Gulf Shores and Orange Beach

Alabama has only about eighty kilometres of coast and this is it - fine white quartz sand, warm shallow Gulf water and a strip of condominium towers behind. The area has taken serious damage repeatedly: Hurricane Frederic in 1979, Ivan in 2004 and Sally in 2020 all rebuilt the shoreline and much of the built environment. The 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill closed beaches through a summer season and the settlement money funded a good deal of subsequent public infrastructure, including the expanded state park lodge. Gulf State Park covers over 2,800 hectares behind the beach with a long paved trail network through pine, marsh and dune - the quieter half of the destination.

What you actually see

• White quartz sand - along Alabama's short coastline.
• Gulf State Park - 2,800 hectares of trails behind the beach.
• Repeated hurricane rebuilding - Frederic, Ivan and Sally.
• Post-spill infrastructure - funded by the 2010 settlement.

When to go

April to May and September to October. A full day.

Honest expectations

Summer is hot, humid and crowded, and is hurricane season. Beach parking is charged and limited. Development along the beach road is dense. Spring break brings large crowds in March.

Nearby

Fort Morgan is west at the point; Pensacola is east in Florida.