Top 5 Beach & Water
Near Orange Beach
White quartz sand, the granite jetties at Perdido Pass, and quiet winter water. These are the five we send our own guests to.
The water is why you came, and in winter it shows you a different side of itself. The sand goes nearly empty, the shelling gets better than it is all summer, and dolphins still work Perdido Pass on the incoming tide in every month of the year. Below are the five beach and water spots we send our own guests to, with the cold water and the shortened winter schedules called out plainly rather than glossed over.
There is no lifeguard, and swimming is at your own risk.
Check the beach warning flag every single day, not just on your first day. The color changes daily and it is the only honest read on conditions. Yellow is moderate hazard, red is high, purple means dangerous marine life, and double red means the water is closed and entering it is illegal inside Orange Beach city limits.
Rip currents are the real danger on this coast, and winter surf can look calm and still run a strong one. Please read the posted swimming rules at the beach access walkover before anyone goes in.
For the day's flag, text ALBEACHES to 888777, or call 251-981-SURF (7873).
This is the closest full-service public beach to the condo, a Gulf State Park access inside Orange Beach city limits that is open year round. You get restrooms, outdoor showers, a wheelchair-accessible boardwalk and a roll-out beach mat at the east ramp. Outside the summer season you will often have several hundred yards of sand to yourselves. The water is too cold for most swimmers then, but shelling is at its best after a winter front. Parking is paid at a kiosk or online.
Check the beach warning flag before you go in, whatever the season. Yellow is moderate hazard, red is high, purple means dangerous marine life, and double red means the water is closed and entering it is illegal inside Orange Beach city limits. Text ALBEACHES to 888777 for the day's flag, or call 251-981-SURF (7873). Winter surf can look calm and still run a strong rip.
Six thousand feet of wide beach run along the east side of the Perdido Pass bridge, with dunes, boardwalks, picnic areas and outdoor showers, open year round. The draw is the granite jetty. Stand at the end and the whole charter fleet runs past you close enough to read the boat names, and dolphins work the pass on the incoming tide in every month of the year. It is the best free thing to do here on a cool bright December morning.
Time it for an outgoing tide in the late afternoon. The boats come home through the pass between about 3pm and 5pm, the light is behind you, and the jetty rocks are dry. They are slick and genuinely dangerous when wet, so keep small children off them entirely.
The city maintains twelve marked canoe trail launches on the sheltered water behind the island, along Wolf Bay, Bay La Launch, Arnica Bay, Bayou St. John and Cotton Bayou, all part of the Coastal Alabama Back Bay Blueway. Launching is free. The closest one is Cotton Bayou at 25808 Perdido Beach Boulevard, the same access as No. 01, so you can be on flat water about three minutes from the condo; Waterfront Park on Canal Road is another. This is the water to paddle when the Gulf is too rough for it, and the herons, egrets and wintering ducks back there are the reason to go rather than a consolation prize. No motorized craft on the trail.
You will need to bring or rent the boat: the trail is launches and water, not an outfitter. Gulf Shores Boat and Paddlesports Rental delivers kayaks and paddleboards to condos in Orange Beach and will drop them at the unit, but call 251-923-8205 first to confirm delivery and current rates rather than turning up expecting a stand. A personal flotation device is required for every occupant, the launch parking is reserved for trail users only, no glass, and the access points close at dark. Dress for the water temperature rather than the air temperature.
A day on your own pontoon is the classic Orange Beach outing. Run the Intracoastal to Robinson Island, beach the boat on a sandbar and swim off the back. Their 23-foot tritoons and 30-foot pontoons seat twelve, and every rental includes a cooler with ice and the temporary Alabama boating certificate you must carry. This is a warm-weather outing, and they publish no winter schedule anywhere, so call 251-981-2527 to confirm they are running in December before you plan a day around it.
Pontoons are not permitted through Perdido Pass into the Gulf, so plan an inshore day around the islands. If you do get a mild winter window, the back bays are emptier and the dolphins are easier to find than in July. Take far more warm layers than you think you need, because 60 degrees at 25 knots is genuinely cold.
Seven thousand acres of federally protected dune, pine flatwood and lagoon, with trails open year round from sunrise to sunset and no entrance fee. The Pine Beach Trail runs about two miles each way between Little Lagoon and Gator Lake and ends on an undeveloped Gulf beach with no condos on it at all. The cooler months are the best time to walk it. The heat and the biting insects are gone, and wintering ducks, bald eagles and peregrine falcons are on the water.
There is no water, no shade on the dune section and no cell signal worth relying on, so carry your own water even in cool weather. It is four miles round trip, which is a long way for a small child. Bicycles are not allowed on refuge trails. The Centennial boardwalks, including the Gator Lake observation deck, are closed for repairs with no reopening date announced, so plan on the trail itself and treat the deck as a bonus if it has reopened by the time you go.
Written by the owners, Gene & Jennifer. Hours and schedules change, so please call ahead in the winter months.