Cruising in Alabama

Alabama runs its boating in two registers: salt and fresh. Down on the Gulf, Orange Beach, Gulf Shores, and Dauphin Island open onto the Intracoastal Waterway, quiet bayous, and the blue water of the Gulf of Mexico beyond the passes. Mobile Bay spreads its wide estuary behind the barrier islands. Marinas along this stretch handle everything from a transient cruiser topping off fuel to a slip holder booking engine work, and the charter docks run deep-sea trips year-round.

Head north and the Tennessee River takes over, stacking a chain of big navigable lakes across the top of the state (Pickwick, Wilson, Wheeler, Guntersville), with clear water, forested bluffs, and coves that swallow a weekend. Farther south, Lake Martin and Lewis Smith Lake put miles of shoreline and multiple marinas within reach of most of the state. The terrain shifts from coastal plain to Appalachian foothill, and the boating shifts with it: open-water saltwater runs one weekend, a quiet cove anchorage the next.