SuPrBuGmAn
Contributor
I finally managed to get down to the beach(Gulf Shores, AL) today and there really is quite a bit of devestation. They will let you into the main beach area where 59 meets with 182 and you can go about 3 blocks west and as far east as the bridge at Ono Island(just past Perdido Pass Bridge).
Going West, you can't really go too far before hitting the police check point that will turn you away unless you are construction or a home-owner. We were able to get as far as Bahama Bobs Cafe, which is directly north of the Whiskey Wreck. The Whiskey Wreck is probably the easiest beach dive in the area to get into as there is a public parking area with showers and a boardwalk leading to be beach. This parking lot neighbors Bahama Bobs east side. The parking lot is full of sand and its quite apparant that the excess sand from the road and some of the other parking lots were being bulldozed into the public parking area. The boardwalk survived with minimal damage but the shower heads are missing along with the dunes and sea-oats. You can view pictures of the area here http://www.suprbugman.com/gallery/album30 I've yet to be able to get back into the water to dive the Whiskey Wreck since the hurricane but I'm looking forward to it. I'm hoping by next weekend the fecal content in the water will have dropped so I can take a dip without feeling self conscious about diving in poop. The water is already starting to clear, probably in the 3' vis range now
better than the crapaccino it was before...
The boat you see in the pictures is a small shrimp troller, the wreck is in the same area...
Heading East the majority of the shops are gutted completely out, if they weren't completely leveled. The bottom floors of most of the condominiums were gutted while upper floors had broken windows and sheetrock damage from the wind. The pier at Gulf State Park, the large cement one, has alot of sections missing, including the ramp - the large area at the very end where the majority of the people fish is still standing but secluded by about 50' of missing pier. You can see where Lake Shelby and the gulf connected, ripping away the highway, which has been repaved for temporary travel. More of the same down the greater part of Orange Beach. Alot of the beach houses were completely destroyed as well as a few of the larger condominiums which lay in crumbles. Alabama Point looks different, the jeddies at the end of the sand peninsula now form an island as the sand has washed away and reformed on the inside of the channel. So there are now two rock islands to draw in fish.
Going West, you can't really go too far before hitting the police check point that will turn you away unless you are construction or a home-owner. We were able to get as far as Bahama Bobs Cafe, which is directly north of the Whiskey Wreck. The Whiskey Wreck is probably the easiest beach dive in the area to get into as there is a public parking area with showers and a boardwalk leading to be beach. This parking lot neighbors Bahama Bobs east side. The parking lot is full of sand and its quite apparant that the excess sand from the road and some of the other parking lots were being bulldozed into the public parking area. The boardwalk survived with minimal damage but the shower heads are missing along with the dunes and sea-oats. You can view pictures of the area here http://www.suprbugman.com/gallery/album30 I've yet to be able to get back into the water to dive the Whiskey Wreck since the hurricane but I'm looking forward to it. I'm hoping by next weekend the fecal content in the water will have dropped so I can take a dip without feeling self conscious about diving in poop. The water is already starting to clear, probably in the 3' vis range now
better than the crapaccino it was before... The boat you see in the pictures is a small shrimp troller, the wreck is in the same area...
Heading East the majority of the shops are gutted completely out, if they weren't completely leveled. The bottom floors of most of the condominiums were gutted while upper floors had broken windows and sheetrock damage from the wind. The pier at Gulf State Park, the large cement one, has alot of sections missing, including the ramp - the large area at the very end where the majority of the people fish is still standing but secluded by about 50' of missing pier. You can see where Lake Shelby and the gulf connected, ripping away the highway, which has been repaved for temporary travel. More of the same down the greater part of Orange Beach. Alot of the beach houses were completely destroyed as well as a few of the larger condominiums which lay in crumbles. Alabama Point looks different, the jeddies at the end of the sand peninsula now form an island as the sand has washed away and reformed on the inside of the channel. So there are now two rock islands to draw in fish.
