Aren't TX beaches in reality underrated? (Houston, Corpus Christi: hotels, buying, safe)

[Dog_Gone]

[quote=cBach;35963862]
It makes me think that perhaps we are a bit more judgmental of our beaches than we should be. After all, we've never had hypodermic needles wash up on our shores like in NJ, or other things like that.

Go to the Padre Island National Seashore and you will see needles and every other imaginable item that can be washed up on shore. You are used to going to the beaches that get cleaned.

[cBach]

Originally Posted by Yn0hTnA

Aren't TX beaches in reality underrated?

Yes. They. Are.

People will go on and on about how the beaches of Texas don't compare with the beaches on the East and West Coasts, and I respectfully disagree with those people. There are quite a couple reasons, but here are two synoptic reasons why I think the Texas Coast is as underrated as it is.

1.)People commit the sweeping generalization fallacy to assume that ALL 350 miles of Texas beaches look like Galveston (or rather, what they imagine it to be), as that is the only area of beaches in the state near a population sufficiently large enough (Houston Metro Area) to garner it notoriety in the country.

2.)There is not a lot of money, advertisement, large urban areas, etc on the Texas's coastline, unlike in "trendy beach states" such as California, or Florida, both of which have a lot of their large metro areas near the coast. Similarly, there is not a lot of advertisement of the "subtropical" side of Texas like there is in California, and Florida (instead, the plethora of movies of Texas as a desert landscape with tumbleweed, cowboys, and oil have forever been immortalized in the minds of many).


As mentioned by others on this thread, there aren't a lot of great nodes, or hot spots along the coastline of Texas. The Houston metro area is the only such hot spot on the coast, and even then, it isn't very coastal oriented at this point (not a lot of beach culture, like in Los Angeles, for example, though that is changing with new investments and development around the Clear Lake/Bay Region). If Corpus Christi, or Brownsville were ever to become large metro hot-spots near the coast like Houston is, and if the Houston Metro were to take strides to advanced its beach culture, then more people would know that Texas actually has areas of awesome quality sand and water, which does indeed put quite a few East and West coast beaches to shame. The sand along the South Texas corridor, scratch that, the ENTIRE Texas coastline in general, at its NATURAL, PRISTINE state, is actually quite soft, and comfortable on the feet. This is in contrast to quite a few East Coast beaches, such as Outer Banks, NC. Very scenic with nice water, but the natural sand over there is quite hard and packed compared to the natural, undisturbed sand along the Texas Coast from Galveston to South Padre. The water along the South Texas corridor is, more often than not, crystal clear and nearly achieves the tropical "turquoise" look (not quite like Cozumel, but not too far behind). Having a large city like Houston in coastal South Texas would dispel the myth that all of Texas's beaches have the brown, silty water that you see in the Galveston Sea Wall. In addition, to address the second point, if Texas were to show itself off as a trendy beach state, in the likes of California, and Florida, then more people would know of the good beaches in the state. As mentioned by others, something to the likes of Pleasure Pier, or Kemah Boardwalk in coastal South Texas can make a huge impact in people's perception of the state, as they can generate the buzz and activity that can put them on the map, and show off the coastal side of the state favorably. On a related standpoint, there has been too much of the media featuring Texas as nothing but a desert with tumbleweed, cowboys, and oil. You will be surprised how few people know that Texas has landscapes like this, this, or this. Did you know that Texas even has these?

Now, the water and sand in even the best of the Texas beaches may not be as nice as that in, say, the Alabama-North Florida corridor(However, even the water and sand in that area of the Gulf does not quite look like the Caribbean; the sand is ultra-white, and the water is blue, but that area just looks quite "pasty looking" and lacks that "tropical color contrast" you see in the Caribbean). The coastal scenery may not be as dramatic and mountainous, with lots of cliffs, and buffs, as with locales in the West Coast, or even the Northeast, especially around Maine. But one thing that Texas has over every other coastal locale in the CONUS except for peninsular Florida is an awesome subtropical environment, especially in the South Texas area; Outside of Hawaii, and peninsular Florida, South Texas is the only other area in the CONUS where you can grow tall and healthy coconut palms outdoors, and in terms of winter averages, the area is much warmer than Southern California. Galveston Island is also a lot warmer than coastal locations of much of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and the Florida Panhandle; tropicals in general grow easier in Galveston than at the aforementioned locales. For example, there are lots specimen of the TROPICAL Norfolk Island Pine, some tall ones too, and they grow in every other house on the island. Here is a blog that talks about Norfolk Island Pines in Galveston:
Moody Gardens in January – 2 | The Texas Triffid Ranch

Here is another tropical plant, the Royal Palm, which is seen prominently in Florida, growing just outside the Moody Gardens complex:
http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/upload...1309290711.jpg



I too wish Houston was in closer proximity to the coast than it is now. I was thinking around Kemah, but if it was close to Galveston, like Texas City is, it would be great as the coast would be utilized more. And you are right in that the sprawl would be much more controlled than it is now; I think the developers of the past foresaw the problems caused by unchecked sprawl, as they originally intended Galveston to be the large city, not Houston, until the hurricane of 1900 struck.

We actually do have the technology to fix the water color in Galveston. In China, the city of Shanghai has a similar problem with murky water at their beaches. Because of that, they installed a powerful water filtration system in one of their beaches, Jinshan Beach, that turns the water blue:
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2...t_11180210.htm

Also, there is a possibility that the Mississippi is only dirtying Galveston the way it is due to the fact that there is a river control structure forcing all the water through one area, starving the wetlands of Louisiana of the silt. The silt-laden water, instead of replenishing the wetlands as it naturally should, instead is straight-jacketed by the structure through one area, where it then shoots into the Gulf, with all the silt then carried west by currents to Texas. I'm convinced that the river control structure plays a huge role in making half of the Gulf silty.

Regardless though, Galveston is not as bad in beach aesthetics as people make it out to be, especially in the Southern end of the island. Alot of Houstonians, and other tourists only see the northern part of the island near the Sea Wall, and entertainment complexes (Moody Gardens, Schlitterbahn). The southern part of Galveston Island, around San Luis Pass, is actually quite nice, and ranks with any beach in, say, South Carolina. These are the beaches in the extreme southern tip of the island:

https://www.google.com/maps/@29.0865...OTMOtGqvGQ!2e0
http://trwservices.net/images/PointeWest4.jpg



Tarballs, seaweed, and other crap from the ocean washes up on every single beach on the planet, be it the Galapagos, or Southern California, or Texas, so it is funny to see some detractors try to spin it to make it as if such occurrences are unique only to Texas beaches, and use such as a reason why to avoid the beaches in Texas.

Excellent observations.

[Jack Lance]

A lot of the disrespect Texas beaches receive are self inflicted, so to speak, mostly from inland areas of the state of Texas itself, that feel competitive with the coast for tourism dollars and QOL issues, since most of the tourism in Texas is in house , meaning Texans visiting other locations in Texas. The Hill Country is probably one of the main sources of these ad hominem and vitriolic attacks especially on Galveston, with DFW being a close second. These areas not only feel competitive for tourist dollars but also feel threatened by the allure of a coastal lifestyle that would give cities like Houston, Galveston, Corpus ect a QOL advantage when attracting business and retirement relocations. There is also some of this going on inside Houston itself for many of the same reasons including the attraction of investment dollars which many fear may adversely affect property values.

[Trainwreck20]

The Hill Country is probably one of the main sources of these ad hominem and vitriolic attacks especially on Galveston, with DFW being a close second.

An example, please?

[Trainwreck20]

A few pics from Galveston from last week. A bit overcast while we were there...

[civil_process]

Galveston beaches are underrated, and the Corpus Christi area beaches are overrated. To be honest, Corpus beaches are not that much better than Galveston's. A lot of people also think "Galveston's only beach is the seawall" because they don't go venturing away from it.

The main problem is the island is a magnet for people who are just straight-up ghetto. And a lot of people don't want to be around that.

[tstone]

Originally Posted by haprunstance

The difference between Galveston and Corpus beaches is water color. Corpus beaches more often have green colored water than Galveston. Green water looks better than brown to most people.

Water color generally gets better and sand gets lighter the further you go southwest but there is still a lot of overlap between water color (and seaweed issues) from Galveston to Corpus. A big advantage is one barrier island was developed into a somewhat dirty city, and the other one was mostly left to nature.

The most reliably muddy water is at the beaches at Sea Rim State Park (Port Arthur/Sabine Pass).

The best beaches closest to Houston start at Gulf Shores, Alabama. The mountain backdrop of the West Coast is great but the water is just too cold for me.

BTW Galveston sand is also notoriously dirty and sticky (worse than @ Sea Rim). I usually bring a couple of 2.5gal jugs of water for cleanup before going home, but we still manage get that dirty sand all over the house.

[Gunion Powder]

Originally Posted by Spade

The best beaches in Texas are in locations where there isn't a huge population and it's not very accessible to go. Florida doesn't have this problem. Neither does California to an extent. I wouldn't doubt that if Houston was say between Corpus Christi and Brownsville, I think Texas beaches would have a higher opinion. They really could have something with Galveston if they wanted to. But it will take a public and private long term investment and effort to fix that island and the water around it.

Conversations like this always make me wish that Houston was where Texas city is now and have Galveston Island as your Galveston Beach. Houston may have handled their sprawl better too if it happened that way.

Agreed. The downside is that Houston would be far less green than it is.

[War Beagle]

The denial is strong in this topic. Either that or a lot of people have never left Texas.

[cBach]

Originally Posted by War Beagle

The denial is strong in this topic. Either that or a lot of people have never left Texas.

Why do you say that? Tarballs on overpriced beach in CA is better?