Austiners: Best, Closest Gulf Beach? (San Antonio, Corpus Christi: homes, live, versus)

[jhwest]

Sure, Oregon Beaches are gorgeous but they are cold! The air temp can be nice, but the water is frigid all year round. I'd prefer stinky warm water anyday!

[twange]

Compared to Lake Erie Beaches(on the American side...Canada's are nice), the beaches of Texas will be just dandy...and BTW I've been around a bit

Also, gas prices will affect jet fuel as well...still comes from oil

[TexasGirl@Heart]

Originally Posted by Austinitegirl

I lived in Galveston for a year - what a dump. Don't go to those beaches - they suck. Unless you don't mind the feet smell emanating from the water (thanks to the sulfur plants along the coast in that part of the state).

Sorry, but I have to agree with Austinitegirl...I lived in Galveston for 4 months, there on a travel nurse assignment at UTMB. The beach was dirty, stinky and tons of seaweed. You couldn't even walk along the beach without seaweed getting all tangled up between your toes. And if that wasn't the worst part...there were HUGE cockroaches all over the beach!! My friend used to laugh and tease me saying..."well things are always bigger in TX!"

[FromCalitoSteinerRanch]

Originally Posted by Austinitegirl

Everyone else who seems to be posting on this thread lives in the area and has lived there for many years - that should tell you a lot. That means they're not only biased - they probably haven't had much of an opportunity to compare ...

I will say that Huntington Beach, CA, even in the late 70s and early 80s, the water was not crystal blue. Of course that was because we got some of the better waves all year long, so sand was always churning.

The only beach we have gone to in TX is South Padre, and I will say I was surprised. We got there on a calm day, and you could see about 5-6 feet deep in the water because the waves are small to non existent, plus it was about 83 degrees, a nice change from the typical 68 of the Pacific. It was fun, and even saw a few fish. My youngest had never been in the the ocean before, and she "fed the fish" on her maiden voyage into the waves courtesy of... err... me... because I didn't lift her above a wave in time, and she took on belly full of water that quickly exited back out the way it came. I am sure she will never forgive me.

Anyways, the other cool part of So. Padre is you can rent a condo right on the beach for about $120-$200/night depending on season, and number of rooms. We rent the "economy" size at the Florence II and it sleeps the 4 of us, and we can cook two meals a day, saving up for Blackbeards, or some of the other nice restaurants for a filling dinner. It equals my experiences in CA in different ways, and that is taking into account my pop paid for my CA experiences!

[love roses]

Instead of listening to us bicker back and forth about who hates this beach and who loves this beach, do what I just did. Do a search on google images for Galveston, and One for Padre. (South Padre and North Padre), One for Port Aransas, and see for yourself. These are opinions, not facts, and you'd do better to just look at some pictures or just take a trip to each one every year and decide

[atxcio]

Port Aransas / North Padre / Corpus Christi are the quickest beaches to reach from Austin. Provided you DO NOT go I-35 through San Antonio, but rather 123/181 thru Seguin. My father-in-law used to live in Corpus. 3 hrs 15 min was a "safe" time to get there... and that was from North Austin.

Galveston is about the same # of miles away, but much longer travel time due to driving through or around the Houston area.

[Austinitegirl]

Originally Posted by love roses

Instead of listening to us bicker back and forth about who hates this beach and who loves this beach, do what I just did. Do a search on google images for Galveston, and One for Padre. (South Padre and North Padre), One for Port Aransas, and see for yourself. These are opinions, not facts, and you'd do better to just look at some pictures or just take a trip to each one every year and decide

Who's bickering?? We're just having a lively conversation about feet smell and seaweed!!!

[malarkey]

LOL, well I appreciate all the feedback on the beach scene there. Being near salt water is important, and I know I'll have to visit myself to see if it will "work" for me.

[Trainwreck20]

There is a real good photo thread (by RGV, I think) that has some pictures from Galveston. Although it is not the nicest beach in the world (by far), the island itself is a neat destination.

As for TX beaches in general, they tend to have very warm water - will get up into the mid 80s in the summer and I don't think they ever get below the 70s (I would have to look that up and am too lazy right now ). The sand is relatively fine all along the coast, so some people find it annoying, since it blows in the wind easier and sticks to more things. It is GREAT for sandcastle building, though . The water (except for some very localized areas) is plenty clean enough to swim in safely. The seaweed stuff that washes up on the beach can make life miserable - it stinks and forms a barrier between the dry beach and the water. Some areas clean it up regularly (such as some areas in Port A that I know of) and it is not always there. Not sure what affects its appearance or disapperance.

The water in the gulf is, on a global scale, very rough. However, the water is very shallow for a long way out and this moderates the wave action at the shore, so there tends not to be huge waves (much to the surfers' chagrin). On calm days it is a great place to introduce kids to the ocean. There are jellyfish, but they usually have warning flags at the entrance to the big beaches or at the lifeguard stands, and you can see them on the beach, too. They tend to be present during certain tide and wind conditions, but I don't know what those conditions are .

[love roses]

Oh, I wasn't being serious about bickering It's all in fun! So next time my husband says something about my smelly feet, I'll blame it on the beach!