Planning the annual family beach vacation. In the past we lived in Georgia and it was a 3+ hour drive to Seaside and we would go every year and the kids loved the beaches and restaurants.

We have since moved to Texas and are looking at a much longer drive. I could cut an hour plus off the drive going to Gulf Shores, but I have never been there. How does it relate to Destin in terms of beaches, family options and traffic.

Any recommendations for houses to look at for a family of 5?

t.i.a

I posted an almost exact post a few weeks ago, maybe you can find it. Got a few good answers, there was also one posted a few months back with lots of good responses.

Gulf Shores is great. Beautiful beaches. We rent from VRBO. The zoo there is great. We go in August.

The biggest difference you are going to see is in the class of people that you will be dealing with. You will get a lot of rednecks in Gulf Shores compared to Seaside, not even close. We stayed in a really nice condominium, but there were some questionable people around. I vote Seaside all day long.

Thanks for the feedback, my kids love the beach and I wasn't sure if I would be downgrading by going to GS versus the Destin area. This the water clarity that much different between the two? I heard GS is a little more murky.

With that long of a drive, does an extra hour really matter?

Galveston! End of discussion.

Bruce Almighty said:

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With that long of a drive, does an extra hour really matter?

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It doesn't but if they are equal and we never have been I'd do it. Sounds like not exactly equal though.

Yeah, when I say Destin I am talking 30A, Blue Mountain, Grayton, Seaside etc. That is where we stay when we go.

We rent a house for a week in Gulf Shores every other summer and love it. We did Destin for years, but shifted to GS because doing stuff around town during the week was less crowded. The beaches are nice and white, but the water is murkier.

As far as condos go, I'd recommend Beach Club down in Fort Morgan. Seems to be more family oriented and less rednecky than the others in more proper Gulf Shores appear to be.

The water on 30a is consistently clearer and more green than the water on Orange Beach. On a normal day, If the water on 30a were to rate a 10, Orange Beach would probably be an 8. However, about once or twice a month, there will be a 2-3 day period where the water in Orange Beach is just as beautiful as the water at 30a. I have no idea what makes it happen, but if you catch one of those lucky periods, you can't tell the difference between the water at the two.

Where would you rate Texas gulf waters? I'm serious. Heading to Orange this summer for first time. I imagine I'm in for a pleasant surprise.

Zero

Yeah, Galveston water is zero. And the beaches are minus 10.

I wouldn't rate Destin a 10 either unless you're just focusing on the US minus Hawaii.

I didn't take it that he was rating them as a 10. It was just a starting point on the scale to basically say GS water is 80% of Destin.

does GS get the same type of algae blooms which you can get in 30A?

Yes it does. I hate that June Moss.

If 30a was a 10, and Orange Beach an 8, I would give Port Aransas a 4 and Galveston a 2. Yes, it's that much better.

Booked Seagrove in July, hopefully the weather and June grass cooperate.