I've travel to and through Gulf Shores, Alabama a number of times over the year and have never been…read moredisappointed - it's a beautiful place and the folks here are just down right friendly. Our recent RV trip had us staying here for three nights and it was definitely a little bitter sweet when we broke camp and headed home after enjoying a month long trip on the road but there's no doubt we'll be back hopefully for a longer stay next time. There's so much to see and do in and around the area, the beaches are gorgeous and there's some pretty good food options as well. I was a little taken back by the amount of growth this area has seen in the past 5 years or so I guess everyone is trying to get their little piece of paradise we are seeing similar migration in Florida hopefully the vibe here never changes...

I didn't spend too much time on this trip in Gulf Shores but I will do so on my next visit. At the…read moresouthernmost point (or close to it) in Alabama, Gulf Shores is on the barrier island and so it benefits/suffers from the influx of beach goers, retirees and other transients who enjoy the warmer weather but don't want to go to Florida or Texas. Gulf Shores has managed to get slammed by a bunch of hurricanes in the last couple of years (Ivan, Katrina, Sally) but on my visit, I didn't notice any particular damage. The beach is lovely and the people are friendly. Expect to see lots of businesses catering to the beach and the tourists. Mini golf, ice cream, glossy-menu seafood restaurants and such. But if you get off the beaten track, you'll find proper locals who are happy to see you. And don't miss out on meeting up with Barrett O. He's "Mister Yelp Gulf Shores" for sure! [Review 912 of 2024 - 233 in Alabama - 21941 overall]

It's always a nice time when I make it to O.B. and relax at my best friend's condo! The staff are…read moreso polite as long as you don't bring glass to the pool area and the hot tub is so relaxing as is hanging out on her spacious balcony overlooking the ocean! It's nice her condo has an indoor swimming pool, too! They have a tennis/pickleball court on the roof of the parking deck. We usually start off with a trip up the block to Sea N Suds for a cup of gumbo and some fried oysters. Or, if we are lucky, some steamed Royal Reds! We love relaxing and enjoying the views at The Gulf! Their grouper (lightly breaded and fried) sandwiches are so good!! No trip to Orange Beach would be complete without stopping by the Flora-Bama! This is our destination for scratch offs, cold beverages, and raw oysters on the back patio! They nearly always have a picnic table to hang out at. Cobalt is a nice place to have dinner with a view of the bay, delicious eats, and good entertainment. They have great happy hour specials, too! For banner birthdays there's only one option! That's Captain Troy's charter, "Distraction Charters!" He operates a super clean 41-foot boat complete with restroom, covered cabin, and now has 4 sleeping bunks. His six-hour deep sea fishing trips are the way to go! We caught red snapper for days! And, had a shark on the line at one point - he got away because our poles weren't equipped for shark. Last September, we called Captain Troy and told him "Thelma and Louise" would be back to see him in May 2025! I cannot wait! The coolest thing is the deck hands clean your catches and there are a handful of local restaurants who will cook your fresh catches for you! We had tons of red snapper to take home with us! Of course, we only caught the maximum allowed and had to release the rest. We caught trigger fish too, which was also delicious! It's nice to have Gulf State Park nearby for a hike/walk. The park offers 29 miles of paved trails or boardwalks. Trail lengths range from .1 mile to 3 miles. See you in five months Orange Beach!!!!!

Orange Beach is a great place to enjoy a beach vacation. It's a relatively short drive from NOLA,…read moreand there's so much to do. Plenty of restaurants, lovely beaches, lodging to fit most budgets, arcades, water sports, etc. We plan a short, 3 or 4 day vacation here most summers and always have a fantastic time.

Nice place for some family fun. We did the black hole mini golf, which is indoors and only 9 holes…read more Our favorite was the virtual reality roller coaster. Staff is really friendly and facility was clean.

We had a large group. Two people got turned around on go karts and it took 3 laps before workers…read moreeven realized and helped out! So therefore, the 2 missed more then half of their ride and they never offered to give them another ride! Plus the go karts are slow, have flat tires and the track is ROUGH!

Today is the 2nd anniversary that Hurricane Sally slammed into into Orange Beach, AL with a direct…read morehit. Most repairs have been done but things are still being put back together both for private residents and local governments. In Orange Beach, two iconic locations are still awaiting repairs from storm damage, Waterfront Park Pier and the Perdido Pass fishing wall. There's several sections of this fishing area that is fenced off due to boards missing and damaged concrete but there's still a lot of space to toss your line in the water. Here we are 2 years later and still waiting on repairs to started in earnest. I understand that an application for FEMA help with the repairs has been made, but when the "hurry up and wait" SOP of the government is in the mix it certainly add time to the process. This area was damaged years ago and basically abandoned by the state because of the prohibitive cost of having it repaired. Orange Beach stepped in and asked for permission to pay for the repairs to keep this unique and popular spot open to the public. The land is owned by the state and the city has funded the improvements but then came Sally. The boardwalk starts at the end of The Gulf restaurant area and follows the Pass all the way under and beyond the bridge to a small sandy beach. There's mounted park benches all along the stretch, except where damage is fenced off, and bait stations along the rails. It's well lit and there's plenty of free parking, including handicap. There's no running water in the area and currently there's 2 port-a-potties. The channel in and around the Perdido Pass bridge is typically busy with both recreational and commercial fishing vessels so if you're not into fishing, at this spot, it's okay because the view is spectacular. You're directly across from the Gulf State Park beach is located on the east side of The Pass and offers some beautiful stretches of white sandy beaches, with roughly 70 acres of prime real estate. So sometimes it's just nice to sit a spell :-) Perdido Pass Fishing Wall is the old local name for this area, sometimes also referred to as Seawall Park, but it now has an official designated name, and new sign, of Orange Beach Fishing Park at the Pass, cool! If you'd like an excellent video tour, pre-Sally check: https://youtu.be/jc7t0-whT40 Bottom line: Lots of boats, heron, gulls, the occasional pod of dolphins and even manatee that come through here, but fishing is the big attraction at Orange Beach Fishing Park at the Pass.

The W.C. Holmes Memorial Bridge is a fixed bridge carrying Gulf Shores Parkway (aka AL-59) over…read morePortage Creek (aka the Intracoastal Waterway). It is a deck plate girder bridge that was built in 1972. The main span is 180.1 feet long and the total bridge is 1762.2 feet long. It has a vertical clearance of 73 feet, which is tall enough for most sailboats and other traffic. A very busy bridge, it carries more than 10 million vehicles a year. That's a lot - a tenth as many as the George Washington Bridge over the Hudson in New York City! It is named for Doctor William C. Holmes, who opened Baldwin County's first hospital and ran it for 22 years before South Baldwin Regional Medical Center opened its doors. (Don't miss the W. C. Holmes Medical Museum.) Three lanes northbound and two lanes southbound, the southbound side has a breakdown/bicycle lane. There is no stopping on the bridge and I don't know about pedestrians, so I wouldn't recommend popping out for a photo of the Intracoastal. There is no toll to cross the bridge. [Review 915 of 2024 - 235 in Alabama - 21944 overall]

While in town, I decided to hit an arcade to kill some time. Ended up showing up about an hour…read morebefore they closed. I ended up buying more credits than I could finish in an hour. Was this the most fantastic arcade center I have ever been to? Not at all. What I did love about tAhis place was that it was smaller and more intimate. It seemed like it is a family-run operation because even though they had closed, they allowed us to stay inside and finish our games. Also, what was really amazing is that they do not kill you on the price/credit of the games. By how it was priced, it was more geared to a family type of environment where the establishment wants to keep a family longer inside of there. Even though it is small, I would still go back.

Many games were glitchy, resulting in losing credits, and you don't get all the credits the games…read moresay you are getting. My daughter won a jackpot on a game that was supposed to be 5,155 points. They only gave her credit for 2,000. The other child with us only got credit for the 1,000 point ball and the rings she had, so only physical proof of points. There were no points on the actual card although she actually won over 1,500 points on the card. The poor teens working the counter were mortified when I expressed my irritation over the disparity. I felt bad for the kids since they had already started selecting their prizes based on what they actually won and now weren't able to get.

It was absolutely amazing. We were on the sunset sail and the weather was amazing, calm seas, blue…read moresky, and a wonderful crew. We motored out and then sailed down the Intercostal Waterway. We saw several dolphins in pairs, triples, pods. They were playful and moved through the water with such ease. On the return trip we saw an amazing sunset. All in all a delightful experience at an appropriate price.

Took my parents on the 1.5 hour Dolphin Tour through Wolf Bay with a very friendly and energetic…read moreCpt. Lynn and his two crew members, who were also very accommodating. It was a very relaxing ride, bar drinks and snacks were available for purchase. Cpt Lynn was very personable, he took time to greet everyone before the cruise. We saw baby dolphins and a huge manatee as well. There was also a 2 yr old birthday girl on the boat whom we all sang Happy Birthday too. Cpt. Lynn let her honk the ships horn too. It was fun for everybody.

visited with my daughter and her friend. we had a wonderful time. we first ate at the restaurant,…read morewhich is covered and a magnificent place to view the water, beach etc out of the sun. the service was friendly and the pizza was really good. we paid $3 each to walk the pier, and it was well worth it. that amount buys you an entire day, so you can come back. the pier is long, clean and very large. lots of fishermen, and its fun to watch them. highly recommend!

we have been coming to gulf shores for 15 years and the pier was my favorite place to go! Not now!…read moreit is insanity yo charge sightseers $15 to park! we will never be back again!

Very cool pit stop in way to Elberta sausage fest. I don't…read moreknow if I'll ever get to the actual one so this was perfect

Just moved to Foley recently and came across this place on my google map. We took the quick 16…read moreminute drive and found it pretty easily. Parking is just a gravel patch that can fit maybe 4 cars. Luckily there was a car parked there, or We would have missed it and had to turn around. It was really weird turning the corner on the little path and seeing this in the big grass opening. Nothing what I expected. Also, made of fiberglass, so that was a little weird. It was a little sad to see that they had to cover up some graffiti on a few "stones". My partner has been to the real Stonehenge and said he was pretty impressed with this little replica in the middle of the woods in Alabama, haha. Made for a nice little outing, to see this and then hunt down the dinosaurs, the Knights, the Sundial ( which you can't get close to, it's fenced off ) finishing with the Lady in the Marina. She was a sight! If you have nothing to do and need a few hours to get in and out of the car for some pictures, it's a fun little treasure hunt. I think kids would get a kick out of it. I plan to take my niece ( 6 ) and nephew ( 3 ) when they come visit us. They would really get a kick out of the search!