Cotton Bayou Public Beach Access - Orange Beach, Alabama

Jayden

My family and I have found Cotton Bayou to be one of our favorite beach accesses in all of Orange Beach! The water is also beautiful. The beach may be crowded but you will always be able to find a spot and be comfortable. The only downside is parking can be pricey but is worth it. Sunsets are also beautiful boasting gorgeous water and colorful skies over the Orange Beach skyline.

MaryClare Labbe

Love driving to Orange Beach for a couple day and this is where we usually park.
Decently clean bathrooms and showers to wash off the sand. Parking is $10 for the day.

Eliza Vargas

It is a nice beach and was generally clean. Parking is very difficult because there is little space. If you are driving you should be careful because there are many people walking or on bicycles or scooters. The garbage containers were full and no more garbage was coming in.

Richard Hornsby

Very short stay. The beach area is very nice and well maintained. Near by rest rooms and picnic tables. No dogs are allowed. Getting in and out of the parking area can be a challenge. You will have to make a U turn to get in the right direction once on the road. It cost $10.00 to park all day. It costs $5.00 to cross the bridge to get on and another $5.00 to get off. But, if your not in a hurry, you can go further east down the road and cross for free.

Frankie O

We went in the evening I'm October. It was not very crowded. Clean

Brandon Adams

It's good if you're local and have an annual parking pass and just want to stop by and walk on the beach. I would not recommend this public beach access to either locals or visitors for anything else.

The bathrooms are not clean and the outdoor showers are poorly configured. In fact, there are times when they are missing the shower head. It is clear they are very cheaply installed and given the cost of an annual parking pass or parking fees if visiting there's no excuse for the lack of cleanliness or lack of effective and functioning outdoor showers. Lastly, because of the poor shower configuration I've observed people and young kids slipping and falling.

I've observed inconsistent ordinance enforcement. Sometimes they will force people to move their tent, canopy, etc and sometimes not. This is particularly an issue at times of low volume of beach goers. I've observed people walking their dogs, not service dogs either, right past a Coastal Resource vehicle or an Orange Beach officer with no action to support the ordinance taken. However, they will make someone move because they are ten yards past the line for their tent or canopy.

Overall, the beach itself is nice and again great for walking. Given the cost to park for visitors and the small size of the beach area I would suggest Orange Beach to reallocate the funds and staffing being used for the Coastal Resource officers and Orange Beach police ordinance enforcement to instead bring on staff for keeping the facilities clean and improving the outdoor showers and keeping them working properly.

Jamie Griffin

Nice beach access parking area. $10 fee for parking.

Calaie Smith

$3 to park. The beach was clean and not crowded at all. The sand was nice and white and water was Luke warm. Beautiful and relaxing. I took my daughter there one afternoon. We sat on the beach and watched some people catch crabs in the sand and others walk romantically along the shore.