'I think this is our last chance': Crowds flock to Bay beaches // see FORECAST MAPS

PANAMA CITY BEACH — A little rain and a red flag warning of dangerous surf couldn't keep beachgoers away from the water on a weekend many said they considered their last chance to enjoy the shores before oil arrives.

With an oil sheen less than a mile off Pensacola Beach and reports of tar balls washing up as far east as Grayton Beach in Walton County, even the most conservative forecasters were predicting imminent landfall in Bay County.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) closed another 565 square miles of federal waters Saturday evening to commercial and recreational fishers. The latest closures shut down waters 9 miles out from Panama City Beach shorelines.

The fishery closure now measures 78,603 square miles and covers about 33 percent of the Gulf.

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• MAP: See where the waters are closed »
• MAP: See the oil spill forecast for Sunday »
• MAP: See the oil spill forecast for Monday »
• MAP: See the oil spill forecast for Tuesday »

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Vacationers and locals alike soaked up what little sun shone on the beach Saturday afternoon.

The Conaway family comes down to Panama City Beach from Georgia at least two or three times a year; they made a special trip this week to beat the oil.

"We wanted to come here before it hit," Matacha said as her husband, Mike, and daughters Erin and Jennifer dashed into the waves. "I think this is our last chance. It's going to be 10 years probably before we can take the kids back out."

Her eldest daughter, 8-year-old Jennifer, had heard about how the Deepwater Horizon oil spill was affecting "the ocean and sea life."

"I think it's going to be affecting us really soon," Jennifer said, "and everybody's really worried."

Panama City Beach natives Tera Justin and Sarah McNair took advantage of the day as well.

"We felt like we don't have too many beach days left," McNair said as he sipped a beer. "We've been talking about coming for a while, but I was like, 'You know what; we're going now because we might not have a chance to next week or the week after.'

"It makes me sick to my stomach," he said.

Justin, like many others, worried about how the oil spill might further dry up the local economy.

"We're going to lose a lot of people," she said. "A lot of jobs."

Shawn Russell moved to Panama City Beach from North Carolina a little more than six months ago. She was lying on the white sand Saturday, working on her tan.

She didn't give the oil spill much thought before coming out, she said.

"I always hold out until the end and hope for the best," Russell said. "What happens, happens, and you deal with it; you just take it day by day and hope it lasts shorter than longer."