ROSEMARY BEACH, Fla. -- It's fall, it's warm, and the sugar white beaches along Florida's northwest panhandle are looking very inviting.

It's the time of year that Jason Bell is particularly fond of. The mad rush of summer is over and the 22-year-old can ease up a little on his work renting kayaks and setting up beach chairs and umbrellas.

"Yep, it's a great place, maybe the best spot anywhere to be right now,'' Bell says, scanning the seaside territory where he's worked for the past half dozen years or so.

Jason was raised about 200 metres from the spot where he now rents out his beach equipment, so his observations have to be treated with some respect.