I'm looking for a different beach for a road trip this summer. My starting point is Houston. I've been to South Padre and Destin over the years, but I've always driven right past Gulf Shores/Orange Beach. How does that area, Gulf Shores, compare to the other two?

I'm curious about the beach, water, waves, crowds, accommodations, prices, and family activities off the beach.

Thanks.

We really enjoyed Gulf Shores as a family two summers ago. Added trip to Pensacola which is like 30 mins away.

Havent been to Destin or 30A in Florida yet but preferred Gulf Shores to Padre as a family

Edit If you go I can tell you about a couple of places that we ate at that the kids loved

Ive been to all three. Gulf Shores is great. It is cheaper than Destin and even cheaper than SPI from my experience. I highly recommend it. Beaches are great, people are friendly, good food...

My wife and I have visited all three over the years. We continue to go back to Gulf Shores at least once a year if not twice. As mentioned in an earlier post you can jump over to Pensacola also. Be sure to check the Blue Angles practice schedule to see if they are flying. Its free to get in to watch and better than an actual airshow.

How does the crowd at Gulf Shore compare to Orange Beach?

I think the beach at Gulf Shores is nicer than any beach in Texas, but it is not quite at the caliber of the stretch between Pensacola and Panama CIty.

Both Gulf Shores and Orange Beach are family friendly and really nice. You can party all night or kick back and enjoy quiet time. And as someone said, you can easily drive into Pensacola for the day. I think the crowd at both is about the same - mostly families.

Haven't been to Destin. Been to SPI a bunch. Went to Gulf Shores last summer. Thought it was pretty nice. Beach was nicer that SPI. Wife thought it was MUCH nicer, I would have said just somewhat nicer - but definitely nicer. Just as touristy as SPI. I like SPI better because I have friend there, so we can avoid the tourist feeling somewhat.

I thought the food choices were pretty limited. Fried basic seafood gets old pretty fast to me. It was good the first night. By the third, we were all ready to just cook for ourselves in the condo.

Place we stayed down the peninsula was nice. A resort place, but we rented directly from an owner and got a better deal.

Drive out was a major PIA getting back to 10. Spent hours. Next time would try to time it differently.

We would go back.

Anna Maria Island, FL

That is all

Good luck

We're going to Orange Beach for the first time in July. I'm interested in others' feedback as well.

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Anna Maria Island, FL

That is all

Good luck

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since we are now going this route, check out these other better beaches:

Marco Island
Maui
Malta

We go to the 30A area every Summer. I think it is pointless arguing about which is nicer, 30A vs. Gulf Shores, it is all a matter of tastes and budgets. But I will give out some travel advice....

Plan two days to travel there. On Friday, head to Baton Rouge, D'Iberville, Slidell, Biloxi, or Gulfport and stay the night. Leave early morning Saturday to get to your beach. Why? Because all beach traffic West of Mobile....ALL BEACH TRAFFIC...must go through the tunnel in Mobile which is a two lane road. And then the Interestate afterwards is two lanes and backups can be a mess on Saturday afternoons, when everyone and their mothers are heading to Gulf Shores, Orange Beach, Destin, 30A, Panama City, Pensacola, etc.

On the way home, leave before dawn to get back to Mobile before everyone else on Saturday. If you can get through Mobile by 8 am, you can easily get back to Texas in a single day.

We do this every year, but last year we decided to measure the traffic jam of everyone leaving as we came to the beach on Saturday. The jam was 7 miles long moving at about 10 miles an hour or less heading into the tunnel at Mobile. And this was before noon. I can't imagine it at around 1 in the afternoon. Get out early.

You don't technically have to go through the tunnel, but you're right it does mess up traffic quite a bit.

Anyone chance the Ferry to leave Gulf Shores? My wife wanted to, but we also wanted to have breakfast which was the other direction. We were probably going through Mobile around noon and it was awful. It seemed that a lot of the condos forced you to leave on the same days, which would help the traffic. We drove back in one day and if was doable, but a bit of a beating. Lots of traffic back ups on 10. Getting home took about 13 hours and I don't drive slow....

Going there we stopped in Jackson for the night. That made the trip really easy. IIRC we got to the condo on Sunday afternoon and traffic going in was light.

The tunnel does suck, but I don't think it necessitates having to spend an extra night traveling. That's certainly a way to do it, but we try to be on the road from Houston by 530 am. usually puts us in mobile before 200. its backed up, but not too terrible.

Last year, 335 south from 1-10 was a monster! Went like 5 miles in an hour.

Our rental in Destin changed from Saturday to Saturday to Sunday. It sure makes travel easier.

We went to Gulf Shores a few years ago and the traffic from I-10 going south (Saturday PM) was an absolute nightmare. Gulf Shores is nice, the beaches aren't quite as good as Destin and there isn't quite as much to do but it isn't as crowded.

If I'm picking a family beach, it's Pensacola. See if you can book a condo at the Regency Villas. It's older, but very family oriented. It's also at the tail end of Pensacola Beach with national seashore to the east. It's amazing to walk east, lose the lights, kick the sand, and see the luminescent light in the sand.

For a family, the Gulf Breeze Zoo is surprisingly good. You've also got the Blue Angels Museum to the east and an air force museum toward Ft Walton. Book a canoe trip down the Blackwater River in Milton. The deep sea fishing out of Pensacola Beach is better than Destin, though it takes longer to get to the fishing grounds.

At the western end of Santa Rosa Island (i.e., Pensacola Beach) you've got a national monument and old fort that's worth a half a day.

The seafood is amazing. The sand is the best in the USA. My kids grew up visiting Pensacola Beach.

Two more summers before my oldest is school age. I'm going to take advantage of two more May beach trips and avoid this crap. T&Ps when I am forcing my vacation into the same weeks as everyone else.

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Two more summers before my oldest is school age. I'm going to take advantage of two more May beach trips and avoid this crap. T&Ps when I am forcing my vacation into the same weeks as everyone else.

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Just go in August. Price drops, same weather, less people. Lots of SEC states either start school August 1, or there is so much youth school activity on August 1 that the Florida panhandle empties out.

Also, when you do go to Disney, or other true, tourist destinations, don't even think twice about yanking your kids out of school. Do it.

Disney September 2012
Disney November 2014
Disney December 2016

All done with kids pulled out of school. Wouldn't do it any other way.

Good thoughts. I will definitely yank my kids out of school for Disney. No way I'm spending that kind of cash to stand in line with the rest of the country.

We've been to all 3.

kids like disney more.

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Or even better skip Disney and go to the mountains or beach. Kids will like it just as much, less crowds and cheaper.

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Not a terrible idea either, Jake. I just priced Disney out, and it was around $6k. That's a pretty kickass mountain trip...

Or terrible husband?