Overview

Make sure you have the right Padre Island in mind as you head to the Gulf Coast...

Padre Island, near Corpus Christi, is home to a small, quiet community and, stretching southward, the Padre Island National Seashore, with more than 60 miles of glorious white-sand beaches and unspoiled landscape. Meanwhile, just south across a narrow channel, lies South Padre Island, with many of the same natural attractions (beaches, birdwatching, fishing) as its northern counterpart - but in a resort town package that just happens to be a mucho popular Spring Break getaway.

"Winter Texans," as snowbirds are called here, will say you don't have to wait for spring to enjoy the fishing (everything from marlin to tarpon), watersports (windsurfing is a mainstay), riding a horse on the beach, or go bird-watching (best during the fall and winter migrations). South Padre is also home to the best, most consistent surf in Texas (peaking during the summer hurricane season at a jetty at the southern tip of the island), and there is a lively nightlife year round.

Until 1964 and completion of a shipping channel, South Padre was a city at the southern end of Padre Island. Today no bridge or ferry connects these two barrier islands, and the roundabout drive between them - really from one world to another - is now about 200 miles.

 Plan Your Trip

BEACHES

The beach is the main attraction on South Padre, and there are some 25 miles of white-sand to choose from. Condos and hotels line much of the beachfront, but there are more than 20 beach access points with free parking. However, if it's pristine, deserted stretches of sand you're looking for, you're on the wrong island. Instead, plan a trip to Padre Island National Seashore: with a 4WD you can explore miles of Gulf Coast white sand to your heart's content (at a 15 mph speed limit). The best shell collecting? Aptly named Big Shell Beach, about halfway down the island.

NATURE

Bird-watching made easy is the watchword on the Laguna Madre Nature Trail, a 1,500-foot-long boardwalk that zigzags across wetlands just north of town. The boardwalk begins next to the island's convention center, and has interpretive signs, even some blinds where you can sit back with a spotting scope and watch egrets, herons, oyster-catchers - just some of the more than 300 species recorded on South Padre.

WINDSURFING

The waters of Laguna Madre between the two islands and the mainland are a first-class windsurfing destination, with warm, shallow water and steady winds (15 to 18 mph) from late summer well into spring, when the island stages its annual Windsurfing Blowout, considered the largest amateur windsurfing event in the U.S. To the north, windsurfers camp at Bird Island Basin at Padre Island National Seashore to sail upper Laguna Madre.

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