Turn your surfin’ safari into a photo safari on your next beach getaway and find what the Alabama Gulf Coast has to offer visitors. With several distinct ecosystems, the Gulf Shores and Orange Beach area gives photographers the chance to capture great memories for your scrapbook.

Download the Scenic Byways app for an easy way to navigate our piece of paradise. Itineraries on the Scenic Byway can point your camera in several different ways. Choose the one that inspires your creativity and start shooting. You may want to begin your drive in Mobile County, passing through the fishing village of Bayou La Batre, before continuing on to Baldwin County and its hugely diverse environment. From farmlands to wetlands to rivers, swamps, bays and the Gulf of Mexico, you have your choice of critters and vegetation to photograph.

Another great way to go on a photo safari? Take a dolphin and nature cruise on one of the many boats in the Gulf Shores and Orange Beach area. Companies such as Cetacean Cruises offer both a nature and dolphin cruise that not only puts you nose to bottlenose with some of Baldwin County’s dolphins, it also takes you into the back bays for a close-up look at nature. Keep your eyes peeled and camera ready for the appearance of ospreys, bald eagles, herons and alligators.

Take a hike! Both the Hugh S. Branyon Backcountry Trail and the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge are teeming with flora and fauna indigenous to the Alabama Gulf Coast. On the Backcountry Trail alone, you will find six ecosystems as diverse as maritime forests and freshwater marshes. Gulf Oak Ridge on the Backcountry Trail is part of the Alabama Coastal Birding Trail and is considered an excellent spot for birdwatching, especially during the spring and fall migratory seasons. The Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge is one of the few places you might spot the endangered Alabama beach mouse, a rare find and even rarer photo.

Sometimes, a relaxing way to go on a photo safari is to take a stroll along the beach. You’ll find driftwood, shells, crabs and sandcastles that are rich for interpretation. For a fun day, see how many unique structures you can find in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach – from the purple octopus to the shark’s mouth to the structures at the miniature golf courses, there is no shortage of interesting shots in town.

The best way to plan a photo safari? Start planning your beach getaway today and see the world through a different lens in 2016.