.

Laguna’s

Laguna’s offers parasail cruises starting at $65 to fly or $40 to ride along as an observer. You can also purchase a photo and video pack. Watersports are closed for the season but will resume in the spring. Book online here.

Radical Rides

Radical Rides also offers single, double and triple rides. Reservations aren’t necessary but are recommended, especially during busier times. There are two parasail boats that leave every hour. It’s recommended to show up 20 minutes before departure times. Parasailing is $75 per person, plus sales tax. Call 850-934-9743 for reservations.

Boat and personal watercraft rentals

If you're looking to take to the seas rather than the sky, check out boat and personal watercraft rentals. A Florida boating license is required to operate personal watercraft and it's recommended to take the online test before arrival. A Florida Boating Temporary Certificate is valid for 90 days after completing the boater test and can be purchased for about $10 from Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission-approved vendors Aceboater, Boat Ed and BoatTests101. You must also be 18 years old to rent and 16 years old to drive.

Key Sailing

Key Sailing offers 11-passenger pontoon boats for two hours ($200), three to four hours ($295) and six to eight hours for $495, plus a fuel and tax fuel rate of $4.50 per gallon.

Click here for more information: https://www.keysailing.com/.

Laguna’s

Laguna's offers personal watercraft rentals for 30 minutes ($65) and an hour ($105). They also have two pontoon boats available for rent for four hours ($500) and eight hours ($700).

Laguna's also has a 16-foot-long catamaran and a 13-foot-long catamaran that can be rented. The larger catamaran is $75 for an hour, $140 for two hours, $250 for four hours and $400 for eight hours. The smaller one is $55 for one hour, $95 for two hours, $150 for four hours and $400 for eight hours.

Personal watercraft can be rented for $75 for 30 minutes, $140 for an hour, $250 for two hours, $425 for four hours and $800 for eight hours. They have a new fleet of SeaDoo 130 GTI Pros that top out at around 55 miles per hour.

Click here for more information: https://lagunaspensacolabeach.com/watersports.

Radical Rides

Radical rides has a fleet of personal watercraft with models ranging from 110 horsepower and up. Personal watercraft can be rented for $75 for a half hour and $135 for an hour. Click here for more information: https://radicalrides.com/waverunner/.

Restaurants

You can practically trip over a good restaurant in Pensacola these days. However, finding a restaurant with the right ambience to create the perfect date night is a little harder. These restaurants nail everything: a great environment, scrumptious food and they don’t break the bank.

Jaco’s Bayfront Bar and Grille

997 S. Palafox St.

Jaco’s is a waterfront restaurant located at the end of South Palafox Street. It offers one of the best dining views in the city, overlooking Palafox Pier Marina and Pensacola Bay. Street parking is available and usually plentiful.

Why it’s a great date spot: As you pull up from Palafox, you’ll immediately see why this is on our list. If you pop in at the right time, preferably sunset, you’ll see it setting just behind the horizon to the right, looking past the marina and community maritime park. The pier and surrounding area are perfect for an after-dinner stroll, too. And it’s located close enough to the rest of Palafox for drinks afterward.

On the menu: Signature flatbreads, fresh seafood and unique cocktails.

Calvert’s in the Heights

670 Scenic Highway

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Calvert’s touts itself as a one-of-a-kind English-themed restaurant that is located just off Scenic Highway. One of the restaurant’s biggest allures for a great date night is the outdoor patio and seating area. It spans the full length of the restaurant and offers a unique view of Pensacola Bay. Outside, you’ll also find games like corn hole, checkers and tic-tac-toe.

Why it’s a great date spot: We won’t lie, the sunset view is the obvious reason this makes for a nice, romantic night. However, the restaurant also has karaoke nights and live music at the bar to spice things up.

On the menu: Gulf Coast take on English cuisine like shepherd’s pie, beef Wellington, fish and chips and more.

Wine Bar on Palafox

16 Palafox Place

The Wine Bar on Palafox is a casual bar that offers creative American eats with charcuterie boards and a vast selection of wines and vintages. It features one of Palafox’s more unique outside dining spots thanks to seating in the breezeway, and more seating in the bar behind the restaurant, facing Jefferson Street.

Why it’s a great date spot: Wine and dates go together hand-in-hand. The night can also be as fancy or casual as you like, as you can go all out with a nice selection of dressed-up entrees or just deciding to keep things simple with shareables.

On the menu: The wine selection is the highlight. You’ll also find charcuterie boards along with inventive shareables, sandwiches and American entrees.

Dharma Blue

300 S. Alcaniz St.

Located in the heart of the Seville Historic District, Dharma Blue is a quaint and cozy restaurant that has a simple menu packing flavor. This is one of the more expensive restaurants on the list, but the romantic outdoor seating offering a view of historic Pensacola and the incredibly solid menu will more than justify the price.

Why it’s a great date spot: The atmosphere really elevates Dharma Blue from being more than just another seafood and steakhouse. The restaurant is in a historic, 115-year-old home on the corner of Alcaniz Street, just across from Seville Square. The dimly-lit interior makes for a great dinner setting, but the outdoor seating, illuminated by candlelight and string lights, is even better.

On the menu: Fresh seafood and sushi, steak and pasta.

The Elbow Room

2213 W. Cervantes St.

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If you’ve been to the Elbow Room, you might be surprised to find it here on the list. It’s one of Pensacola’s longest-running pubs that’s decked out in red, ambient lighting, Star Trek memorabilia, an old Dolly Parton pinball machine and dozens of board games that look older than most of its patrons. But for many, that’s exactly why it belongs on this list.

Why it’s a great date spot: The Elbow Room is all about imbibing on its Twin Peaks vibe — the show, not the restaurant — and enjoying the company you’re in. Whether it’s just grabbing drinks and playing board games or chowing down on a giant pretzel or pizza — it’s another great place to get to know a date.

On the menu: Traditional pub food and pizza.

Ichiban

5555 N. Davis Highway

Ichiban is one of Pensacola’s most-recommended Japanese restaurants. While everything is fantastic at this restaurant, it’s on this list for the hibachi experience. Historically, hibachi has a much different meaning in Japan than it does for us here — which really has nothing to do with cooking at all. For Americans, we tend to think of hibachi as a group of people sitting around a hibachi-heated grill as a chef shows off their skills in a cooking demonstration where they flip their cooking utensils, food and others before serving it up to patrons.

Why it’s a great date spot: Hibachi is always a fun experience — whether it’s with friends or on a date. It’s often interactive, too, making it even more fun and cutting some of the pressure by having a fun backdrop for conversation. Plus, there’s always sushi and other foods to try if you decide not to go the hibachi route.

On the menu: Sushi, hibachi, bento boxes, nigiri and more.

Restaurant IRON

22 N. Palafox St.

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Restaurant IRON is a contemporary restaurant that has aimed — successfully — to elevate Southern cuisine here in Pensacola. Executive Chef Alex McPhail brings fresh, local specialties with ingredients from all over the world to create a special experience unique on Palafox.

Why it’s a great date spot: This is definitely a spot for foodies who are looking for a more upscale dining experience. Seating inside offers a dimly lit and ambient experience. Guests can order award-winning cocktails from the bar.

On the menu: Southern food with national and international twists.

Angelena's Ristorante Italiano

101 E. Intendencia St.

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Angelena’s is helmed by Food Network personality and nationally-renowned chef James Briscione and wife, Brooke Parkhurst, who curates and sources Italian wines. The interior is an interesting mesh between casual and upscale, so you won't feel out of place dressing up or down.

Why it’s a great date spot: Angelena’s is a great spot for an upscale meal without having to dress the part. Tuesdays have a great pizza and wine bottle special, and the restaurant is centrally located in downtown for after-dinner drinks.

On the menu: Rustic-yet-elegant plates and Italian coastal cuisine.

Bonelli's

1217 N. Ninth Ave.

Bonelli’s is Pensacola’s best-kept-secret when it comes to Italian food. The unassuming building located on Ninth Avenue betrays the quality of the home-cooked meal you and your date are about to devour. It’s recommended to call ahead and make reservations.

Why it’s a great date spot: The outside seating is lit up with string lights and occasionally has live, acoustic music to set the perfect ambiance for a romantic date. And if "Lady and the Tramp" taught us anything, Italian food is about as romantic as it gets.

On the menu: Home-cooked Italian food. Bring along gluten-free pasta and they’ll accommodate.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Best romantic restaurants, date spots and date ideas in Pensacola