Beach Areas on Texas Coast

We live in SA also & for 9 years have always frequented Island House in South Corpus Christi (North Padre Island). www.ccislandhouse.com They are 1-3 bdrm condos w/ full kitchens - literally RIGHT on the beach!! There's a boardwalk right next to the property & they have a heated swimming pool & a baby pool. They also have outdoor BBQ areas. It's an older property but we love it b/c it's right on the beach - no walking on an elevated walkway to the beach!!! You're just down the street from a nice convenient store & everything. The best part is that there are no bad views, tho we usually try to get a 2nd or 3rd floor room & each room has their own balcony. It's also nice that you don't have a long drive home!! While you're there you HAVE to frequent Snoopy's - a great seafood place w/ an ice cream shop (Scoopy's) next door for dessert :) Good luck & enjoy!!!

I have to agree with "bee's Mom". We are fron louisiana and We go to Galveston. There is the beaches, the restaurants, downtown shopping, Moody GArdens, Ferry, Schlitterbahn, Beach houses,etc.
Have fun! Our 5 year old loves it!

Several years ago we went to South Padre island the weekend right before school started. Beaches were not overcrowded, restaurants, etc...had customers, but were not jam packed...we found good prices on accommodations close to beach that weekend too. Would do it again!

Hi M., I will definitely recommend South Padre Island. It is the cleanest beach in the Golf. It may not be very clean right now due to the storm but they are usually on top of it and it should be clean by August. You can go horse back riding, play minnie golf. You can even take a boat ride. I am from the Valley and just have to say it is the best beach. The drive is totally worth it.

Enjoy your vacation,
Elisa

South Padre is BEAUTIFUL!!! But if you don't want to make that drive, try Corpus Christi or Port A.

Matagorda Beach has tons of broken shells and isnt pretty at all. http://www.matagordatexas.com/about.html But the island has a bird santiuary and I belive the same island has a very large tree. If your little one is into nature those would be fun for her. I am not positive that is the right one but I think it was Matagorda Bay???? (sorry)

As a kid we always went to Mustang Island. In highschool we went to Rock Port. I like both. I also remember going to Fulton Mansion as a kid and really enjoying that. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Fulton_Mansion its really close to Rock Port.

If you want to stay in Texas, it's South Padre Island. We just had a hurricane so check out weather reports and call hotels directly. We like going to the island near Port Aransas, which is near Corpus Christi where there are other attractions.. It's also closer than going all the way to the Valley. The island part near Port Isabel has a lot more attractions on the island. I think they have a Schlitterbahn now.

South Padre Island is so worth the drive. The beaches are beautiful and the water down there is blue-green, reminiscent of the carribean; not the brown water of Galveston and Corpus. There is also a Schlitterbahn (but why bother, you're at the beach!) and a really cool sea turtle rescue place.
Have fun!!
Btw, we went to Port Aransas recently and the water and beaches were FULL of sea grapes. Also, even if you're staying "on the beach," you're not really b/c you have to walk over the dunes to get to the beach. So even though we were on the beach, we had to walk over a quarter of a mile to actually get to the water. And at Galveston, you can't really stay on the beach (for the most part) b/c they have built a wall to protect the city from hurricanes. In that case, you often have to cross a street to get to the beach.

We love Rockport, they have a city park on the beach that has won national awards for city parks, the sand is clean, the water isn't all that deep up close. Its not a far drive to the ferry over to Mustang Island or into Corpus Christi to the acquarium.

We always stayed at Hunts Castle, they have a pool, hot tub, and private fishing pier. It's been about 8 years since our last visit, but they have kitchens in the room, so you can prepare some of your own meals. There is a Boiling Pot restaraunt thats alot of fun, and Charlotte Plummers for great sea food.

We plan to take our granddaughter again this summer before schools starts.

Good Luck

South Padre Island is by far the best beach in Texas. I grew up in the Rio Grande Valley and it's a great place. Family oriented, other than March (Spring Break). From San Antonio, you are only about 4 hours away. http://www.spichamber.com/.

Many activities to choose from. Dirty Al's is my favorite seafood restaurant and Palmettos has fantastic Mexican food. It's also nice to enjoy the sunset at any of the restaurants on the bay side. Manuel's for breakfast...monster breakfast tacos. The service in most restaurants down there is usually lacking but I can deal with that. I prefer a condo right on the beach (so we can put the kids to bed and sit out on the balcony). However, beach front is more expensive. Just look around. There are a lot of condos on the beach side that are not beach front (many are new and nicely decorated). There are tons of photos on the web! Just Google South Padre Island photos. It's really nice, especially if you happen to be there when the winds have been calm (the water is very blue and beautiful). However, it is very often breezy down there and it stirs the sand up in the water and dulls the color for sure.

Btw....they are being pounded by Hurricane Alex this morning so not sure what it's going to be like. Probably fine in a few weeks.

Galveston has not been considered a desirable beach until recently. I haven't been in many years but I know someone who's been to this new double high rise condo down there. They said the beach is very nice. Galveston definitely has plenty of activities as well. I still think SPI is your best bet, however. I'd do a little research on the quality of the beaches in Galveston since Hurricane Ike. I had heard there was a lot of debris hidden under the water, but I'm not sure that's a real issue. ??? I can't imagine it would be a problem in the touristy parts of the island. I would think they would have cleaned up the water.

Have a great time! I hope to get down there before school starts too!

We went to Corpus Christy/ Padre Island area a few months ago. We spent our last day at the TX State Aquarium, and it was very neat. My boys (6&8) loved it. We missed the dolphin show (bad timing on our part), but there are several different shows thruoughout the day, adn some interactive pools. Plus, you get a discount if you're a Zoo member, too.
We spent time at the beach, too, of course. ;-)

Depends on how you would like to spend your vacation with tons of people or a little secluded. Our family goes down to Galveston because it's close. The sand is softer around Corpus Christi. The west end of Galveston has some nice beaches and Port Aransas near Corpus Christi has beaches where you can see the ships coming in and dolphins.Galveston has things to do in town that are quick to get to. In Corpus you will spend some time driving to get to the attractions. I don't think you will lose out either place you go. Galveston's website really showcases everything they have. Rainforest cafe, beach cams, Moody Garden, Historical downtown.

Hey M.,
I live in Galveston County. My family and I are going to stay in a beach house in September. We will be on the west end. If ya go to www.vrbo.com, they have a ton of houses to rent.
Just something to help you out!
:)
P.S Galveston is more than beaches...they have Schlitterbahn (sp?) Moody Gardens, which is awesome and tons of family friendly stuff to do.

We leave in Tomball and have rented the same beach house in Port Lavaca. There are tons of beach houses for rent either a couple of days or for a week. We just went online and typed beach house rentals in Texas and found the several. Since we do live in a small town going to another small town was great. We had to board a ferry to get to Port Lavaca which of course the kids loved. It is not far from Corpus so you could drive and sightsee. Our kids enjoyed the USS Lexington and other sights there. As the other mom mentioned, just keep in eye and ear open for any possible hurricanes or storms and what the cancellation policy would be if it does happen. Good luck!

Corpus and Padre Island are nice beaches. I have visited both. Right now is not a good time to go due to Hurricane Ike, but maybe you could try those later. Blora on Ft. Hood is a nice place to visit also.