Bon Secour NWR Beach, Gulf of Mexico

Gulf Shores, Alabama

The Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge, established by Congress in 1980, covers 7,000 acres of wildlife habitat for migratory birds, nesting sea turtles and the endangered Alabama beach mouse. Pets are not allowed in the Refuge in order to protect wildlife species at the site. The Refuge has 5 hiking trails, with some wheelchair accessibility. Guided nature tours of the refuge are conducted seasonally by Refuge staff and are by reservation only. The Refuge office is open weekdays from 7am to 3:30pm. Refuge beaches and trails are open 7 days a week during daylight hours only.

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COVID-19

Keep your distance from other people.

Practicing social distancing is still essential. Only go to the beach if you are able to keep 6 feet or 2 meters away from others. Follow the instructions provided by your local health authorities. If your community has asked that you remain indoors and away from others, do so. Spending a day in any crowded place is the worst thing we can do for our most vulnerable right now and will counter our efforts to curb the virus’s spread.

Water Quality

No data available
Current Status
This status is based on the latest sample, taken on December 3th, 2021. Mobile Baykeeper updates the status of this beach as soon as test results become available. These results were posted to Swim Guide on December 3th, 2021 at 12:26 PM.

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Current Weather

15°C

Fog

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Monitoring Frequency

Source Information

This beach information is maintained by Mobile Baykeeper, using data from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) and Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH). Depending on the site, samples are collected twice per week, once per week or once every other week during the swimming season (May through September) and once per month during the cooler months.

More information about the ADEM testing program can be found at http://adem.alabama.gov/programs/coastal/beachMonitoring.cnt

Water samples are analyzed for the indicator bacteria Enterococci. Beaches will be marked as unsafe (red) for swimming when sample results show more than 104 Enterococci colonies per 100 ml of water and will be marked as safe (green) when Enterococci colonies are below 104 colonies per 100 ml of water. A grey status indicates a lack of current or reliable data for a particular site.

Learn more about Mobile Baykeeper at http://mobilebaykeeper.org/swim

Water Quality Graph