South Padre Island

Jan 112010

It looked like the weather was going to be nice today so figured it was time to have a peek at the Gulf. Headed out to South Padre Island around 10am and got a few miles down I-83 and traffic was backed up. There was an accident ahead and I got tied up in the traffic jam for about 1/2 hour. It didn't look bad but it was down to one lane. Once I cleared that it was smooth sailing.

Once I turned on highway 100 I stopped for gas thinking gas would be more expensive on the island. Once I got on the island is was a nickel cheaper..... go figure. Same thing happened on my summer trip to the Upper Peninsula. Gas was cheaper in the U.P. then 50 miles south of the bridge.

I stopped by a couple of campgrounds while there. The KOA is just north of the bridge and appears to be pretty nice. Some of the sites are pretty close together but a few are maybe 30' wide. I'd suggest looking at the sites if you can before making a reservation. The county park towards the north is bare minimum. The are hookups but it is basically a parking lot with about 15 parking spaces turned into RV parking. The entry is really tight and I can't see how an RV of any length would be able to get in there without scraping curbs with your tires.

The southern part of South Padre Island is really built up with lots of hotel, condos and shops. Head a few miles north on highway 100 and the buildings end then all you have is beach on both sides of you. All of it is public access, you just pull your car off the side of the road and walk maybe 50 years to the beach. There are a couple of parks that have bathrooms and/or picnic areas but why pay the $5.00 entry fee when you can get to the beach for free?

There are a number of public access areas with small parking lots and they have vehicle access to the beach. It's cool that you can get your vehicle on the beach and drive for miles right along the ocean front. Most of the access points would require a 4x4 to get to the beach but once on the beach it is packed hard enough that a 4x2 would have no problem.

There was very few people on the beach but with 30 miles of desolate white sand beach there could be many more then it seemed. I would look one way and only see someone flying a kite or walking a dog then look the other way and see a couple of trucks with a few folks fishing. All you heard was the waves crashing and the call of the gulls. I wonderful place to visit that no one should miss if they are anywhere in the area.