South Padre Island? (Corpus Christi, Brownsville, Harlingen: apartments, job market, school district)

[NOTAM]

and OSSO BAY and Osso Creek and all that area, and Flour Bluff are gorgeous! i accidentally drove over that little Osso Creek Bridge one day going to a furniture store on Flour Bluff Drive.......and OMG the houses on Yorktown Road nearby were gorgeous!

[Roma]

Thank you Bellestaroftexas, It sounds gorgous!
And yes you do know Lake Granbury well, (stumps) . We hit a couple of those pesty stumps.

[GausJAMS]

BB5745 surely got it right. SPI is the best beach in TX, but if you've seen other beaches in the US is just can't compare! (We moved here from Florida!) Some try to surf here, but it's nothing like West coast surfing, I hear. Stay away during spring break (3 weeks in MArch) and be prepared to deal with Summer tourism, other than that, it's great, and the winter texans are a load of fun!
Corpus Christi is bigger and has more of everything. Just depends if you want small-town living or the conveniences a bigger city can offer.
SPI can be a closely knit community and can be harder to penetrate. Locals have their clicks, but seem open enough to welcome a stranger if you make the effort. Personally, SPI was just too small and not convenient to the major shopping, activities, etc. In smaller towns, you have limited options on everything - churches, schools, hobbies, etc.

[KewGee]

I don't think anyone in his or her right mind would want to be there during Spring Break. I know if I lived there, I'd disappear at that time.

I've only been there once for a several day trip and wasn't impressed. It was June, way too hot, the mosquitoes were enormous in size, and it just wasn't what I expected. One just can't compare the Gulf to the "real" ocean. Don't go ballistic on me people, it's just my opinion.

[lifertexan]

I've been to Ft Walton Beach in FL, and strange though it may seem, much prefer Port A. FWB was very pretty, the water clear, and the sand snow white and clean, but it just seemed lifeless and sterile. Very little surf or wave action where we were at, no shells, sand dollars, starfish, gulls, or coyotes on the beach. I felt like I was sitting at a huge swimming pool with sanitized sand dumped on the edges. There weren't even any barrier dunes or vegetation. I spend all day on the beach when we go to Port A, but I was bored quick sitting on the beach at FWB. No character to the place either. Port A still retains a fishing village feel to it. FWB felt like Vegas on the beach, or like a Vegas-made beach even. Texas beaches are not as postcard pretty, and do have things like seaweed and occasional trash wash up, and the sand is more gray/brown than white, but I find them to be much more enjoyable and varied in what you can do. Surf fishing is usually good. And sitting up a few floors in a condo on the beach you have a prettier sight of breakers rolling in and hearing some surf roar than we had in FL. As I mentioned, FWB,which everyone raves on, was just like looking out over a huge swimming pool. I learned to appreciate the Texas beaches by spending a boring week in Florida.

[Roma]

Thanks everyone for all the information. We are going back to the coast in California. The prices in South Padre were so cheap compared to Calif. So we wanted to look into it before completely ruling out Texas. We looked at Galveston this past summer but that was not our cup of tea and heard South Padre Island is nicer then Galveston so we wanted to check it out. But my fears were true and it doesn't sound like a place for us either. But it doesn't hurt asking (thats what this site is all about). Thanks!

[NOTAM]

you said it well...........exactly my thoughts too

Originally Posted by lifertexan

I've been to Ft Walton Beach in FL, and strange though it may seem, much prefer Port A. FWB was very pretty, the water clear, and the sand snow white and clean, but it just seemed lifeless and sterile. Very little surf or wave action where we were at, no shells, sand dollars, starfish, gulls, or coyotes on the beach. I felt like I was sitting at a huge swimming pool with sanitized sand dumped on the edges. There weren't even any barrier dunes or vegetation. I spend all day on the beach when we go to Port A, but I was bored quick sitting on the beach at FWB. No character to the place either. Port A still retains a fishing village feel to it. FWB felt like Vegas on the beach, or like a Vegas-made beach even. Texas beaches are not as postcard pretty, and do have things like seaweed and occasional trash wash up, and the sand is more gray/brown than white, but I find them to be much more enjoyable and varied in what you can do. Surf fishing is usually good. And sitting up a few floors in a condo on the beach you have a prettier sight of breakers rolling in and hearing some surf roar than we had in FL. As I mentioned, FWB,which everyone raves on, was just like looking out over a huge swimming pool. I learned to appreciate the Texas beaches by spending a boring week in Florida.

[GausJAMS]

Gosh - sorry FWB wasn't great for you. Don't give up on Fl beaches, just yet! Caladesi, Egmont Key, Pass-a-grille, Sand key, the various beaches up and down the Clearwater/St Pete/ Bradenton/ Fort myers are very nice - captivating and exciting, too. Can't imagine being bored at any one of these places. They actually have dunes, critters, waves, great shelling (not known in TX) and incredible sunsets (over the water) that you don't get at TX beaches. You won't be dissappointed But, yep, TX beaches are special, because they're in TEXAS!

[GausJAMS]

Originally Posted by KewGee

I don't think anyone in his or her right mind would want to be there during Spring Break. I know if I lived there, I'd disappear at that time.

I've only been there once for a several day trip and wasn't impressed. It was June, way too hot, the mosquitoes were enormous in size, and it just wasn't what I expected. One just can't compare the Gulf to the "real" ocean. Don't go ballistic on me people, it's just my opinion.

Yeah, you said it. But out of all the beaches in TX, it's one of the more "real beaches". But, being that it's down here in the valley, it's got a disadvantage - everything is not so great down here! But, SPI, during a slower late afternoon, early evening, with the waves crashing and the sea gulls screatching and my two girls having the time of their lives, it's the life we've had for three years, now. (but we are ready tomove on!)

[ColdCanadian]

Originally Posted by lifertexan

I learned to appreciate the Texas beaches by spending a boring week in Florida.

You need to visit the Atlantic coast of central Florida.
I've never seen waves under 3 feet tall there.
Usually 4-8 feet when I was there in January.

Of course, not much dunes or vegetation in beaches like Daytona but the water wouldn't feel like a boring swimming pool. I learned to boogie board there and became hooked. I was even held under water for 20 seconds by some 7 foot surf, when I was 10 yrs old. Scary, but I was okay.

If you want wilderness, dunes, wildlife and fun surf try the Carolinas, in particular North Carolina in the Outer Banks.