which beach is best to live at in Corpus? (Corpus Christi: apartment, rent)

[marilynmermaid7]

Hi. I'm considering a move to Corpus Christi from CA. I love the beach and want to live within walking distance to a beach. I am not familiar with Corpus area so I am looking for locals who live there currently who can guide me on the pros and cons of each beach area. What is the difference between Mustang and Padre Island? Are there nice beaches by the bay? What is Port A actually?

I also want to be in a convenient area that is in close driving distance to grocery stores and normal day to day amenities.

How about driving to work? How long does it take to drive from Padre Island to the main part of Corpus where most of the jobs would be?

Which area has the best night life?

And where is the best hiking?

Thanks for your help you all.

Marilyn

[jackalope48]

There are two "walking beaches" Magee which is Downtown and is fairly nice and North Beach which is on the other side of the ship channel is ok but not great.(North Beach gets destroyed by hurricanes once a generations so has lots of vacant lots) Both of those are bay beaches and don't have much wave action. Gulf Beaches you can kinda walk from the Lake Padre area to the beach but not really. Some places in Port A you can walk down the street or over the dunes to but we are talking independently wealthy level to afford (800k+) usually.

Port Aransas is a town on the tip of Mustang Island that straddles the ship channel that serves the port of Corpus Christi. North Padre Island and the southern part of Mustang Island a part of Corpus Christi. Port A and North Padre each have small IGA groceries. HEB and Walmart are in Flour bluff and Aransas Pass and are about 15 minute drives(Port A depending on ferry wait). Downtown is probably a 30-40 minute drive from North Padre and 45-50 minutes from Port A. Summer can be longer. The closest grocery to Downtown is the Glazebrook or Nueces Boulevard HEB which are both 5-8 minutes by car. North Beach 10-15 min.

General Night life is Downtown. Beachy nightlife is Port A.

Hiking is probably none of the above. Most of our protected wilderness is wetlands for migratory birds. Those tend to be along Ennis Joslin near the University and the Oso Bay learning Center. Also Hazel Bazemore Park in the northwest part of the city. Downtown does have Blucher park which is a world renowned bird watching area behind the Central Library. It's not big so more a walking area than a hiking area. Oso and Hazel Bazemore are larger with trail systems. In our weather you can pretty easily drop dead from heat exhaustion most times of year so hiking for hours isn't a big thing. You can camp in the state and national parks on Mustang and North Padre Islands respectively.

At one point I lived at Bay Vista near Magee beach and really liked it. I was five minutes from work, baseball, the bars and restaurants and across the street from Water's Edge park and the beach. I put about 1000 miles a year on my car. Port A is fun to visit but I'm not sure I'd enjoy living there and the commute.

So my advice is maybe come for a visit and compare or rent an apartment for six months/year and see what you think. Port A is highly seasonal so a $400 a night condo during the Summer can often be rented for $1500 a month over the Winter. There is a corresponding reduction in night life during that time.