Johnson Beach Gulf Islands National Seashore Perdido Key, FL
Thank you to all our veterans! Some may not know that Johnson Beach is named in honor of a local veteran.
No June grass, water is in mid-60sF, lots of fisherfolk and shore birds. I don’t recommend swimming, as the waves are a minimum of 5-6′. Also saw about 9 dolphins, presumably attracted by the fish. The road is still closed for the boardwalk and parking lot construction.
Perdido Key Access #2 Perdido Key, FL
It is overcast today but the Gulf is fairly flat and somewhat clear! There was no flag at this beach but the state park and national seashore are flying yellow flags this morning. There is safety equipment and information at the beach, so I am not sure why there is no flag. There is a beach chair & umbrella vendor at this beach if that is your cup of tea.
Access #2 isn’t as nice at 3 or 4. The parking lot has a lot of potholes and the porta johns don’t look like they’ve been maintained well. It is close to a lot of things on the east end of the key.
Perdido Key Access #3 Perdido Key, FL
The water is beautiful today! The north wind is flattening the Gulf down. There have been complaints about biting flies all week but I didn’t notice any when I was at the beach around 9am. There were no flags up, but conditions were calm at the time.
P.S. I saw a bunch of cows. Apparently there is some sort of rodeo happening at the Flora-Bama state line area on the key, so traffic may be a bit interesting this weekend.
Johnson Beach Gulf Islands National Seashore Perdido Key, FL
No June grass, flags are yellow, water is rather murky because it is raining.
Johnson Beach Gulf Islands National Seashore Perdido Key, FL
Flags are DOUBLE RED stay out of the water! The surf is 8’+ and coming more than halfway up the beach, so probably just avoid the beach altogether. Johnson Beach road past the parking lot is closed because the water is going over the road in some places. It looks like spending Labor Day at the beach is probably a wash, due to Hurricane Idalia, but I will try to post another update on Friday. Stay safe!
Johnson Beach Gulf Islands National Seashore Perdido Key, FL
No June grass! Flags were yellow at 7am. The water was a little murky and the temperature has increased to about 80F, maybe a bit warmer. There weren’t many people at the beach. This is possibly due to the heat warning and/or the biting flies. They didn’t look like yellow flies, more like the ones you see around livestock. They were annoying. Lots of birds on the beach and some kind of small fast fish in the surf. It was about 6″ long and sort of herring shaped. I couldn’t get a good look due to the murky water.
Please note that after this week the road east of the main parking lot at Johnson Beach will be closed. They are putting in three new parking areas and fixing the boardwalks over the dunes.
Public Access 4 Perdido Key, FL
Slightly less murky than AL but still some decent-sized waves rolling in. No June grass and for some reason there is no flag at this beach. However, the flag at the state park was yellow.
This is one of the nicer public accesses on Perdido Key. There is plenty of parking & it is ADA accessible. Bathrooms are porta-johns. I think only Access 2 has a permanent bathroom. Everything here is newer/in better repair than the other beach accesses. The Crab Trap is right next door if you like that sort of thing.
The heat warning starts at 10am today, so pay attention to that.
Shell Beach Gulf State Park Orange Beach, AL
The water is still a little rough and murky but no June grass! Flags are yellow and purple.
June Grass Report readers who are squeamish about the natural state of FL public beaches might want to try this one. There is a parking fee but you get a raked beach, beach chair concessionaire, beach toy exchange, and a snorkeling reef. The fee station takes cash or credit cards. It also looks like there may be a lifeguard at times, although none were present this morning.
Johnson Beach Gulf Islands National Seashore Perdido Key, FL
Conditions similar to yesterday. A couple of people are fishing and there is some ok shelling at the west end of the beach. Still no June grass.
The June Grass Report 