Dauphin IslandTrip Planner
Tell us how long you are staying and what you love. We will lay out a simple day-by-day plan you can tweak.
FreeDay-by-dayTakes 10 seconds
Sample itineraries
Three plans you can copy as-is. The planner above builds one around your own trip length and interests.
One day on the island
- Morning: start at Middle Beach — it is the closest public beach to town, so you get in the water before the day heats up.
- Lunch: Skinner's Seafood for a plate to go, or a picnic back on the sand.
- Afternoon: Fort Gaines — walls, tunnels and cannons, with shade and a breeze off the bay.
- Evening: drive west for sunset on the West End. Sunset is the island's whole personality.
Two days with kids
- Day 1 morning: Middle Beach while the water is calm.
- Day 1 afternoon: the Sea Lab Estuarium — touch tanks and a marsh boardwalk, and the best rainy-day option on the island.
- Day 2 morning: Fort Gaines, then bike the path along Bienville Boulevard.
- Day 2 afternoon: ride the Mobile Bay Ferry if the weather is kind — dolphins are the usual entertainment.
Three days for birders
- Day 1: dawn at the Audubon Bird Sanctuary, then the beach it backs onto. Afternoon at Indian Shell Mound Park.
- Day 2: repeat the sanctuary at first light — migration mornings are never the same twice — then the ferry crossing for seabirds and pelicans.
- Day 3: kayak the calm bay side early, before the wind builds, and keep the afternoon loose for whatever the wind brought in.
Migration is weather-driven: check the wind and go the morning after a front.
Need a place to stay?
Beach houses, condos and camping on both ends of the island.