Why stop at the beach? Beach vacations offer the chance to enjoy the simple pleasures of sunbathing and playing in the shade. Our 15 date ideas for Gulf Shores and Orange Beach will help you rekindle your romance, no matter how hot it is already.
This article is not going to be a listicle, where we go over some things you can do on a date. You deserve better for your relationship. You can follow our date ideas like a recipe or a melody, and they will flow like a romantic paint-by-number. We’ll show you that there are more romantic things to do in Gulf Shores, Alabama than beach blanket bingo or honeymoon hootenanny.
Play with a Porpoise
It’s one of those articles, and our first entry will be a dolphin-watching cruise starting from The Wharf.
In Wolf Bay, 50-70 dolphins are swimming, playing and eating at any one time. They’re also being cute. Everyone knows that too much cuteness can release a chemical cocktail into the female’s brain, which science has yet to fully quantify. Do you not believe us? Imagine a first date that was awkward with 50 to 70 golden retrievers puppies. Casanova is what we are talking about; just get your mind off the gutter and stop thinking of those puppy piles! This is not a dating article!
It doesn’t end there. You and your partner can enjoy the sunset together while the guys are on the boat. There are many providers to choose from, including the romantic Cetacean Cruises and the playful Sunny Lady Dolphin Cruises. But it doesn’t end there. You were promised ebb-and-flow, not only the ocean’s motion and cute commotion.
The best entertainment district along the Gulf Coast is The Wharf. Your night doesn’t end when the cruise does. Choose from a waterfront dining experience at Mile Marker 158 Dockside, or a casual street tacos meal at YoHo Rum & Tacos.
You can’t escape the nighttime activities at The Wharf no matter where you dine, and you certainly wouldn’t. Enjoy your purple cup drink of choice while you ride the 112’ ferris wheel, lit up as a Christmas Tree. Or explore the SPECTRA Laser Light Experience which combines choreographed laser lighting effects and surround sound music. There’s also axe-throwing, escape rooms and VR experiences.
Beach Blanket bingo
This entry is about as bingo-filled as the Frankie Avalon film from 1965. The words are easy to pronounce, but the real topic is beach parties. Instead of a love-story based on a convoluted plot that involves publicity stunts and skydiving or kidnapping you can ask the Beach Moms Concierge Service for help in arranging the perfect beach picnic.
The concierge will help you find the perfect location and food. You just need to show up, and they will take care of the rest. The perfect beach picnic for two hours will include plush pillows with Bluetooth speakers, shade and environmentally friendly plates and cutlery. Make it a sunset-themed picnic to take things to the next level. You can arrange for beach sling chair, cornhole and fresh flowers. A photographer is also available. Who are we to say if you hire a photographer on a date to take photos of your cornhole game? You do you boo
Bag a Birding Barbie
Let’s set the scene. If you’re older, Paul Hogan’s rugged masculinity or Australian accent might be sexy. But there’s nothing more he enjoyed than walking in the bush. You might still be into leg warmers, shoulder pads and aerobic gear if you are a bush lover. But if you stick with us we can turn this date into something utterly ghastly.
Pine Beach Trail at Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge is a great place to start. You can walk less than 2 miles to see all of the coastal ecosystems from intercoastal dunes to live oak hammocks before you reach one of Alabama’s most romantic and isolated beaches. You’ll also find a special treat along the way, a birding-tower on the shores at Little Lagoon Lake and Gator Lake. This is the ideal place to have a picnic or barbeque.
Don’t make Sheila eat soggy white bread if you want to impress her. Pack provisions from The Pantry At The Wharf – Orange Beach’s gourmet speciality grocery store. You’ll find Good Food To Go(tm) there. There’s a wide variety of tasty treats. We recommend the Chef-curated Cheese + Charcuterie Boxes. They are generously prepared and include a wide variety of fresh fruits, cheeses, chocolates, and other accouterments.
Enjoy a Pedaling picnic
This is a great date idea. It doesn’t take linguistic tap dance to understand the play on words in the title. But that doesn’t stop us from giving you a little explanation and kicking this ride up a notch.
Gulf State Park offers some of the best bicycling on the Gulf Coast. It has about 30 trails that cover about 30-miles. There is also a free bicycle-share program that allows everyone to get out and ride. Our Complete Guide to Biking in Gulf Shores & Orange Beach shows maps of every bike trail and explains the Bike Share Program.
Plan your route using our maps. You can visit unique attractions like Lefty the Alligator and parkour parks. It’s impossible to think of a date as complete without eating calories. So, stop at Woodside Restaurant before you go. Woodside offers a variety of Southern-inspired dishes and cocktails made with the best local ingredients. It is open for lunch, dinner, and breakfast. The perfect accompaniment to a bike ride through the park.
Kayaks and Cosmos: A Dynamic Duo
We are always a bit hesitant about recommending kayaking as a date. There’s a good reason why they’re called “divorce boats.” After experiencing guided paddling through Wild Native Tours we learned that there are many ways to explore the backbays of Alabama’s Gulf Coast. Our tour included a couple who had no experience in kayaking, but chose to do it for their 1st anniversary. Our guide provided them with personalized instructions, so they didn’t end up in a complete disaster. They were soon paddling in straight lines and working as a team. It’s unlikely that the first anniversary gift will change from paper to a paddling board anytime soon. But at least there are options.
We suggest that you end your kayaking adventure with brunch at Cosmos. Cosmos offers a modern take on regional favorites, like the shrimp toast made with Gulf Shrimp chopped and BuzzCatz whitebread. Blue crab and corn calas are also delicious, served with traditional New Orleans rice fritters. If a dynamic paddling date with two friends isn’t enough adventure for you, make it threesome by stopping at BuzzCats before you get on the water.
The Ultimate Beach Day Date
We have some ideas for the Ultimate Beach Day Date.
You must first choose the right beach. Alabama Point is our recommendation. It’s a mile-long beach that offers some of the best surfing, diving and snorkeling in the area. The Frost Bite Airstream has snacks and showers. After you’ve had enough of the sun and sand you can visit Cobalt Restaurant to enjoy happy hour specials on food and drinks.
Even though a beach date may not be as complex as other of our options, sometimes the simplest pleasures are the most enjoyable.
Toe-Tapping Taproom
Big Beach Beer makes date night easy. Alabama’s Southernmost Brewery has an open-air taproom with comfortable seating and a fireplace. The taproom is perfect for casual gatherings inside or out, thanks to the four garage doors which allow coastal breezes to pass through.
If you are not still a college student, a beer alone isn’t enough to create a great date. Big Beach Brewing brings in live music and food trucks every weekend. You’ll love the Hangout Music Festival atmosphere, but check their schedule online to see if there are any events that catch your eye.
Sunset Serenades
Sunset Serenade is a variation of Toe-Tapping Taproom. All the elements are there: adult beverages, outdoor seating and live music. Only, it’s different.
This date is at The lodge at Gulf State Park, not a brewpub. It’s sophisticated and simple. It’s like color-by-numbers for cocktails.
- Step 1. Check the music schedule on the Perch
- Step 2. Make a Reservation
- Step 4: Park at the The Lodge’s Self-Parking Lot because Perch validates your parking
- Step 4Â : Order and Enjoy
- Step 6: Move outside to enjoy desserts, drinks and live music if you did not get a patio table.
Here are a few tips to make your simple date special. Plan to eat at sunset. It’s amazing to watch the sun set over the pier. Check out the drink menus of Perch or food Craft to see what you must have. There are a lot of similar drinks, but the Hound Dog, made with Don Q rum, bananas and banana brulee along with peanut butter whiskey was available only downstairs at Food Craft.
White Sand Beaches and White Glove Service
The next date is our most luxurious dinner with live music in Gulf Shores or Orange Beach. Voyagers is Orange Beach’s best dining, where you can enjoy authentic Gulf Coast food in a cozy setting with panoramic Gulf view. You’ll enjoy the award-winning wines, fresh gulf-caught seafood and dry-aged beef.
You don’t even have to finish your evening with dinner. Voyagers and Ms. Nancy’s Lobby Lounge is a place where you can enjoy signature cocktails and wine by the glass. The piano bar is open every night until 10:00 pm, and local legends John Brust & Lisa Zanghi will be playing the ivory.
Sunset Sailing and Shipping Containers
Take a sunset sail with Wild Hearts. This 1.5-hour cruise might change your perspective on sunsets. This is a relaxing way to end your day. Light hors-d’oeuvres are provided, and you can bring a cooler filled with drinks of your choice.
Wild Hearts is located across from Voyagers, The Gulf and one of Orange Beach’s most unique restaurants. The Gulf, built out of repurposed shipping container is located west of Perdido Pass Bridge. The sunset cruise is a great way to finish the day in a relaxed and chic atmosphere. However, they close at 9pm, so make sure to check the schedule before heading out. It’s a good way to get dessert or a nightcap at Voyagers.
Small Town Saturday Night
Small Town, Big Beach ™ is the slogan of Gulf Shores. There’s more to this town’s Saturday night than howling at the moon or shooting the lights out. Begin your evening by strolling along the boardwalk of Gulf Place, Gulf Shores Public Beach. Watch the sunset on the sand and avoid getting grit into your girl shoes.
Then head over to The Hangout or Pink Pony Pub for an evening meal or a nightcap. Each has its own charm and appeal but they both capture the history and spirit of Gulf Shores. Pink Pony Pub combines live music and karaoke at the Pink Pony Pub, while The Hangout offers nightly live entertainment. Choose one. Both are worth it. Don’t miss the chance to experience Gulf Shores’ authentic nightlife.
The Classic Dinner and Movie
Dinner and a movie is an old-fashioned date combination that has been around for many years. You may have had enough of the sun and crowds, and want to retreat to your cave. You may be craving the best vegan burger on the beach. This is also our top-ranked food in Gulf Shores/Orange Beach. This date is for you.
Start the evening with Blous Burgers. You’ll find, as you might expect, a wide selection of craft hamburgers and flights fries. You might be surprised to learn that they can cater to special diets like vegetarianism or gluten sensitivity. They know the difference between vegetarianism and veganism and how to adapt many of their favorite dishes to suit everyone.
You can walk 200 feet to the CMX Cinemas, which has 14 screens. You can have a double feature movie and burgers, but make it triple by getting a gourmet shake at The Yard Milkshake Bar. They also offer vegan options. They can make some pretty large shakes. The quart-sized shakes can have more than 3,000 calories. However, date calories do not count and sharing is caring. You can’t expect to be able to shake the guilt off this date, as the Yard and Blues Burgers is located in the same building that is adjacent the theater.
Meet me at Lulu’s
Lulu’s, a restaurant in Gulf Shores, is known for its food, music and fun. Let’s start with the elephant parrot in the corner. Lucy Buffet is Jimmy Buffet’s younger sibling. She owns Lulu’s. Some people blame a woman, but here you can just go for the frozen concoction to help you hold on.
Lulu’s Dinner is about more than just celebrity fandom. You can enjoy a night of entertainment and food all in one place. Here are a few pro tips to help you avoid wasting your evening searching for the lost salt shaker:
- Plan your visit based on the schedule of live music.
- Get on the waiting list by calling online in advance. You’ll be happy you called ahead.
- Enjoy the beach and some games.
Lulu’s has some fun activities that are geared towards a younger audience, such as the Mountain of Youth climbing apparatus. Don’t undervalue the romantic boost you can get from a caricature, or even a henna. After a few nights, the only thing that is certain is your brand-new tattoo and who has won cornhole.
Take a walk on the wild side
Gulf Shores is home to the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo. The easy answer is to recommend dining at Alabama’s first Green Certified Restaurant, the Safari Club. You will be transported into darkness by the jungle-themed decor and the patio dining in the midst of animals singing their nocturnes. The food at this restaurant is excellent and it is usually open a few hours after the close of the zoo, so you won’t be surrounded by families with children.
As we have said, a dinner alone does not make a good date. After your safari, there are plenty of options for a date when you return to Gulf Shores Parkway. Our favorites are the Pirate Island Adventure Golf and Escape Room .
Take a walk on the weird side
You might want to take your booty to the other side of the Gulf. It’s difficult to choose between replica druids temples, Styrofoam dinosaurs, giant spiders and pirate bars. You don’t need to worry about that with our date on the strange side. You just need to keep an open-minded mind and head over to Josephine.
It all starts with Bamahenge, and Dinosaurs in Woods. Because sometimes strange is good. Come down to the private Beach at Pirates Cove and enjoy a Bushwacker. You might not like pirates if you’re the son of a biscuit-eating man. In that case, try the tossed rolls in Foley at Lambert’s Cafe.
Date Ideas for Gulf Shores & Orange Beach
After nearly 3,000 words, we’ve come to the end of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach dates ideas. We hope you enjoyed our semantic silliness. But more importantly, we hope you will get to try out some of these dates. We’ve created an interactive map to show you all of our dates.
You’ll notice that we have created a complete date, as you can see from the map. All 15 date ideas were divided into four categories, each with a different color.
- Restaurants with Live Music (Purple).
- Toe Tapping Taproom
- Sunset Serenades
- White Sand Beaches and White Glove Service
- Small Town Saturday Night
- Meet me at Lulu’s
- Boat Dates in Blue
- Play with a Porpoise
- Sunset Sailing and Shipping Containers
- Outdoor Dates (Green)
- Bag a Birding Barbie
- Enjoy a Pedaling picnic
- Kayaks and Cosmos: A Dynamic Duo
- The Ultimate Beach Day Date
- Dates Various (Orange).
- The Classic Dinner and Movie
- Take a walk on the wild side
- Take a walk on the weird side
You should be able follow the flow of the map. If you don’t, perhaps you will create your own Bob Ross style ‘Happy Accident.
We bid you good-bye and wish you all a fun-filled, delicious date, romance abounding, and a happy end to top it off.