It really depends what you want to do. Personally I would steer clear of PCB and the Destin area, they are too congested although the beaches and water are fantastic. 30A is a great little series of pre planned communities and is famous as you probably see every asshole in the south with a 30A sticker. If you have loads of cash, go for it, but for me with a young family not my scene. If you must stay in Florida I lived in Perdido Key for 3 years on a little island. It was quite and sublime, much less tourism, much less traffic, blue angels fly over your house every tuesday. Downside was limited restaurants and shopping...pensacola is 30 + minutes away and that is where you would have to go shop for most things.
I made the leap and moved to Gulf Shores 4 years ago. Reasons...beaches are great, more restaurants, small town feel, all the shopping we need and a city school system. Plenty of tourist but not as busy as the Destin/PCB area and you can avoid them once you learn where to go and such. Orange Beach is also great, bit smaller than Gulf Shores, but better restaurants and easier access to the beach and bays. I would live in Orange Beach if it were not for the schools...Like I said Gulf Shores broke off from the county school system and it has made a world of difference. The hardest part about the decision was convincing my self living in Alabama would be okay...coming from Seattle you can probably imagine there was a bit of culture shock
Dont even consider MS, beaches suck, really everything sucks except the casinos and the baseball fields.