Tourism/travel news, updates and discussions about the states along the Gulf of Mexico: Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, Please add your own thoughts, questions and observations!
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Set to last 4-5 days, but fatalities fortunately so far minimal.http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/27/us/harvey-landfall/index.html
Read more…OK, what I'm going to say might make me sound like a jerk, but here goes: Last night I was having a heated discussion with my girlfriend , whose sister was planning to spend a week on the Florida panhandle in August (she'd bought tickets before the BP oil spill) and is now looking into canceling her tickets. My girlfriend thinks her sister should go anyway and show solidarity with the poor folks on the coast, and help them out with her vacation dollars. It's true those poor people need all the…
Read more…I recently visited the FL Panhandle. I was impressed with how everyone kept things going despite the misperceptions on how the oil spill has affected nearby areas. Everything is alive and well from Destin to Panama City. My first feature from the trip is on YOLO Boarding. Check it out here. The next feature will discuss the rise of Alys Beach and much more. We will have it all up on Mens Traveler. beaches.jpg
Read more…I'd like to drive over to Apalachicola from Miami in a few days. It seems to me that the oil spill is not affecting this area (my heart goes out to all the areas affected now or in the future). Can someone provide more information on the current conditions there? Are oysters still being served? Also, any stops that you recommend on my way, or in that area? My interests are: dog friendly, slow food, nature & hiking.
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Lafitte
Fishing in inland marshes closed, but charter fishing open. All listed as open: the local seafood docks, visitors center, state fisheries museum, Jean Lafitte Nature Study Park, Louisiana Tour Company Swamp Tour, and motels/restaurants/vacation rentals generally.
Grand Isle
The Grand Isle Tarpon Rodeo to have been held in July will be replaced by an Island Aid Concert (July 22-24). Local camping, observation tower, and birding/nature trails are open, and beaches partially open with restrictions (the beach within the state park, however, is closed). The Butterfyl Dome as well as local lodgings and restaurants are open. Many of the local fishing tournaments/events have been cancelled, but the Blessing of the Fleet and accompanying fair are still scheduled for July 30-August 1. The Kajun Sportsmans King Classic Rodeo has been rescheduled for Sept. 9-11.
Listed as closed/cancelled: fishing in marshes, Gulf, lagoon, and off pier.
"Panama City Beach continues to welcome visitors to enjoy our destination. Our sugary white sand beaches are open for the enjoyment of our guests and, as of now, we are seeing only intermittent impact as a result of the Deepwater Horizon off-shore oil spill in the form of small scattered tar balls and oil patches. According to NOAA, tar balls DO NOT pose a health risk to the average person. However, beachgoers are advised not to pick them up or bury them and asked to report any sightings. Workers have begun the clean-up effort and officials continue to monitor the situation. The beaches are open and the swimming is still safe."
Posting on the CVB's Facebook page Saturday morning 6/26:
Sunjammers Watersports: Looks like Panama City Beach is spared another weekend! I sure do feel sorry for all those people who canceled plans to come down, you missed a GREAT weekend. We will have a kayak fishing report later, I know there is a fleet Hobie Fishing yaks snatching snapper off the bottom as I type."
"Is Gulf Safe for Swimming?
by Kimberly Blair
The Escambia County Health Department lifted a health advisory on Pensacola Beach on Friday on the advice of a beach official and against the advice of a federal environmental official.
But the advisory was not lifted for Gulf Islands National Seashore's Fort Pickens beach, immediately west of Pensacola Beach or Johnson Beach on Perdido Key.
And hours after the Pensacola Beach advisory was lifted, the health department asked for state approval to issue an oil-impact advisory that leaves the decision to swim in the Gulf of Mexico up to the discretion of individual beachgoers.
The signs would be posted on 41 of the 43 miles of Escambia County beaches — from the Florida-Alabama line to just west of Portofino Beach — impacted by oil..."
"Most of the Louisiana Gulf Coast, 70 percent, is unaffected by the oil spill and remains open for commercial and recreational fishing. All nine Louisiana coastal parishes (counties) continue to offer travelers historic and cultural attractions, world-acclaimed indigenous food and music, and notable restaurants and overnight accommodations.
The primary affected area is from the mouth of the Mississippi River extending east. Over 75 percent of Louisiana's coastal waters extend westward from the mouth of the Mississippi River."
Also, as of now the Louisiana Shrimp & Petroleum Festival is apparently still on track for Labor Day Weekend (September 2-6) in Morgan City (www.Shrimp-Petrofest.org). So now we guess they'll be celebrating one commodity they have too little of and another they have too much of.
"Florida's Pensacola Beach was among the latest shore areas to be given a swimming advisory. Similar warnings have been issued at various times for the Gulf waters off Fort Morgan, Ala.; Perdido Key, Fla.; and some other parts of the coast.
However, most beaches in the Gulf states of Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and Florida have remained open — even if the water has been off-limits at times. President Obama and Alabama Gov. Bob Riley, who visited Orange Beach over Father's Day weekend, are among the many government and tourism officials encouraging vacationers to head to the coast and help the tourism industry.
However, a barrage of news reports showing marine life coated with oil and workers scouring the shoreline in spots such as Perdido Key has made beachgoers wary. Lodging owners from Gulf Shores, Ala., to Fort Walton Beach, Fla., say bookings are down, with some seeing a particularly steep drop in reservations for July and August. Charter boat guides across Florida are seeing cancellations and fielding fewer reservations.
And here in Grand Isle, where the population normally grows from roughly 1,500 to more than 10,000 during the summer, locals count only about 100 tourists. The local camps and motels are filled instead with contract workers and members of the military, here to help with the spill cleanup effort....
Florida fish and wildlife conservation officials say only fishing areas in the northwest corner of Florida have been directly affected by the spill. But Pat Kelly, president of the Florida Guides Association, says charter boat guides throughout the state are reporting cancellations."
Sandestin has set up a toll-free hot line and a live beach web cam to communicate conditions in real-time.
Visit www.sandestin.com/beachcam or see beach pictures at sandestin.com/seeityourself.
The hotline is 877 255 8998 for latest conditions. For reservations and additional information, visit www.sandestin.com.
If anyone would like additional information on conditions or programs and packages that Sandestin is offering, please let me know.
"As of today, the beaches are open to the public and the air quality is good.
Depending on the wind direction, tar balls may float ashore in Destin or Ft. Walton Beach later in the week, but cleaning crews are standing by."
Update on CVB Facebook page:
"There is a no-swim advisory from the beach in front of the Pelican Beach Resort in Destin eastward to the Walton County line. The BP crews have been notified about the tarballs in Destin but since Walton County is hit heavier than we are, at the moment, they'll concentrate on efforts to clean up Walton County ..."
"We are experiencing some significant oil impact today across the island. While some stretches of beach are seeing less impact, others are experiencing greater amounts. Clean-up times seem to be improving and oil is being removed from most areas as quickly as possible. Mechanical beach rakes are capable of sifting even very small contaminates from the sand efficiently and safely. There are now seven machines cleaning the beaches every night between midnight and 8:00 a.m.
The Alabama Department of Public Health has issued a swimming advisory in gulf waters off Gulf Shores, Orange Beach and Fort Morgan, and in bay waters immediately adjacent to Fort Morgan, in Bayou St. John, Terry Cove, Cotton Bayou and Old River. A swimming advisory means that individuals are discouraged from swimming in affected waters.
The beaches are OPEN and visitors are still welcome to sunbathe and walk the beach, but we strongly suggest they swim in a pool or enjoy our many off-beach activities.
Effective June 24, the Alabama Department of Conservation & Natural Resources has opened all state waters for recreational catch-and-release fishing only. This includes all gulf waters out to the three-mile state/federal line. Anglers are reminded to stay clear of booms and booming operations, all working vessels, and areas with visible oil and/or sheen. The pier at Gulf State Park is also reopened for catch-and-release fishing."
"In Florida, officials on Thursday closed a quarter-mile stretch of Pensacola Beach not far from the Alabama line when thick pools of oil washed up, the first time a beach in the state has been shut because of the spill. A large patch of oil oozed into Mississippi Sound, the fertile waters between the barrier islands and mainland of a state that has mostly been spared."
"The good news as of this week is that [most] Florida beaches -- including Fort Walton, Destin, Okaloosa [and] Panama City -- are open and a swimming advisory has been lifted for beaches from the Florida-Alabama border to the entrance of the Perdido section of the Gulf Islands National Seashore in Alabama. Sections of the Gulf Islands National Seashore in Mississippi and Florida remain open, but beaches in Grand Isle, Louisiana, remain closed.
Meanwhile, local authorities have warned against swimming or fishing off Eastern Dauphin Island, Fort Morgan, Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, Old River and Terry Cove in Alabama and Bayou St. John and Cotton Bayou in Louisiana. Despite these warnings, travel experts are advising vacationers to be meticulous about their research before heading down to the Gulf."
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