It’s a nice feeling to be able to wake up in the morning in Gulf Shores, casually (no rushing) get ready for a round of golf, and easily walk to the golf course located right next door to your condominium. And when you’re finished with your game, you don’t have far to go to take a relaxing dip in the pool.

It’s even nicer knowing that the golf course is Kiva Dunes, located next to Gulf Shores Plantation. Not only is this course a combination of challenge and beauty, it’s been ranked several times by Golf Digest as one of the best golf courses.

Kiva Dunes is one of nine signature golf courses in the Gulf Shores area, and Gulf Shores Plantation guests can choose among all of them to customize a golf vacation package. Stay close to the resort for your entire vacation, or mix it up by playing a variety of courses.

Nature has so many good qualities—its provides a peaceful setting for exploration and contemplation, and can create an invigorating atmosphere for exercise, such as walking, running, or biking along nature trails.

There are plenty of sites in the Gulf Shores/Orange Beach area that offer excellent opportunities for nature and wildlife observation. Nature centers and wildlife preserves display various plants, flowers, animals, and forests. If you enjoy hiking (or biking) along nature trails, there are plenty of those, too—the Hugh S. Branyon Back Country Trail is just over in Orange Beach. This trail is ten miles long and winds through four different ecosystems.

The range of trails, parks and other nature sites make these popular excursions around the Alabama Gulf Coast. Check out our Nature listings for more information.

SAVE up to 30%!

Stay Longer & Save More on your summer vacation at Gulf Shores Plantation!

Stay three or more nights & save 25%

Stay seven or more nights & save 30%

Here are the facts:

• Yes, there is an advisory against swimming in Gulf waters.

• Yes, we’ve had patches of oil on our beach.

• Yes they are being cleaned up each day.

• Yes, guests are sunbathing and walking on the beach.

• Yes, guests are enjoying our pools, tennis courts, exercise room, saunas & hot tubs, basketball & shuffleboard courts, game room, putting green & more plus all the attractions, shopping & dining the Gulf Coast offers.

• Yes, Gulf Shores Plantation is still a great place for a vacation!

So, don’t let the oil spill spoil your vacation! Book now! Call 866-569-3538 & mention “Stay Longer’” to your reservation specialist or book online and enter “Stay Longer” in the comments section. *Offer good for stays through July 31, 2010. Amount of discount based on length of stay. A specific number of owners have approved their condos as available for this promotion. Not valid on previously booked accommodations and can not be combined with other discounts or promotions. A three-night minimum is required. Not valid on beach cottages.

All that time you spend on Facebook and Twitter - ever wish it would amount to something? Well, something other than finding out what your third cousin thought of the latest summer movie.

Two of our social network friends got a reward for their efforts. We ran two contests on recent promotional campaigns to acknowledge our friends, fans, and followers on Facebook and Twitter.

We selected a random Twitter follower for a $50 Academy Sports gift card - Congrats Greta! And a random Facebook fan for a $50 Cold Stone Creamery gift card - Congrats Lillian! We appreciate everyone who connects with us on our social sites. We enjoy hearing from you. Facebook Twitter MySpace

Imagine starting the day underneath a morning sky filled with brightly colored hot air balloons. Now resolve to turn that thought into a reality by planning to attend the 6th Annual Gulf Coast Hot Air Balloon Festival.

For three days, June 18th to 20th, you’ll be able to start and end the day with a vision of 40 hot air balloons dotting the sky. And for more fun in the sky, you can watch the WhatAKite kites that will be flying throughout the day, and the fireworks display on Saturday evening.

The festival will also include music, arts and crafts, a children’s village, food, and a Frisbee dog show. More information about this event is available on the Gulf Shores Plantation area events calendar. Search the calendar to see what other events are coming up.

Beaches and pools are excellent places to spend a vacation, but in an area like Alabama’s Gulf Coast, with its Civil War sites, historic forts, and museums, exploring the local history and culture can add a little depth and adventure.

Anyone interested in the Civil War—or just battles in general—will find plenty of interesting spots around the area. Fort Gaines, Fort Mims, and Fort Morgan all tell tales of historic battles, and Historic Blakely State Park is the site of the last major Civil War battle.

Various museums display the local history. And if you’re into aviation and battleships, you’ll want to check out the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park and National Museum of Naval Aviation—lots of aircraft and military equipment, plus the aviation museum has flight simulators and IMAX movies.

For more information on the Alabama Gulf Coast’s history, click here.

Having access to a pool while vacationing at the beach is essential. Sure, beach time is great, but being able to switch it out for some pool time adds variety—spend one day at the beach and the next at the pool, or do the beach thing in the morning and relax by the pool after lunch (or vice versa).

And with six outdoor pools—and one indoor pool—you’ll have plenty of choices to mix things up at Gulf Shores Plantation. You can try a new pool each day or spend a day or two pool-hopping to pick your favorite. Then save the indoor pool for a rainy day, or as a way to escape the sun for a day.

Gulf Shores Plantation offers many other amenities in addition to seven pools. Check them out here.

Beach conditions at Gulf Shores Plantation continue to be awesome! Check out this photo taken earlier today!

My favorite thing about vacationing at a condo are the amenities. And Gulf Shores Plantation has a lot of amenities: six outdoor pools and one indoor pool, eight tennis courts, basketball, shuffleboard, horseshoes and a putting green, just to name a few.

There are those occasions, though, when you need a little more privacy than a condo affords. Family reunions, for example, can be a little cozier and free in a house setting. Often this means giving up resort amenities.

But if you go with a Gulf Shores Plantation cottage, you get the privacy and space of a house and still have access to the resort’s amenities. Plus you’ll be able to tell people you’re staying in a “beach cottage”—which just sounds charmingly luxurious.

Click here to learn more about these rental homes.

For the golf enthusiast, getting out on the course at least once during a vacation is a must. In fact, I don’t think a vacation without golf would count as a vacation—it would be like going on a ski trip without any snow.

But there's plenty of golf around the Gulf, particularly along Alabama's Gulf Coast. The only way you might miss out on golf down here is if you get so tied up in your other vacation activities that you simply don't get around to picking a course and scheduling a tee time.

Ok, I doubt a true golfer would allow this to happen. Nonetheless, planning ahead of time by taking advantage of Gulf Shores Plantation's golf vacation packages will ensure you get golfing experience you want while you're here, and will eliminate the hassle of having to decide when and where in the midst of your vacation. And you can customize it however you want - play once, twice, or every day, play the same course each time or play a different location each day.

Click here for more information and to fill out a golf package request form.