Beaches in Texas (Houston, Dallas, San Antonio: spring break, rental, condos)

[blermey]

What are the best beaches to spend some family time on in Texas? There are so many! Any help you could give is appreciated! Thank you!

[ChristieP]

Padre Island is the best beach, but it is a long drive. Port Aransas is nuce. Corpus Christi is ok, and so is Galveston.

Be advised that Texas beaches do NOT have sugar white sand and crystal blue water. The sand is brown and the water is greenish. It is not South Florida.

[lonestar2007]

SPI, hands down.

[RooCeleste]

South Padre Island with Port Aransas running second.

[texasdiver]

My wife and I have lived here in Texas for 10 years with our kids having moved here from the west coast where we grew up with Oregon and California beaches. We've also vacationed all over Florida as well as Mexico, Costa Rica, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Belize, and various other beach locations. So we know what the best beaches on the planet look like (Costa Rica and Northern Brazil) and we have vacationed in Texas in Galveston, Port Aransas, and South Padre so we know what Texas beaches are like (not as nice as the Florida gulf coast but still fun for a family vacation).

If you are looking for a traditional beach town location with shops, restaurants, and attractions (as opposed to some wilderness beach you have to camp on) then your best two choices in Texas are Port Aransas and South Padre.

Port Aransas pluses: Closer to civilization, more spread out and less developed. Minuses: They allow driving on the beach so you are always dodging cars driving up and down the beach which is a concern with small kids and means that people tend to take over the beach more with big groups of vehicles hauling all their gear. The currents that hit Port Aransas also bring in more sargassum seaweed and at times of the year there is a berm of seaweed rotting on the beach you have to hop over to get to the water. The water also doesn't seem as clear as South Padre.

South Padre pluses: Water seems cleaner and the beaches seem cleaner. It has more of a caribbean feel, when I've been there the visibility in the water has been great. There are no vehicles allowed on the beach so it is quieter and more peaceful, even in the densely developed southern end. South Padre is also much more developed in terms of condos, shops, and restaurants. There is a lot more NEW stuff in Padre. Everything in Port Aransas seems to be dated to the 1980s...especially all the aging condo complexes south of the main town. South Padre just feels much more like a traditional Florida beach town with lots of new high rise condo developments and the typical strip of shops and restaurants. South Padre also has free beach access and public parking at the end of almost every single block so you have dozens and dozens of access points you can drive to all they way to the end of the road where it really gets deserted way out on the north edge of town. And since none of them allow driving on the beach you can park an walk a short distance and have your pristine beach location anywhere you want without being afraid of your kids getting run over by drunk teenagers and college students in big 4x4 trucks that are always roaming the beaches in Port Aransas.

In my opinion, if you are just going for the weekend and need a short drive then Port Aransas will do. But if you are going for 3 or more days then the extra 2 hour drive down to South Padre is definitely worth it. For 4+ days there is no question that Padre is the far superior location.

By the way, there are hundreds of good weekly rental options on VRBO for both South Padre and Port Aransas. Sometimes you can save quite a bit of money by dealing directly with a condo owner that way.

[gguerra]

Just a clarification. South Padre DOES allow cars on the beach from certain points north I think it is beach access 4 or 5. That area is referred to as the "Public Beach" although all gulf beach access is public. There is no vehicular traffic allowed from all points south of that. You can actually drive from that point to the north about 30 miles till you reach the "East Cut" which is a channel cut into the island which allows boats and ships to cross over to Port Mansfield.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by gguerra

Just a clarification. South Padre DOES allow cars on the beach from certain points north I think it is beach access 4 or 5. That area is referred to as the "Public Beach" although all gulf beach access is public. There is no vehicular traffic allowed from all points south of that. You can actually drive from that point to the north about 30 miles till you reach the "East Cut" which is a channel cut into the island which allows boats and ships to cross over to Port Mansfield.

OK, I stand corrected. I've never driven out that far I guess. But my original point is still valid to the extent that you are visiting the more developed southern end of the island. No cars are allowed and you can drive quite a ways north and still be in the car free zone. I've never been to SPI during the peak spring break season but when I've visited during the normal summer months it has never been very crowded at any of the beach access points on the northern edge of town and even the southern edge hasn't been bad.

[BigT3x]

Boca Chica Beach on the very tip of Texas is, without a doubt, the nicest beach in Texas. All the others pale in comparison.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

In my opinion, if you are just going for the weekend and need a short drive then Port Aransas will do. But if you are going for 3 or more days then the extra 2 hour drive down to South Padre is definitely worth it. For 4+ days there is no question that Padre is the far superior location.

South Padre is actually almost 4 hours farther south from Port Aransas.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

South Padre is actually almost 4 hours farther south from Port Aransas.

Not if you are coming down I-37 from San Antonio. According to Google Maps:

Distance from San Antonio to Port Aransas 178 miles and drive time is 3 hours 13 minutes.

Distance from San Antonio to South Padre Island is 292 miles and drive time is 5 hours and 13 minutes

By my math that is 114 miles further and EXACTLY 2 hours difference. Most people driving from Dallas/Austin/San Antonio and surrounding areas will be taking this route.

If you are coming into Port Aransas via Rockport and points to the northeast such as Victoria or Houston then the distance to Port Aransas is going to be shorter but then you have to take the ferry across Aransas Pass and that can take a LONG time during summer weekends. I've waited there in the ferry line for 2+ hours one weekend.