Galveston Beaches/Debris/Jellyfish? (Bedford, Taylor: to move, beach, swimming)

[DFW_Freelancer]

Hey all,

We're planning to take our kids to Galveston August 13-16th. I have a friend who recently came back from there, and she was complaining about debris and a ton of jellyfish that made ocean swimming impossible. Is she just being a drama queen? I thought I'd get your input before changing our vacation plans.

Also, I looked through the forum threads regarding Galveston's beaches, but a lot of the posts are from 3-4 months ago. What is the general beach condition now (July 2009)? I know, when I was little, my family used to cross the main street to the Sea Wall, climb down the stairs, and hop right in the ocean. Is that still possible?

Thanks in advance!
Janna in Bedford

[movingtohouston]

I would make sure your children wear water shoes. My two older sons both received cuts on their feet from debris in the water. We were at the state park. My neighbor down the street went to another beach not sure which one, but her oldest son stepped on something that put a 4 inch gash on his foot that required 8 stitches. So I would recommend caution with your children.

As far as jellyfish, when we went 3 weeks ago and not a jelly to be seen.

[tstone]

Another one for debris you can't see... I totally ruined a set of waders after 2 trips. I thought they were defective but sure enough, crap on the bottom ripped puncture holes and gashes from the ankles up. I can just imagine what would happen to my feet if I walked around in that barefoot. Even if there was no debris in there, you stand the chance of getting pinched by a crab.

[ShelbyGirl1]

Jellyfish are unpredictable. The last few weeks they have been all over. Galveston Bay and up into Clear Lake and Taylor Lake. Just saw 4 or 5 this morning off our dock. Big guys too...larger than baseballs. And, they sting! We get them from time to time, but no way of telling how long they will stay round.

[Sea2LV2Hou]

Been to Galveston and Surfside 4 times in the last two months. Never got a cut anywhere in the water, the only debris i saw was that seaweed like crap... and I've seen a single tiny jellyfish dead on the beach. I was in the Galveston water on Saturday.

[htxdrone]

Little further down the coast (Matagorda) this past weekend -- four jellyfish stings over three days and 30+ people in the water for as long as the sun was out. (That means not enough to worry about.) Should be about the same in Galveston.

The bio-luminescent ones were out at night, too, but not in any great numbers. Just a few flashes here and there in the waves at night.

Debris? How do you know it was debris? Did they collect it? What's the definition of 'debris'? 'Debris' tends to move very quickly from the water to the beach. Now, oyster shells can be found fairly regularly, and are very very sharp. I find little 'debris' and a whole lot of 'shells'.

Edit: it's worth mentioning that on one particular day about 1.5 months ago, there were a lot of jellyfish out. Enough that I had to don waders to continue fishing. But that's not the norm, and is unlikely to happen over the course of several days or weeks, it's usually a blip on a single day once every month or two.

[Mom2Feebs]

Jellyfish are a bit late this year, for some reason. They're always in the water in small amounts, but June is usually when they are most active. Must have something to do with Ike. As for the debris, wow, I thought they were able to dig all that up?

[movingtohouston]

Originally Posted by htxdrone

Little further down the coast (Matagorda) this past weekend -- four jellyfish stings over three days and 30+ people in the water for as long as the sun was out. (That means not enough to worry about.) Should be about the same in Galveston.

The bio-luminescent ones were out at night, too, but not in any great numbers. Just a few flashes here and there in the waves at night.

Debris? How do you know it was debris? Did they collect it? What's the definition of 'debris'? 'Debris' tends to move very quickly from the water to the beach. Now, oyster shells can be found fairly regularly, and are very very sharp. I find little 'debris' and a whole lot of 'shells'.

Edit: it's worth mentioning that on one particular day about 1.5 months ago, there were a lot of jellyfish out. Enough that I had to don waders to continue fishing. But that's not the norm, and is unlikely to happen over the course of several days or weeks, it's usually a blip on a single day once every month or two.

Do I know it was specifically "debris" no. I do know that my older boys and my husband all stepped on something that was quite large. My neighbor's son also mentioned that he had no idea what he stepped on but it obviously was large enough to slice a gash the entire length of his foot requiring a trip to an urgent care to get stitches.

So take it for what you will. There are sharp objects of undetermined origin in the water. As I said, I would recommend water shoes.

[DFW_Freelancer]

Thank you all for the great replies! We're sticking with our plan to go to Galveston, but we'll take some precautions this time around.

Best wishes,
Janna

[mikehtown]

We just spent the weekend in Surfside and our 2 and 5 year olds had a blast playing on the beach and swimming. It was our first trip to the gulf in a while- I grew up frequently taking trips to Galveston, but it was actually cleaner than I remembered. I'm not sure if this is because it was further South than Galveston, a result of tide shifts, or just in my head.