Gulf Shores or Panama City Beach?

Both beaches are the same soft, white quartz sand with clear green water on calm days, and you will be equally happy on either. The difference is in the layout. Gulf Shores is one long strand from Fort Morgan to the Florida line, with the quietest sand below the dunes of Gulf State Park and towards the western tip.

Panama City Beach has more variety at its quieter end. The jetty-sheltered lagoon in St. Andrews State Park gives an easy, protected swim, and boats run from there out to Shell Island, where the sand is completely undeveloped. Rip currents are a serious hazard on both coasts, so check the beach flags every day.

Gulf Shores has a little more character on the plate. Royal Red shrimp, caught in deep Gulf water, are the local speciality, the gumbo shows the pull of nearby Louisiana, and the Orange Beach waterfront adds a few more polished dining rooms to the usual open-air seafood shacks.

In Panama City Beach the national chains and big themed restaurants along Front Beach Road make up more of the choice, and the more careful cooking is found near the lagoon and at the quieter western end. Neither coast has fine dining or much beyond seafood, so buying fresh Gulf shrimp and cooking it in your condo is often the best meal of the week.

Neither town has much in the way of sights, but each has one place worth a morning. In Gulf Shores it is Fort Morgan, the brick star fort that saw action in the Battle of Mobile Bay. In Panama City Beach it is the small Man in the Sea Museum on diving history, with the older streets of the St. Andrews district across the bay. If you want more history than that, you will need to drive.

Nights out are much the same in both: beach bars on the sand, frozen drinks and no club scene. Gulf Shores has the stronger single draw in the ramshackle roadhouse on the state line at Perdido Key, which stays loud late into the night. The rest of the town tends to be asleep early.

In Panama City Beach the evenings centre on the bars around Pier Park and the lagoon, where cover bands and DJs play and there is some dancing on summer weekends. Spring break makes the strip much rowdier there than in Gulf Shores, and out of season many of the bars close for part of the year.

Both are flat, sandy coasts where most of the outdoor life happens on the water, but each has its own strengths. Gulf Shores is better for cyclists and birdwatchers. It has paved trails through the maritime forest of Gulf State Park, quiet dune paths in Bon Secour refuge and a busy spring and autumn bird migration. The Mobile-Tensaw Delta's river swamp is also close enough to explore by kayak.

Panama City Beach is the place to get under the water, with snorkelling in the St. Andrews lagoon and diving on the offshore wrecks. It also has the rare coastal dune lake at Camp Helen State Park.

Gulf Shores has the better choice of day trips, and they are closer. Mobile's old downtown and the battleship USS Alabama, bayside Fairhope and Pensacola's naval aviation museum are all within about an hour. The car ferry from Fort Morgan to Dauphin Island makes an outing in itself.

From Panama City Beach, the planned pastel towns along 30A, such as Seaside and Rosemary Beach, are the easy choice at under an hour. Most of the rest takes longer. The old oyster port of Apalachicola is about an hour and a half away, and Pensacola is close to two hours, a long day there and back.

Both resorts are built around families, with condos that have kitchens and pools, but they suit children in different ways. Gulf Shores mixes water parks, the Ferris wheel at Orange Beach and the theme park in Foley with slower days in Gulf State Park, where children can cycle the trails and fish from the long pier.

Panama City Beach has more to do along the strip itself: a marine park with dolphin shows, go-karts and mini-golf. The sheltered St. Andrews lagoon is a safe first snorkel for small children. Avoid March there, when spring break makes the strip rowdy.

You will need a car in either place, since both towns stretch for miles along a single beach road, and summer weekend traffic is slow. The small differences are in how you can manage without one. In Gulf Shores, the trail network in Gulf State Park lets you cycle rather than drive inside the park. Panama City Beach has a trolley-bus along its main roads, though it is too slow and infrequent to rely on.

Panama City Beach is a little better for shopping. Pier Park gathers chain stores and a department store in one open-air centre, and the 30A towns to the west have the most individual boutiques on either coast.

In Gulf Shores, most visitors drive to the large outlet mall in Foley, usually on a rainy day, and otherwise shop at the beachwear emporiums and fishing shops. Neither town has any luxury or local craft shopping.

Costs are much the same, and in both towns they depend on the season. Beachfront condos are expensive in June and July and much cheaper in winter, when long stays are common. Cooking in a condo kitchen saves a lot in either town. Free public beaches and state parks help too, but both need a hire car. The main difference is in spring: in Panama City Beach, rates also climb during the spring break weeks.

Gulf Shores has more live music. Bands play daily on the beach-bar stages, and the state-line roadhouse hosts a long-running songwriters' festival every November. The amphitheatre in Orange Beach brings touring country and rock acts in the warmer months, and Mobile's symphony is about an hour away.

Panama City Beach mostly offers cover bands and acoustic sets on bar decks. For anything more formal, the restored historic theatre across the bay in Panama City has a modest season of touring shows.

Neither town has a spa tradition. In both, wellness means a few resort and day spas, and the real rest comes from slow days by the sea. Gulf Shores stays quiet and goes to bed early outside summer weekends, which suits a week of sunsets from a balcony. Panama City Beach empties from autumn to spring and sometimes has yoga on the sand. It is the louder of the two in summer and at spring break.