At Orange Beach, High-rise condos,
fishing charters, great restaurants await
The stretch of the Gulf Coast where Orange Beach exists was home to Native American tribes that also inhabited the Gulf Shores stretch of coast. It, too, was visited by Spanish explorers in the 16th Century but no permanent colonies were established. Because Orange Beach isn’t on the Mobile Bay, it doesn’t have the military history associated with Gulf Shores. For many years, it was simply a desolate stretch of beach between the more important Pensacola and Mobile areas.
By the turn of the 20th Century, though, a few settlers had moved in and established the town. More settlers were attracted by construction of the Intracoastal Waterway, which came into the area in 1910. They built beach houses and the area attracted visitors, though settlement continued to be hampered by the lack of paved roads and other infrastructure. The first vacationers’ hotel was built in the early 1920s.
A view of Orange Beach's wide beach at Cotton Bayou access.
The Intracoastal Waterway was completed in 1932, and the first paved road into the area came in 1947. Electrical service arrived the next year. Like Gulf Shores, the area was devastated by Hurricane Frederic in 1979, and afterwards investors moved in to build high-rise condos, hotels, restaurants, and other tourism-oriented businesses, and Orange Beach officials went all out for development. Indeed, they sold most of the beach to developers so public access is limited. Public is allowed at Cotton Bayou on Highway 182.
The city is home to The Wharf, an entertainment venue that hosts an annual concert series featuring headline performers, shrimp fests, a culinary contest.
The city was incorporated in 1984 and continued to attract development, turning the fishing village into a major vacation destination. Unlike Gulf Shores, which has public access trails to the beach every few blocks, Orange Beach only has public access at Cotton Bayou where you can get to the wide, white-sand beach. There is a large parking lot and restrooms. But public access continues to be a political controversy in the city.
The tourism and entertainment business is the third-largest employer in the city after education and health care. As growth has continued, there is little that separates Orange Beach from Gulf Shores, except for a major state park that sits between the two cities.
Orange Beach has four islands in the Perdido Pass: Bird Island, Robinson Island, Gilchrist Island, and Walker Island, all within minutes of each other.
Orange Beach's resident beach blue heron.
Orange Beach view from the white sand beach.
Charter-boat fishing, day cruises, and other attractions serve the tourism industry. The city offers golf courses, thousands of condo and hotel rooms and beachfront houses for rent, and numerous water sport rentals and rides. For history exploration, there’s the Indian and Sea Museum, 25805 John M Snook Drive, which has memorabilia and artifacts from the city’s Native American history and the city's history as a fishing village.
The city is home to The Wharf, an entertainment venue that hosts an annual concert series featuring headline performers, shrimp fests, a culinary contest, and other events in its amphitheater and hotel and condo facilities. The Wharf also has a Ferris wheel. At its sports complex, the city hosts the annual SEC women’s soccer championship tournament. There are several good restaurants in Orange Beach. I recommend Fin and Fork on Highway 182, especially for brunch. I had fabulous tacos (I recommend the fried crawfish tacos) at YoHo Rum and Tacos and a wonderful meal and service at the Villaggio Grill for Italian food. Both are at the Wharf.
A Festival of Art is held each spring, the city sponsors an annual Seafood Festival, and hikers will like the Backcountry Trail, multiple trails that lead hikers from Orange Beach to Gulf State Park.
One of the city’s most distinctive attractions is the Flora-Bama Lounge and its related facilities (including a marina), which straddle the border between Alabama and Florida on Highway 182. It has grown into a music and entertainment venue; and each year it hosts a mullet-throwing contest, a song-writers festival, and a New Year Day’s freezing dive into the Gulf of Mexico.
Temperatures: Annual average, high, 77 degrees, Low, 59 degrees. High, June through September, 88-90 degrees. Low: January, 43.
Precipitation: Annual average 63 inches. Heaviest rainfall is in July.
Population: By 2017, the population had grown to 6,000.
How to Get There: By car, take Interstate 10 to Foley Beach Express, Exit 55, south. By air, you have two commercial choices: Mobile Regional Airport or Pensacola Regional Airport. Private planes can land at Jack Edwards Airport in Gulf Shores.