Originally Posted by
Johnson85
I have had to spend a good bit of time on the coast for work, and you can definitely put together a good vacation there, especially if you're interested in a lot of different things. If you want a "beach vacation" where you go to the beach and relax every day, the Coast is not for you, but if you want variety, you can have a good time.
Things to do:
- Ship island (full day) - basically a little nicer than gulf shores and not as nice as destin beaches. The downside is that without your own boat, you are stuck with the fairy and limited on departure and return times and can't pop in and out of a condo throughout the day. I'd pack a cooler with drinks and lunch and take the early boat our and come back on the late boat. That's a long day but if it's your only beach day, that's not a bad thing.
- Gulf Islands Water Park (half or full day) - it will be crowded but most water parks are. Going on a weekday will help. You also have Buccaneer state park over in waveland. Not as big but has a wave pool and a slide or two. Not sure how crowded it gets.
- Go cart/mini golf/inflatable slides (two or three hours?) - can't remember the name of the place, but it's on 90 in Biloxi; can't miss it; has a slap your mama barbecue out front
- Scarlet Pearl Mini golf (couple of hours?) - haven't been but supposedly a massive investment and a "world famous" mini golf architect if there is such a thing;
- kayak/paddle board rentals - can do kayaks and paddle board rentals in gulfport lake and bay st. louis I think and there is a company that offers guided kayak tours in pascagoula
- MGM Park for baseball game
- usually a concert or something offered at one of the Casino's that is decent, especially if you're over 40
- Kroc Center - has an indoor water area that would be good for a rainy day or just a couple of hours on a sunny day if you just want a relatively quick activity to fill in part of the day
- Lazy River / Pool day - Most of the big casino's have a good pool if you just want to spend a day or afternoon lounging with drinks. Hollywood casino has a lazy river if that interests you; not sure how good it is; another good option is the Island View; it's new south tower has it's pool area open to the beach that they keep nice and clean; this also gives you the option of doing the Bridges in the morning, which is a nice golf course and then doing the pool in the afternoon. The water there isn't particularly good because it's so shallow and muddy, but it gives you the option of hanging out on the beach with a nice view and then walking up to the pool when you want to cool off and having a hotel room nearby if you want.
- Fishing - half day or full day - for redfish/speckled trout type fishing I'd probably go with Shore thing charters; not sure about deep sea fishing Be aware that if you do deep sea fishing you'll probably spend a good bit of time traveling to a good place to fish.
golf - Fallen Oak (the Beau), Grand Bear (the Grand/Hera's), the Palace's course, the Bridges are all great courses. Fallen Oak and the Grand Bear and the Palace's course are probably the best layouts. The Bear is up for sale so not sure how well it's maintained now. You also have the Oaks and Wind Dance that are both nice courses. Great Southern is even worth playing if you just want to play with a view of the water at a place that's cheap and convenient; just can't expect too much with how the course is maintained.
Boating - you can do one of the walk on rides with the biloxi schooners or rent one of them out. There is also a charter sailing company that takes out a small sail boat; maybe 25 or 30 feet. Not sure what the other options are for boating. Not sure if there is anywhere that will just rent you a boat and most of the charters I'm aware of are geared towards fishing.
Places to stay - There are lots of good places to stay, the only problem is I'm not sure there's anywhere that wouldn't get a little stale if you stayed more than three nights. Beau, Hard Rock, IP, and Palace all give you access to good restaurants and a casino at night. It's also close to Ocean Springs where you might want to spend some nights on the town. Island View offers a very good set up with their south tower and is closer to the Ship Island Ferry and to Bay St. Louis and Pass Christian, also worth a night on the town. Hollywood offers the lazy river and a casino and an on site golf course (the only one on the coast that doesn't require a 15 to 30 minute drive to play golf). You also have the White house hotel, which is a cool set up and good location but only offers one restaurant, one bar, and a pool that is nice but nothing fancy.
Places to eat - Ocean Springs you can probably spend an afternoon walking around and drinking and is also good to go at night. Bay St. louis offers the same; it's options are a little more limited but they're still good. Gulfport probably now has as good or better downtown area at night , but won't have as much going on as Ocean Springs or Bay St. Louis if you go there for an afternoon. Trapanis, blind tiger (bay st. louis) are both good and ugly pirate is cool and cheap if not great food. In the Pass you have Hook, Bacchus, and Shaggy's (which is pretty good food for a beach place, but you'll mostly be there for the atmosphere). Long Beach has Darwell's which is neat and has been on diners and drive-ins and another place owned by Bacchus (can't remember the name); Gulfport has half Shell, Chimney's, Corks and Cleaver, two surprisingly good restaurants in the Island View (a steak hour and a seafood place) and then a number of other options (a brick oven pizza place, a honky tonk place, a wine bar, a sports pub, etc.). Gulfport is also getting a Shaggy's and Blind Tiger before the summer. Biloxi has Mary Mahoney's, a half shell, Shaggy's, the Reef, a few other beach places, Coras (in the white house hotel), some good food in the casinos and a couple of cool places down town ( a taco place, a sal and mookies, a sushi place, etc.) Ocean Springs has a ton but their restaurants seem to change a lot. Leo's (a brick oven pizza place), Chef Scott's, Phonecia, Al Fresca seem to be long lasting. There's also a really good brunch place there I can't remember the name of.
