Alcohol ban dates set for 2023 Gulf Shores spring break
GULF SHORES, Ala. (WALA) - In just over a month, Baldwin County beaches will be filling with spring breakers and the Gulf Shores wants to remind its visitors that alcohol will not be allowed on the beach. This will be the eighth year the city has enforced the ordinance.
As January nears an end, roadways in Gulf Shores are far from busy. Beaches are mostly empty, and the feel of winter is still in the air. All that will soon change and as spring break approaches. The city of Gulf Shores is again putting the word out early that drinking on the beach won’t be allowed.
“Eight years in…it’s been very successful,” said Sgt. Nick Corcoran with Gulf Shores Police. “Residents we’ve spoken to as well as visitors with their families have stated that they’re very happy with the results of the ban. On the street level, the crowds have not returned in the fashion they did in 2016, prior to it.”
The dates for 2023 have been set. The ban will begin March 4th and continue through April 24th. Police said alcohol-related offenses and arrests have gone down since the ordinance went into effect and large parties of young adults on the beach have given way to a more family-friendly atmosphere. City leaders said that’s how they measure the success of the program.
“When Panama City did their alcohol ban and we saw that shift of the party come to Gulf Shores that year…2016 and we implemented this alcohol ban, we saw immediate success and immediate transition the next year,” explained Grant Brown with the city of Gulf Shores.
Those who’ve lived in Gulf Shores through the transition have noticed a huge difference in the type of spring breaker coming to town now and are pleased the city continues to enforce the ban.
“This is a good thing for us,” said Gulf Shores resident, John Beaman. “Just keeping things the way it is so nobody gets hurt. Good for Gulf Shores.”
The portion of beach where alcohol won’t be allowed is between the water and the sand dunes, stretching from the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge on the west to Gulf State Park on the east.
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