Rolling into Orange Beach — the eastern coastal community, its back bays and bayous, and Alabama's deep-sea fishing capital.
You're coming into Orange Beach now, the eastern half of Alabama's coast, and the character shifts a little. Behind these Gulf-front condos and cottages, out of your sight to the north, lies a whole hidden world of water — Cotton Bayou, Terry Cove, Wolf Bay, the back bays and bayous that make this one of the great boating and fishing towns on the whole Gulf.
Orange Beach calls itself the red snapper capital of the world, and it has the fleet to back it up. Out of the marinas behind you, charter boats run offshore every morning of the season, hauling in red snapper, grouper, and amberjack from the reefs and the old wrecks and rigs scattered across the Gulf floor. Alabama actually builds artificial reefs out here on purpose — sinks old ships and concrete and even retired military tanks to the bottom — to grow fish. It's one of the largest artificial reef programs anywhere.
For us, though, keep your eyes ahead and to the right, because the best is coming. Stay on Perdido Beach Boulevard heading east. In just a bit the road is going to lift up and over a tall bridge, and on the far side of it is one of the most beautiful spots on this entire coast — the inlet called Perdido Pass. There's a stretch of the park's wildest beach and dunes just this side of it, so let's roll on toward the pass.
Photo: divemasterking2000 · CC BY 2.0
