Spring break is signaling the start of the summer tourism season along the Alabama Gulf Coast. Beaches in the Yellowhammer State offer sand and surfing, shopping, seafood, seaside scenery, museums and other family-friendly fun. With an uptick in visitors, city leaders are reminding locals and vacationers to keep the beaches clean and respect wildlife.
Each year more than seven million visitors travel from across the nation and the world to enjoy the water and white-sand beaches of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach. Both cities have enacted sustainable practices to protect the beaches, marine life and wildlife.
Grant Brown is the Recreation and Cultural Affairs Director for Gulf Shores. He said the city has partnered up with Orange Beach for a coastal cleaning initiative called Leave Only Footprints.
“Every night, everything from tents and chairs and toys has to be removed from the beach so that we can keep the beaches clean. It also protects the sea turtles as they start coming ashore to start making their nests,” he explained. “So, the program has been a fantastic effort from Gulf Shores and Orange Beach to keep the amenity beaches clean and safe.”
Other Leave Only Footprints regulations in Gulf Shores include the following policies:
· All non-permitted personal items such as beach chairs, umbrellas, tents, ice chests and beach toys must be removed from the beach each night and may not be placed or remain on the beach before sunrise.
· Keep off the dunes. Staying off the dunes will help us to preserve our dune system and the habitat it provides. Use beach walkovers and boardwalks where provided.
· Observe and obey Beach Warning Flag System. Double red flags mean the waters are closed for your safety.
· Be respectful of private property beyond the bounds of your lodging property.
· Follow all Gulf Shores Beach Rules & Regulations.
Leave Only Footprints guidelines for Orange Beach can be found here.
Brown said Gulf Shores has also added more full-time lifeguard positions to beaches to help keep visitors and locals safe. The city provides seasonal lifeguard services between March and October and encourages the public to swim at the protected public swimming areas when lifeguards are present. He said there’s also a way for beachgoers to monitor the waters for any rough water conditions on the shorelines.
“If they go to either Gulf Shores website or the Orange Beaches website, they can click on the link, and they can actually register to receive text messages each day that will alert people what the conditions are. So, if the surface starts to rise, and it becomes an unsafe water situation, people will be made aware of that. They’ll know to keep their kids closer to shore and keep a closer eye on everybody,” Brown explained.
Gulf Shores has been working to improve beach erosion from past severe storms and hurricanes ahead of the spring break holiday season. Brown said the beaches have plenty to offer to locals and out-of-town visitors.
“We hope for a lot of families to come to the beach and have great weather. We just recently renourished our beaches. So, we have more sand on our beaches after the last few hurricane seasons. Particularly, [during] Hurricane Sally back in 2020, we lost a lot of sand on our beaches, and that has been replenished now,” he explained.
The city reports crew recently placed 1.15 million cubic yards of sand on beaches to expand the shoreline and rebuild the dune system to 12 feet of elevation. Gulf Shores worked with coastal engineers to verify the amount of sand that should be placed along the beaches based on the allowable amount required by FEMA.
Crews are also replanting about 500,000 plants along the newly restored dune system, as dune vegetation plays a critical role in maintaining dune elevation by anchoring the dunes in place, which can help reduce the impacts of future storms.
More about Gulf Shores beaches, events in the city, vacation tips and resources can be found here.
