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A family plays volleyball on the beach at Pleasure Island.

Alabama's Gulf Coast offers some 32 miles of inviting, sugar-white, sandy beaches that front the emerald waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Unlike some of the crowded vacation spots to the east (Fort Walton Beach, Destin and Panama City, Florida), Pleasure Island's wide beaches offer perfect spots for quiet relaxation or group gatherings.

Many public access points to beaches are available around the island and in the seaside towns of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, making this enriched coastline a natural treasure for all to enjoy. Many visitors come to swim, dive, sunbathe, surf, fish — or just explore our shore and the distinctive sand dunes. Others simply enjoy sunrises, sunsets, and evening strolls watching sandpipers, seagulls, and sand crabs. Collectors bring a pail and shovel to dig for seashells.

We hope you also will take the time to experience this precious natural resource. But be sure to avoid trampling the precious sea oats and grasses that make our local beaches so inviting. These ecologically important beach plants trap wind-blown sand and provide stability to the beautiful dunes so that other plants can colonize. Sea oats get their name from their large plumes that are produced during the summer, making the plant resemble the oats grown for food. The renowned Gulf Islands National Seashore on Perdido Key is a very beautiful beach, and worth a day trip to swim or just explore the dunes. It is especially beautiful at dawn and dusk.

Native grasses and sea oats, left, are important plants that help stabilize the beautiful Gulf Coast beaches and dunes, which are constantly eroded by wind and waves.

Beaches - Gulf Shores

Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge Beach
Fort Morgan

Primarily consisting of mesmerizing sand dunes in a natural state, this beach is off the beaten path, and considered a natural habitat for two endangered species — nesting sea turtles (May through October) and the tiny Alabama beach mouse. It also is a popular stop on the Alabama Coastal Birding Trail. The Refuge entrance is on Highway 180, nine miles west of Highway 59 and the office is staffed daily, except weekends and holidays. Access to the 300-acre beach is by foot, and requires a short hike from a small paved parking lot.

Gulf State Park
Gulf Shores

This 6,150-acre state park offers beaches on the Gulf of Mexico, and a 144-room beachfront resort hotel with restaurants, meeting and convention facilities. An 18-hole course attracts golfers and fishing is available on an 825-foot pier in The Gulf or from the shore of a 500-acre freshwater lake, where canoes also can be rented. If that's not enough, a campground and cabins also are available, set amidst gorgeous nature trails and exhibits. It is located at 20115 State Highway 135. See some of the park facilities, below.

Gulf State Park Beach Pavilion
Gulf Shores

This large beach and state park provides a pavilion, picnic tables, showers and a refreshment stand. Each summer season (May through Labor Day), lifeguards are on duty. The beach entrance is located on Highway 182, six miles east of Highway 59, parking is available for a small fee.

Gulf State Park Picnic Area
Gulf Shores

This 25-acre park offers visitors swimming, water skiing, boating, boat rental, playgrounds, a snack bar, bathhouse and over 100 picnic tables, set amidst froves of mature trees. Fishing license are sold at this site. A small admission fee is charged. Located just off Highway 182.

Gulf State Park Romar Beach
Gulf Shores

Four-acres of white, sandy beaches, dunes and native grases with paved parking. Located on Highway 182, five miles east of Highway 59.

The Gulf Shores Public Beach at sunset, with condominiums and hotels in the background. The beach is popular with families, who like to swim, sunbathe, fish or dig for prized shells. Volleyball and picnic tables are available, and beachfront restaurants are nearby.

Gulf Shores Public Beach
Gulf Shores

Sometimes called the Main Beach in Gulf Shores. Over 1,700 feet of expansive, Gulf front beaches and a boardwalk entice visitors to the heart of the city of Gulf Shores. Three open-air pavilions, restrooms, dressing rooms, showers, water fountains, a picnic area and paved parking are available, although a small entrance fee is charged during the summer. Many small shops, restaurants and amusements are just off the beach. Located at the intersection of Highway 59 and Highway 182 in Gulf Shores.

Gulf Shores Public Beach Access Points
Gulf Shores

Several access points to the Gulf Shores Public Beach are maintained by the city.

Second Street Access
Located on Highway 182 two blocks west of Highway 59, this site offers parking and walking access to Gulf Shores Public Beach.

Fourth Street Access
Highway 182 four blocks west of Highway 59. This access point is via a pedestrian crossing.

Fifth Street Access
Highway 182 five blocks west of Highway 59. Walking beach access across a 200-foot boardwalk. An outdoor shower and benches are available.

Sixth Street Access
Located on Highway 182 six blocks west of Highway 59. Walking beach access across a 100-foot boardwalk. An outdoor shower and benches are available.

13th Street Access
Located on Highway 182, 13 blocks west of Highway 59. Walking beach access across a boardwalk. An outdoor shower, benches and restrooms are available. Parking is across the street.

A hungry seagull catches a baitfish in the calm surf along Orange Beach.

Lagoon Park
Gulf Shores

Lagoon Pass is a shallow waterway connecting Little Lagoon on the middle of the island with the Gulf of Mexico. A handicap-accessible restroom, water fountain and outdoor shower are available. On Highway 182 at Lee Callaway Bridge, two miles west of Highway 59. Parking is on the north side of the bridge.

Two children prepare to enter Gulf waters along a private section of beach near The Admirals Quarters and Palms condominiums. One girl turns cartwheels in anticipation, while another receives careful instructions from a doting mom.

Cotton Bayou Public Beach
Orange Beach

A small beach area with paved parking, but no facilities. Located on Highway 182 at the intersection of Highway 161.

Perdido Point Public Beach
Orange Beach

Also known as Alabama Point, this 6000-foot public beach is located at the Perdido Pass Inlet which separates Pleasure Island from Perdio Key. It lacks conveniences such as restroom facilities, but it offers white sandy beaches, interesting, large dunes, a 225-foot boardwalk, and a view of the boats moving in and out of the Gulf. The beach is located on Highway 182, just east of the Perdido Pass Bridge.

Beaches - Mainland, Perdido Key

Big Lagoon State Park (Florida)
12301 Gulf Beach Highway
Pensacola32507
(850) 492-1595
www.dep.state.fl.us/parks/district1/biglagoon/index.asp

Big Lagoon State Park is located east of Pleasure Island on the Florida mainland, 10-miles southwest of Pensacola. This 712-acre park fronts on the Big Lagoon, a saltwater bay that also forms part of the northern boundary of Perdido Key and the Gulf Islands National Seashore (see below). The sandy beaches and salt marshes bordering Big Lagoon are valuable wetlands: the marshes are home to gray-foxes, raccoons, skunks and opossums and great blue herons, cardinals, towhees, brown thrashers and nuthatches also can be seen. The park is open from 8 a.m. until sundown 365 days a year. The entrance fee into most parks is $3.25-$4.00 per car, up to eight people; walk-ins, and bicyclists are $1.00 per person. Pets are permitted in designated day-use areas, must be on a leash. They are not permitted on beaches or playgrounds, or in bathing areas, cabins, park buildings, or concession facilities.

The Gulf Island National Seashore beaches are a perfect place to find a few moments of solitude in nature.

Gulf Islands National Seashore/Johnson Beach
Johnson Beach, Florida
850-934-2600
228-875-9057
http://www.nps.gov/guis/

Perdido Key, to the east of Pleasure Island, is part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore, a network of eleven barrier islands stretching along 150 miles of the Gulf from Mississippi to Santa Rosa Island in Florida. Surrounded by sparkling blue waters and magnificent snowy-white beaches, the eastern end of the Perdido Key also is home to Johnson Beach. The sand dunes, sea oats and native fauna of the National Seashore land is nurtured in a pristine, natural condition by the U.S. Park Service. The remains of old Fort McRee are near the eastern tip of the island, which marks the entrance to Pensacola Bay from the Gulf. You can look across to historic Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa Island. Built on the early 1800's this brick fortification remained in Union Army hands through the entire Civil War. Entrance fees to the Gulf Islands National Seashore for hikers and bicyclists are $3; private, non-commercial vehicles require an $8 fee, but both passes are good for seven days. See a panoramic view of the seashore using the Specials link, above.