You may not think of Alabama as much of a place for whale watching, and that’s because it isn’t. Indeed, as far as we can tell, there are no whale watching cruises whatsoever that operate out of Alabama, and the same is true of all of the states that border the Gulf of Mexico. However, thanks to the coastal towns of Orange Beach and Gulf Shores, there are some alternate activities in Alabama that may appeal to the type of person who is interested in whale watching, and below we detail these possibilities. There may not be whale watching cruises in Alabama, but there are things like whale watching cruises in Alabama, and we suppose that is better than nothing.
The situation in Alabama is like the situation in Texas, which is to say there are tours that focus on marine life, but not whale watching cruises in particular. (Louisiana, in contrast, has basically nothing that even resembles a whale watching cruise.) In almost all cases, these boating tours focus on dolphins, and most of these cruises operate out of the Gulf Shores and Orange Beach area. (The two towns are side by side, and together they make up a sizable portion of the Alabama coastline, or at least that part of the coastline that isn’t also a part of Mobile Bay.) A dolphin watching cruise is about as close as you’ll get to whale watching in Alabama.
The best resource we have unearthed for finding dolphin watching tours is on the Gulf Shore website. In addition to dolphin watching cruises, there are also listings for activities like fishing and snorkeling and for services like boat rentals, and perhaps these will appeal to be would-be whale watchers as well.
So, there are not any whale watching cruises in Alabama, but there are still ways to see marine life off the coast. Dolphin watching is probably the closest approximation of whale watching, but perhaps any way to get on the water will appeal to you, and there are plenty of ways to do this in Alabama.
