Guide
The Beaches of the Mississippi Gulf Coast
Twenty-six miles of engineered sand, no surf, brown water and no shade. Here is how to use it well, where the real Gulf beaches are, and when to admit you want a different coast.
9 min read
Rhett Vuong
Water & Fishing Editor
Beat: Ship Island, Beaches, Best Time to Visit
Rhett grew up around the Back Bay boatyards and covers everything here that floats: charters, the schooner sails, the shrimping runs and the crossing to Ship Island. He reads the Sound by wind and river stage rather than by the calendar, and he is blunt about water advisories, about what the 2019 spillway openings did to the reefs, and about days when the answer is go tomorrow.
3 guides · 2 news posts
Last updatedRhett's most recent update to this site was .
Long-form
Guides by Rhett Vuong
Reported guides to Biloxi, each with its own publication and last-updated date.
Guide
FeaturedBiloxi Seafood: The Industry, the Fleet and How to Order
A cannery town that became a casino town without ever stopping trawling. What is genuinely local, what is in season, and the question to ask before you order shrimp.
9 min read
Guide
FeaturedShip Island: How to Do the Day Trip Properly
Twelve miles offshore, an hour on the boat, a brick fort standing in clear Gulf water, and almost no shade on the entire island. Plan it as an expedition.
9 min read
News desk
News under Rhett Vuong's byline
Shorter, dated pieces about what is changing in Biloxi.
How this was written. News published under Rhett Vuong's byline was drafted by machine from primary sources — operator notices, government and municipal releases, published schedules — and every factual claim in it was matched to one of those sources before it published. A Biloxi Guide editor can change or pull any of it. Our editorial standards.
Beach update
A Water Advisory Here Is Normal, Not an Emergency. Check It Anyway
Runoff after heavy rain raises bacteria levels in the Sound. Advisories are posted by segment and are not visible from the sand.
Seasonal
FeaturedThe Island Boat Runs Half the Year, and That Decides Your Trip
For about seven months a year there is a boat to the barrier islands. For the other five there is no public way out there at all.