Page 65 - South Mississippi Living - July, 2024

Mississippi Aquarium.
Sometimes a staycation calls
for you to ditch your phone and build a sandcastle on one of the many fine-as-sugar white beaches along the 62 miles of shorelines.
But there’s so much more to explore than just a gorgeous sunset. In Gulfport, you can have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to swim with dolphins at Ocean Adventures Marine Park or Mississippi Aquarium. Both facilities are worth a bucket list add, offering unique, touchable windows into the Coast’s marine life.
If checking out wild dolphins on a journey across the Mississippi Sound – where the Gulf of Mexico meets the barrier islands—is more your staycation speed, Ship Island Excursions recently kicked off its 98th year, offering passenger service to West Ship Island and Fort Massachusetts. Staycationers and tourists take off from the Gulfport Yacht Harbor at Jones Park to enjoy seven miles of beaches to swim, shell-hunt, and sunbathe.
But some bucket list excursions just go better with a squeeze of lemon and the fishing opportunities are bigger and better on the Coast. The peaceful waters will warm up your staycation and offer everything from freshwater to brackish water to saltwater fishing with 200 fish species ready for the reeling. You'll find inshore, off piers, wading, or deep-sea fishing to mark off your bucket list and there are plenty of charter boat crews such as Strike Zone Fishing Charters to show you how.
And don’t forget one of the Coast’s biggest industries, shrimping. The Biloxi
Shrimping Trip has been educating guests aboard the Sailfish since 1955 with a
70-minute peek into a real shrimping expedition. Watch as a 16-foot trawl drags the
bottom of the Sound, searching for all of her delicacies and exposing you to spectacular sea life you never knew existed.
Or does embarking in search of a chilling staycation sound like more fun? Then join the Mystic Ghost Ride Company for a historical ghost boat tour teeming with pirate lore, Bay St. Louis haunts, and the history behind unbelievable legends and true ghostly encounters.
Ship Island Excursions.
SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living | www.smliving.net July 2024 | 65
Strike Zone Fishing Charters.