South Padre

South Padre!?!
So I'm taking a 4 day vacation to South Padre Island in Texas next weekend. Never been before and I'm looking to have a blast. Any recommendations on where I should go or what I should do? Yea, I wanna lay on the beach, but not for 4 days straight.

I'll have the 'taco down there so I def wanna do some beach driving.

If you've ever been feel free to give me some insight. Any advice would be appreciated!

Thanks.

 

Are you going alone? Or with significant other?
Well for food, there are two famous places and one hidden treasure. You have Pirates landing right before the bridge in Port Isabel, and Blackbeards on the Island. And the hidden treasure, is Los Cabos. The have real good breakfast and all you can eat tasty fish. They are also very good at south pacific cuisine.

For meeting "new people", I would suggest you go hotel bar hopping, there is where the action is. Otherwise, you have Louis Backyard, where there is always something going on as far as outdoor activities.

If you like fishing, the you get your choice of bay fishing, or deep sea fishing. But if you are motion sensitive, there are two fishing piers on each side of the main bridge.
Anything else younwant to know?

 

Damn if only you were a week early! We just had a group of tacos down there

 

Some other good restaurants are Dirty Al's, Daddy's, D'Pizza Joint, and Amberjacks.

When I go I usually hit up Claytons Beach Bar & Grill or Wanna Wanna Beach Bar & Grill. These are pretty good places to chill out on the beach and relax, and get some drinks and food. They also have restrooms which is a plus.

 

I'm going with my bro that's stationed on fort hood right now. I would try some fishing but I'd have to buy an out of state fishing license wouldn't I? I bet they get pricy.

I was trying to get a room at wanna wanna but they were booked already when I made my reservations.

Any good waves down there? Wanna try my hand at some surfing and skim boarding. And some snorkeling.

Any places that are a must see while in south padre?

Thanks for all the food recommendations. I LOVE GOOD FOOD!!

 

There is a one day, all water, non-resident license available that is not expensive. There is also non-resident salt water package, but that one may be pricey, cause is for the whole year.

 

No suggestions for good places to drive on the beach? I'm heading down there this week for 3 days and definitely want to do a little 4-wheelin on the sand.

 

SPI is not the best for snorkeling, the water isn't the clearest and there's a lot of sea weed out there right now.

As for the surfing this is no Hawaii. : P. The waves aren't the best, at least not for surfing.

People do wind surf here though, on the bay side.

 

Just head to the north until the pavement ends, take one of the beach access roads to the right, and keep heading north. Miles and miles of beach driving.

 

Cool, thanks. I found a website said that beach access 6 is the best place to start 4-wheeling on the beaches. Definitely will be checking it out.

 

Just make sure to air down the tires to lower your chances of getting stuck if you're going to be driving through the soft sand.

And don't let the constables or the police catch you. But generally the further north you go on access 6 the less likely it is that you'll run into any kind of law enforcement.

 

Hmm, damn....didn't realize it wasn't legal to drive on it. Is there anywhere down there that's legal?

 

Not sure if the southern part of the island is different but according this website, www.nps.gov/pais/planyourvisit/things2know.htm, it says:

Beaches are Texas public highways. Only street legal and licensed vehicles may be driven in the park. All-Terrain Vehicles (ATV's), UTV's, Go Carts, Golf Carts, and Dune Buggies are prohibited.
Pedestrians have the right-of-way at all times and do not always watch for approaching vehicles. Driving in dunes, grasslands or mudflats is strictly prohibited. Drive with caution and strictly observe posted speed limits.

 

Once you get onto south padre island, take a Left alllll the way down (you will pass all businesses), and there will be beach access 4 which is a walk on beach access and then you will hit 5, and 6, and you pay $10 cash and you can cruise on the beach.

 

Found the beach access. Just got back to San Antonio after 2.5 days down there. Was fun. I drove from beach access 5 to beach access 6 along the sand. I didn't want to go further since I was by myself and didn't want to get stuck. 265 Duratracs, even at 35 psi handled that section of beach with no issues.