I’m giving you a list of what I consider five wonderful, pristine beaches on the upper US Gulf Coast. I’m not ranking them because ranking suggests some special knowledge about beaches and assumes what you like about a beach. My bias is for beaches that are pristine, beautiful sand, little commercial development, and largely uncrowded by beach-goers. I can enjoy a beach like Orange Beach, Alabama’s at Cotton Bayou, the one under the bridge between Orange Beach and Perdido Key, or even the one at Destin. But those aren’t hard to find because lots of people find them. These are more out of the way, so they take a bit of work to find.
Here goes:
Bon Secour Beach, Fort Morgan, Alabama
It sits near the end of the Fort Morgan, Alabama, peninsula on state Highway 180 on the Gulf of Mexico side. The beach sits within the Bon Secour Wildlife Refuge. Just before you reach the ferry depot, turn left on a narrow, partially blacktopped road. You have to walk a ways to get to this beautiful, protected beach and the shimmering Gulf of Mexico surf. It’s a wonderful secret hidden at the end of the Fort Morgan peninsula.
Long Beach & Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, public beaches
This is several miles of beautiful white sand on the Gulf along state Highway 90 at Long Beach, Mississippi. CNN named it one of the top 22 beaches in the United States, and it was right. The white sand forms a magnificent beach that sparkles in the sun, the surf is gentle, and the water is blue-green. Like with the Bon Secour beach, you have to bring your own chairs if don’t want to sit in the sand because this is undeveloped and remote. There’s 62 miles of shoreline beaches from Biloxi to Bay St. Louis. Because Highway 90 creates a barrier to development on the shoreline, the beaches, for the most part, are undeveloped and gorgeous and the water is lovely. The Long Beach stretch is remote from the houses and restaurants, so there is a lot of quiet on the shoreline there. One warning, parking is limited along the beach. Usually, you have park at a parking area and walk down the beach.
Gulf Islands National Seashore, Santa Rosa Island, Florida
Established in 1971, this national treasure is a strip of brilliant white sand on a barrier island. It starts on the east end of Pensacola Beach along State Highway 399, and stretches to Navarre Beach, Florida. Though it is an island, it is accessible by the Pensacola Bay Bridge and a bridge at Navarre that puts you back on U.S. Highway 98. Because this is a federal park, the strip is protected from development. The National Seashore stretches from Navarre west to Perdido Key area outside Pensacola and then picks up again at the Mississippi line and goes to just west of Biloxi. But the Santa Rosa Island section of the National Seashore is the best.
Gulf State Park, Alabama Point East
This is 3/10 of a mile east of Perdido Pass Bridge and offers a beach that is more than a mile wide. It borders clear, blue-green water that has almost no surf. It has sand dunes, boardwalks, picnic areas, restrooms, and outdoor showers. So it is more developed than the other beaches I’ve listed here, but because it is a state park, it is still protected and not bordered by houses or condos. It’s in the City of Orange Beach, Alabama, and it sits on East Beach Boulevard.
St. Joseph Peninsula State Park
St. Joseph encompasses 2,516-acre of state park land near Port St. Joe, Florida, on the Forgotten Coast of Florida. It sits at the tip of Cape San Blas. You take a brief drive east from Panama City Beach to reach it. The beach area is bound by St. Joe Bay’s calm waters and the Gulf of Mexico. There are 10 miles of dunes supporting healthy sea oats. A boardwalk takes you down to the white, white sand beach. In 2002, Dr. Stephen P. Leatherman (“Dr. Beach”) called this beach the nation’s best. Bring your own chairs. Because this is a state park, the beach is protected from development and gives a broad vista of sea and sand.
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