Malaquite Beach Campground

The perfect spot on the coast. Fishing, surfing, BBQing, camping, horse shoes, or whatever makes you happy. The area is well maintained. The few people there are all cool. We had a great and memorable time there. Lots of great pics. Can't wait to go back. It's a truly special place. Check it out. Only leave footprints.

As far as camping goes this is a great campground on many levels. Inexpensive, great views, basic amenities.... it's the perfect campsite!!I went down last summer and wasn't quite sure what to expect because of limited coverage of the facility and few reviews found online. As a travel blogger I was prepared for just about anything but really liked the access it showed to the beach in the few photos I had seen. It's remote to say the least, the closest store is outside of the National seashore property some probably 10-20 miles away. When I drove up to the campground it was late afternoon and a lot of campers had already settled in for the evening. The kiosk at the campground allows you to reserve you space the old fashioned way by paper and pen and drop your payment into a box which is tended by the campground host daily. We found a site and began unpacking. Sites are simple... a covered table and small bbq, a parking place and grass to set up. Of for those a bit more adventurous you can hike the short distance down the boardwalk and onto the beach where there are a few covered spaces and an open beach to choose from.We set up on the grassy space and had a perfect sunset on the boardwalk which juts out onto the sand and toward the ocean. This boardwalk has picnic tables as well as information about the area displayed and can accommodate over a dozen people at a time.As the campground grew dark with the sunset we realized it is a true dark place, no lamps and lights to light the facility so if you visit you will need flashlights to navigate at night. The one exception being the bathroom area which of course is lit. This facility is to my knowledge the only camp facility which has a bathroom area.Bathrooms are pretty simple, showers have hot and cold water and restrooms have stalls and free standing sinks. There is also outdoor water for just rinsing off from the ocean.We stayed numerous days at this beach and noticed a significant amount of campers filtering in toward the weekend alongside the campers which had been there during the week, but the beach never seemed crowded even with the extra traffic.One thing I would remind anyone reading this review is to remember trash in trash out, the ocean washes up some pretty crazy stuff so not leaving behind more is very important!!

I have to say how much I loved the Malaquite Beach Campground. I live in San Antonio, but love spending as much time as possible at the beach. Malaquite & South Beach are my favorite stretches as I can drive, park, play & leave. I went for the day the previous weekend, already had a hotel room booked for the following weekend, but I decided at the spur of the moment to go to South Beach for the this weekend & being the frugal (cheap)person that I am, refused to pay excruciatingly high last minute hotel prices. So...... I decided to sleep in my car at the campground. First of all.....when I drove up to scope it out, there were (2) park rangers making their rounds of the place so I immediately felt safe. There is a wonderful campground host that stays onsite & this added to the interest. They have facilities such as bathrooms, showers, pavilions with grills, picnic benches & a beautiful pier walkway to Malaquite Beach. There were families, young adults, senior adults & lots of cute pets camping. I never leave home without my travel bud, Sven, a tiny Chihuahua, so it was nice to see this being a pet friendly campground. There was a variety of camping choices such as tents, cars, & RV's. Needless to say, I chose to attempt the sleeping in my car experience without hesitation. I have limited mobility because of arthritic knees & couldn't walk from either end of the campground to utilize the facilities, but the host has spots reserved just for this reason. I was able to parallel park right across from the facilities. Of course it's full blown Texas Heat temps in August, but the breeze from the water was pleasant. I'm extremely hot natured, so I probably won't attempt it again until the weather cools, but I will definitely use this campground again. There are no electricity or sewer hook-ups, but there is a gray/black water dump station and potable water filling station off of the entry road to the campground. From the number of people there, this wasn't an issue at all. What more could you ask for in a primitive campground? If you love to camp, do yourself a favor & try this place out. You're completely off grid without cell or wiFi service, but.....this is so amazing for family time or me time! Once your on Park Rd 22, the campground sign is to the left just before the turn into Malaquite Beach Visitors Center.