Winter's Splendid Secret To A Northerner, The "Redneck Riviera" Is Balmy. Its Beaches Are Snowy-white. And - Hurrah! - Hardly Anybody Knows.

PENSACOLA BEACH, Fla. — Psst! Lean in a little closer. I want to tell you about a great winter travel destination that nobody in this part of the world knows about.

It's a terrific place to head when you've had it up to here with the cold and the slush and the dirty snow.

And nobody knows about it.

I'm talking about miles and miles of virtually deserted beaches with sand so white it looks like sugar.

And the azure waters of the Gulf of Mexico gently lapping the beach outside your $40-a-night hotel room. (That's right, 40 bucks a night, give or take.)

And shirtsleeve weather.

And great golf.

And every water sport you can imagine.

And enough caught-that-day seafood to turn a Jenny Craig devotee into a gourmand in an instant.

And, get this: January and February are off season!

But, best of all, nobody knows about this place.

Well, OK, so maybe some folks from Alabama and Kentucky and Tennessee and such places know about it. But they all come down here in the spring and summer and fall. And that may explain why this westernmost coastal area of the Florida panhandle is known, somewhat irreverently, as "The Redneck Riviera."

Most of those folks think wintertime here is too cold to be going to the beach and, thus, the place is almost empty (which explains the $40-a-night rooms). That, heh, heh, leaves it wide open for you and me - people who think temperatures in the high 60s, low 70s are just wonderful in January and February.

Sure, the water in the gulf (or "guff," as it's pronounced hereabouts) at that time of year won't remind you of your bathtub, but you don't have to be a member of the Polar Bear Club to enjoy a bracing dip.

Even if you get a cloudy or rainy day, there's still plenty to do - this area has enough history and natural beauty to keep you going through an entire monsoon season.

The "Riviera" comprises the coastal area running roughly from Panama City, Fla., in the east to Biloxi, Miss., in the west, as well as the barrier islands just offshore, many of which are part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore.

Pensacola Beach is ideally situated near the midway point, on Santa Rosa Island, across Santa Rosa Sound and Pensacola Bay from Pensacola proper. It would be misleading to call this a subtropical paradise. It's not - the developed portions of the islands are reminiscent of parts of the Jersey Shore.