AL - Gulf shores/Orange beach

Headed to the gulf shores/orange beach area in a couple of months. My Dad is down that way and I hope to do a fair amount of sailing in that area. Any information about good places to launch and sail would be very much appreciated.

As of this second no cat trax and it's a too heavy for us to carry getaway, so ramps are best.

Thanks in advance to anyone kind enough to provide any advice/information.

Kevin

This info is many years old....hopefully someone will be able to confirm or deny, but...

There used to be a launch/ramp at the East end of Marina Rd. in Orange Beach. Puts you in the bay right near Perdido Pass/Bridge, so you could sail bay or gulf. Used to even have a grass/beach area where you could even unload w/o using the concrete ramp. It still looks to be as I remember on Google Earth (30 17 02.42 N, 87 33 16.24 W). Last I was there, it even looked like launching was possible under the bridge. Be very aware of tide/current/wind direction in that pass!

That area is very crowded in summer and beach access is at a premium. A visitor is lucky if he can even find a place to park his truck/traler for an extended period. But it is a VERY cool place to sail!

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Jerome Vaughan
Hobie 16

Thanks Jerome - Apparently there are two launches bay side in Orange beach. Does anyone know how to find out if you are aloud to beach a cat at a particular beach?

Kevin