what is there to do at gulf shores alabama
fifteen Top-Rated Attractions & Things to Practise in Gulf Shores, AL
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Gulf Shores, along with neighboring Orangish Embankment, is an unforgettable place to visit that offers one of the almost well-rounded vacation experiences in the United States. With its culinary diversity, tourist attractions, and all-encompassing options for things to do both on water and land, this resort community appeals to couples, families, and solo travelers every bit.
Toss your flip-flops into the sand on your style to the embankment to enjoy the pristine white sands that the area is known for. While the beaches along the Gulf of Mexico are the centerpiece of Gulf Shores, you tin can do many outdoor activities, from golfing and biking to birding, with the emerald waters and perfectly blue skies as your backdrop.
Have advantage of the diversity of marine life on a dolphin watching tour or fishing lease and run into the local wildlife in Gulf Country Park. Customizing your vacation and finding the best places to visit is easy with our list of the tiptop attractions in Gulf Shores.
Encounter as well: Where to Stay in Alabama'south Gulf Shores
Note: Some businesses may exist temporarily closed due to recent global health and condom problems.
ane. The Embankment
The Gulf Shores beaches are distinctive, with sand the colour and consistency of sugar, and spending a 24-hour interval in the surf or just enjoying the salt breeze beneath a awning are popular things to do. Though Gulf Shores and Orange Beach are beach communities, with 32 miles of embankment, you volition have no problem finding the perfect spot, even during peak times of the day.
If you enjoy beachcombing at sunrise, take a pocketbook to collect some of the sand dollars that wash upwardly on shore. You can selection up a costless shelling pocketbook from the Gulf Shores or Orange Embankment Welcome Centers. Photographers will delight in the angles of the lord's day at sunrise and sunset that offer perfect light for family photos or capturing pelicans settling in on the pier.
Nigh condominiums along the beach offer lounge chair and umbrella rentals. If you program to spend a 24-hour interval at the beach, a packed lunch and snacks is recommended, as you will non observe many eating options on the beach side of the condos where almost tourists stay.
2. Gulf State Park
It'south piece of cake to plan a full twenty-four hours at Gulf State Park, where the main describe is outdoor recreation. The park maintains a weekly activities calendar, which yous tin review before your visit to find out about organized activities, or you lot can explore on your own.
The well-maintained park offers hiking trails, a pier, and beaches. For added outdoor adventure, you can rent kayaks, Segways, and paddleboards to use in the park.
There is a free bike-share program within the park where y'all tin can accept advantage of a variety of biking options, like tandem bikes, kids' bikes, and pull-backside kiddie trailers. Guided Segway tours are too available. Keep your eyes open as you lot Segway, walk or ride on the trails, as you may see an alligator or two among the abundance of wildlife.
The Gulf Country Park Pier is also a pop attraction, whether you lot desire to sit on the beach below, or try your mitt at angling. If y'all don't know how to fish, you can sign up for the Angler University in the summer months. Guided Pier Walks are offered year-round and are a corking way to learn well-nigh the natural surroundings in Gulf Shores.
The Gulf State Park Nature Center has easily-on activities, including live animal demonstrations, guided embankment walks, telescope viewing, and educational programs for kids.
Campsites are available, as well as a popular RV park, but RV owners are advised to brand reservations every bit far in advance as possible. Pet owners can bring Fido to Lake Shelby, which has a defended canis familiaris park.
Address: 20115 Expressway 135, Gulf Shores, Alabama
Official site: http://alapark.com/gulf-state-park
iii. Gulf State Park Pier
It's easy to spend several hours at the Gulf State Park Pier, which is popular for fishing and people watching. For a few dollars you can come and go from the one,540-foot-long public pier all twenty-four hours. On the ii miles of beaches, you lot can watch surfers and swimmers and relax in the Gulf breeze.
The pier restaurant makes information technology easy to stay for several hours. You can grab a bite to go or savour the above-embankment perspective, with seating that faces the h2o.
Local and out-of-town anglers flock to the pier daily. Fishing equipment is bachelor for rent if you do not want to bring your own. Some of the best Gulf Shores amusement is watching other fisherman and the pelicans that compete for the catch.
It is non uncommon to encounter sharks in the water below the pier prowling for the leftovers of fish that are cleaned on-site. Go on your eyes peeled, as you might just encounter a shark alienation the h2o.
Address: 20115 Superhighway 135, Gulf Shores, Alabama
Official site: https://www.alapark.com/gulf-state-park-fishing-and-education-pier
4. Sailaway Charters Eco-Tours
Join Captain Skip at Sailaway Charters to navigate the backwaters of Longs Bayou and Wolf Bay. This small-group chance provides intimate insight into the ecosystem of the region, waters, and wild animals.
Find out why Alabama produces more than 1.5 million bushels of blue crabs annually and learn about the life cycle of oysters that come from these waters.
During your educational trip, watch for dolphins that like to swim alongside the modest boat and the herons and other animals that call the estuaries abode.
Address: 24231 Gulf Bay Road, Orange Beach, Alabama
Official site: http://www.sailorskip.com/
5. Alabama Gulf Declension Zoo
The Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo is a growing attraction with popular exhibits that include giraffes, primates, lions, bears, leopards, a petting zoo, and an asylum. Educational talks and beast encounters are also on the schedule. You tin can pack a picnic lunch or grab a bite at the on-site restaurant, the Safari Club, or from one of the food trucks on the zoo grounds.
For an additional fee, you can savor one of the zoo's new animal encounters with kangaroos, lemurs, sloths, or giraffes. The Animal Enrichment Program lets you become along with a zookeeper to acquire how to care for some of the animals.
Official site: http://www.alabamagulfcoastzoo.com/
half-dozen. Littoral Segway Adventures
Guided Segway tours through the Hugh Due south. Branyon Backcountry Trail in Gulf State Park are 1 of the near enjoyable ways to explore Gulf Shores nature and wildlife. The two-hour tour takes yous through much of the 28-mile trail as your guide explains the varied ecosystems that exist in the park.
Tours kickoff with a brief lesson on how to utilize the Segway and practice in the parking lot, and then even outset-timers tin can feel comfy booking this excursion. One time on the trails, keep your eyes peeled for impressive wild fauna, like eagles, alligators, and bobcats.
Address: 20115 Throughway 135, Orange Beach, Alabama
Official site: http://world wide web.coastalsegwayadventures.com/
7. Fishing
From deep sea fishing and inshore fishing to bow line-fishing and everything in between, the options for anglers are 2nd to none in this surface area. Experienced anglers like the claiming of full-24-hour interval angling, targeting species like marlin, while first-timers tin can bandage a line inshore or on a shorter offshore trip.
You tin can e'er book individual charters. A relatively affordable option that is nifty for families and first-timers is deep-sea line-fishing with Reel Surprise Charters. More than people are on the boat, merely professional person guides are on hand to help you hook species like triggerfish and red snapper. Dark line-fishing is an exciting way to explore all the bay waters take to offer. Fishin' Dixie Inshore Fishing offers several types of trips, but targeting speckled trout under the moonlight with an experienced guide is a unique line-fishing experience.
Truthful outdoor enthusiasts can boot things upward a notch with Intercoastal Safaris. They can customize trips for inshore fishing, saltwater bow angling, and even trips that combine duck or wild hog hunting and fishing.
If you fish in Gulf Shores and Orangish Beach, y'all must take reward of the Hook & Melt feel supported by many local restaurants. You pay a small fee to have your captain fillet your catch and accept it to a participating local restaurant, which volition prepare information technology any mode y'all like, from Mediterranean-style to fried.
8. Sunset Cruises
One of the all-time ways to wind down from a busy day is with a Sail Wild Hearts' Dusk Cruise. This is a great leisure evening action to do with a pocket-size group as you coast the Gulf waters on an open-bounding main catamaran. Complimentary refreshments and snacks are onboard (such as water, soft drinks, and hors d'oeuvres), likewise as restrooms.
The open cabin and comfy front deck give you plenty of space to stretch out and savour your company while taking in the warm breeze. Sunset cruises average ane-and-a-one-half to two hours and offer wonderful views of the white-sand shoreline.
Address: 27200 Perdido Embankment Blvd., Orangish Beach, Alabama
Official site: http://sailwildhearts.com/
9. Dolphin Watching
The playful dolphins in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach are a big draw for visitors looking for a different kind of recreational water action. Several companies in the surface area offer traditional dolphin watching tours.
Some of the best means to accept office in dolphin watching experiences is from a drinking glass-lesser boat with Dolphins Down Under or with a WaveRunner tour, where you can see the dolphins swimming next to you lot. In that location is also a Dolphins and Wildlife Kayak Experience with Wild Native Tours, which enables novice and experienced kayakers to take a iii-hour paddle along the coastline.
While these shut-up experiences are memorable, it is of import to notation that it is against federal constabulary to feed or swim with dolphins, and watercraft of any type must stay at least 50 yards away from them.
10. Hiking
Gulf Shores, Alabama is famous for its pristine white beaches, only hiking trails give landlubbers plenty of flora and animal to find in the area. The Hugh S. Branyon Backcountry Trail in Gulf State Park covers more than 28 miles that have yous through 9 different ecosystems.
Your options range from freshwater marshes to butterfly gardens, with enough of wild fauna roaming every bit y'all hike. Due to the expansive trails, it is recommended to plot out where you want to hike before you go far. Maps are easy to find online and at the state park.
If you lot are a nature photographer or birding enthusiast, you volition be impressed by the Alabama Coastal Birding Trail, where you tin can detect regional species like the blue heron in its natural environment.
Signage along the trail makes it easy to navigate, and provides educational information almost the area and birds that you might see on your hike. Y'all can pick up a birding trail brochure at the Gulf Shores and Orangish Beach Welcome Centers.
11. Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge
If you desire to see some of the rich wildlife along the Alabama Gulf Coast, it is worth a visit to the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge was established to protect threatened species in the area, so you lot will take exposure to wild fauna that you may not otherwise encounter.
The refuge has a thriving turtle nesting program, where you can acquire nigh the importance of nesting sea turtle populations. The tiny Alabama beach mouse is under watch at an undisturbed surface area of the refuge, where y'all can observe its natural habitat in the shrubs of the shoreline.
If you visit in the leap or autumn, you volition have the risk to encounter many species of migratory songbirds that stop here to enjoy this protected habitat.
Address: 12295 AL-180, Gulf Shores, Alabama
Official site: https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Bon_Secour/
12. Alabama Coastal Birding Trail
The Alabama Littoral Birding Trail is one of the all-time natural resources in the Gulf Shores considering it enables visitors to make it the top locations to see native and migrating species. People who honey birding brand their fashion to the Gulf Shores because of the abundance of habitats that protect bird species and its location on a popular migration route.
The Alabama Coastal Birding Trail is all-encompassing, with more than 200 miles of birding trail loops that are connected between Baldwin County and Mobile County in Alabama. Two of the most accessible trail loops in Gulf Shores are the Gulf Shores-Orange Embankment Loop and the Fort Morgan Loop.
The Gulf Shores-Orange Beach Loop starts at the Perdido Pass bridge, where you tin can look for nesting snowy plovers and common loons that are often wading in the tides. On this loop, you might spot egrets or northern gannets that drift through the expanse.
The Fort Morgan Loop starts at the intersection of AL Highway 59 and AL Highway 180 near the Fort Morgan Peninsula. You can go along watch for many types of waterbirds in the marshes on this loop and oftentimes see raptors coming through in the fall migration.
Plan to spend about a one-half mean solar day on each loop equally you lot follow the suggestions guides provided along the way. You can even base of operations yourself in Gulf Shores and plan day trips to boosted nearby birding trail loops during your stay, as the opportunities for species change throughout the yr and in each blazon of habitat.
13. Fort Morgan
The Fort Morgan State Historic Site is an impressive allure located 22 miles west of Gulf Shores. The masonry fort was congenital between 1819 and 1833 on Mobile Bespeak between Mobile Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. The fort has a deep history tied to the Battle of Mobile Bay, Spanish American War, World State of war I, and Earth State of war Two. Today, the site belongs to the State of Alabama and is a preserved piece of American history.
Y'all can take a self-guided bout of the fort and grounds by downloading a map that highlights the points of involvement on the site. You tin see where naval minefields once guarded the bay, and larn well-nigh the importance of this fortification as you walk the grounds and viewing deck.
There is more than to practise at the site beyond visiting the fort. Fort Morgan also has a beach expanse, bird-watching areas, and nature trails. There are protected marshes in the area with pristine habitat for endangered bird species that inhabit the area or migrate through in the fall. Fort Morgan is open seven days a week.
Accost: 110 Hwy. 180 W., Gulf Shores, Alabama
Official site: http://www.fort-morgan.org/
14. Biking
The best style to feel the Gulf Shores is through the outdoors, and the vast number of bicycle trails in the town give yous plenty of means to do that. One of the easiest cycle trails to access is at Gulf State Park. It has paved trails for bicyclists that connect to picnic areas and beaches within the park.
There is a loop around Lake Shelby in Gulf State Park that is good for biking for all skill levels. The flat surface is great, specially for visitors to the expanse that tin can find nearby bike rentals.
Some of the trails in Gulf Country Park brand up sections of the Hugh S. Branyon Backcountry Trail organization, which extends for xv miles through Orange Beach and Gulf Shores. These trails have you through diverse ecosystems, where you become the added bonus of enjoying the scenic views of the local wild fauna, marshes, and littoral swamps.
The Fort Morgan Road Trail is an xi-mile paved surface that takes bikers along Highway 180 and through the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge. You tin extend the road through Gulf Land Park for a longer ride.
xv. Golf
For those looking for a round of golf game with the Gulf Coast as a backdrop, the Gulf Shores has quite a few world-class courses. In that location are five golf courses in Gulf Shores and fourteen in the area that you tin easily access. Take your pick from courses, like the Arnold Palmer Championship public golf course at Cypress Bend at Craft Farms, or the nationally recognized Kiva Dunes public golf form.
Gulf Shores golf is an unforgettable experience, specially when you tin combine the emerald waters and sunshine with premier golfing opportunities. Some golf resorts offer stay-and-play packages combining golf game and lodging. You can likewise choose to base of operations yourself by the embankment and head out to a different form each day. Almost golf game courses also offer club rentals in case you left yours at home.
Where to Stay in Alabama'due south Gulf Shores for Sightseeing
Most of the lodging options in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach are vacation rentals like condos, cottages, and beach houses. Other lodging options include resort hotels, national chain hotels, RV campgrounds, and fifty-fifty lakeside cottages in Gulf State Park. Here are a few neat-value hotels a short stroll or drive from the fabulous beaches of Alabama'due south Gulf Shores:
- All-time Western on the Beach : This mid-range beachfront hotel is only steps to the sand, and features indoor and outdoor pools, along with vivid beachy rooms.
- Staybridge Suites Gulf Shores : Also popular with families, this iii-star hotel provides suites with kitchens, complimentary hot breakfast, social hour Mon-Weds, and an outdoor puddle. This hotel is located a few miles due north of the embankment.
- Hampton Inn Gulf Shores : For budget-conscious travelers, this property is perfect. It'southward a five-minute bulldoze to the beach and offers comfy beds and an outdoor pool.
More than Related Manufactures on PlanetWare.com
Explore Alabama: Equally you programme your beach holiday in Alabama be sure to explore some of the regions across Gulf Shores for more of the best beaches in the state. If you desire to supplement your beach vacation with some historical excursions program time to visit Montgomery, Mobile, or Birmingham during your stay.
Where to Stay in Alabama: If golf game, spa services, and relaxation are on the agenda, you may want to book your trip at one of the top resorts in Alabama that provide a more than luxurious kind of getaway and can even put you on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail.
Source: https://www.planetware.com/alabama/gulf-shores-alabama-us-al-13.htm
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