Padre Island National Seashore

As our country becomes evermore developed and congested,places like Padre Island National Seashore are more important than ever.Created in 1962 this 60+ mile strip of virgin barrier island is one of the last places you can " be alone" in short order. Easy to get to but,you have to be aware, this is wild. The waters and sand moving just as they have for centuries.You will see a few people out for the day up until the 5 mile marker warns you to use only a 4 wheel drive vehicle to procede.As I passed the warning sign I immediately began to strategically drive the sand. It could be easy for the uninitiated or less cautious to get stuck. As I drove further,10,15,20 miles the occasional long term primitive camper and/or fisherman gave way to the pristine unaffected coastal area.Magic!Go....if you can

National seashore that stretches for a distance. Fishing available both sides of the island and decent to hang out with the family.

Staff was friendly and knowledgeable. Be careful of all the washed up Portuguese man-of-war. They can still sting after being died awhile. Also, There was a lot of trash all over the beach. Please remember PACK IT IN, PACK IT OUT

Padre Island is an amazingly beautiful beach with a full 65 MI drive down the north side of the island. Starting at the Padre Island national seashore entrance drive down 5 miles to the beach start and then it's all amazing views from there. after about 10 MI is where you stopped getting people just out for the day you'll need a four wheel drive just to be safe. There is a shipwreck around the 51 mile marker so keep your eyes out it's the wreck of the USS Nicaragua which sank in 1912. Make sure that you check Beach conditions before you go take water and a tow rope just in case and last but not least have an amazing time.

Absolutely gorgeous - clear water and beautiful dunes , sand so soft and incredible!- nothing more gorgeous than the beach!

The best beach in Texas. Great place to get away from the hustle and bustle of life. Warning: no cell service which I appreciated, the kids put down their devices the whole day.

I've been here before many years ago and was able to drive on the island, but on my recent trip here, I wasn't able to drive on the beach due to the extremely loose sand. Knowing that something like this could happen, I came prepared to just backpack down the island, while parking my car at the lot at the visitor center. Not wanting to be around all the other spring breakers on the island, I actually had to back pack down the island at least 5 miles to be away from all the other peoples. Not too bad. I stayed a few days and I had a great time. I enjoyed all of the scenery, even if there were a lot of seasonal seaweed covering the beach. Remember to clean up and pick up after yourselves.

My friend and I came here over Memorial Day weekend for some sun & sand. We booked a hotel in Corpus Christi on the beach, but the beaches there are less than stellar...the water is brown, the sand has sharp shells, tons of jellyfish are wash up ashore and there is lots of trash on the beach by the end of the day. So, everyday we'd make the drive to North Padre Island and swim in the Gulf. The water was clean, the sand was soft, and the beaches were nice! There are some seaweed strewn about, but not too bad. The weather was beautiful and even though it was a holiday weekend, there was still enough space on the beach for everyone.It was a nice escape from city life!

There are no Texas beaches that will remind you of southern California with gold stands and miles of sidewalk and store fronts and quirky characters. Nor are there any that bring to mind the Atlantic shore in Florida. South Padre, with its narrow strip of white sand and nightlife is somewhat reminiscent of Mexico. If that's what you're looking for then you may as well travel elsewhere.No, instead, what you get in Texas is miles of undeveloped, pristine natural beaches--thanks to the stupid socialist government who wants to take your hard-earned tax dollars and give back something beautiful. If they'd hand this land over to private interests you could instead have condos. And putt putt courses. And maybe some dude to rent you a jet ski or sell you an air brushed t-shirt. Without that stuff, what's the point of going to the beach? It's all filled with natural stuff like sand and waves and sun and seaweed without any of the luxuries of home. Yuck.With Malaquite Beach all you get is the bare necessities. A place to change and use the restroom. A little ranger station with information on the park. And a place to shower and get rid of all the sand and salt before you get back in your car. If you stroll off too far you'll find yourself all alone between the dunes and the crashing waves with nobody to accidentally hit you with a frisbee or try to take you parasailing. I guess if you're the kind of person who might actually enjoy nature or going to the beach and enjoying the solitude then that might be cool. But you'll be sorry when there is nobody wandering around selling hot dogs.

What a truly GORGEOUS beach. I went with a friend, and we were literally the only people on the beach for a long time. The sea was so rough, and it was so primal.What a great place to cleanse your body of the negative energy of the city. I came down from Austin (which isn't a bad drive at all, and more people should take advantage of it), and I loved it. There were hundreds of birds.The shell hunting wasn't good (I went in May), so if that's your thing, you better figure out a better time.I called the number they give for weather updates, and it was helpful, but a little misleading (I had never been there before), because they said there was "lots of seaweed" and there was, but it didn't detract from the beauty of the beach, and maybe even added to it. It doesn't cost hardly anything to get in, and you can drive right on the beach to any place you want (so you can escape any other people there).If you want to go to the BEACH, and not a resort or a golf club or a crappy, overdeveloped nightmare, you have GOT to go here. The town around it is pretty disgusting, but you'll forget all about that once you see that raw, primeval beach.