"Tropical Texas By The Sea" Top 5 Page for this destination South Padre Island by TexasDave

South Padre Island Travel Guide: 146 reviews and 183 photos

SPI Welcome Sign - South Padre Island
SPI Welcome Sign
Newly-Built Condos on the Beach - South Padre Island

Newly-Built Condos on the Beach

South Padre Island is a barrier island. a long, narrow island running parallel to the coast but about 2 miles out in the Gulf. This makes posible two different salt-water experiences- a nice surf on the East side, and a calm lake between the West side and the mainland, called the Laguna Madre. People even do salt-water fly fishing in the laguna!
The water is crystal clear. On the Gulf side there are several sand bars so as you walk into the Gulf you hit water that is chest-deep and as you keep going all of a sudden it's only up to your ankles. That is repeated several times depending on the tide level.

P.S. Don't overlook pages about Port Isabel which is the town on the mainland that SPI is connected to by the Causeway.

Pros and Cons
  • Pros:Nice water, good variety of lodging and eats
  • Cons:It's a long drive thru barren South Texas to get there.
  • In a nutshell:A nice place to unwind and spend a week or so.
  • Intro Updated Mar 2, 2007
  • Add to Trip Planner (?)
  • Report Abuse

Reviews (19)

Hotel as seen from the Beach - South Padre Island One of the Newest Hotels (4)

Just spent 2 nights. most HGI's are cookie-cutter hotels, not this one, and that's a good thing. It is one of the... more travel advice

Kite Surfers Tackling the Waves - South Padre Island Kite Boarding Sports & Outdoors (1)

Several places rent equipment and give classes on this relatively new sport which combines flying a kite, gliding, and... more travel advice

- South Padre Island One of The First Hotels (4)

This used to be a Sheraton and was one of the first national chain hotels on the island. It has been refurbished in... more travel advice

Water Park Entrance - South Padre Island Water Park Fun! Things to Do (2)

Schliterbahn (German for slippery road) is a 'branch' of the water park by the same name in San Marcos, North of San... more travel advice

Comments (3)

  • Reply
    VeronicaG's Profile Photo
    Sep 18, 2006 at 3:10 PM

    Hi Texas Dave--we've been curious about S.Padre Island since we moved to Texas this summer. It looks like we'll have to investigate it sooner or later!!

  • Reply
    mrclay2000's Profile Photo
    Feb 17, 2006 at 1:40 PM

    I took my Spring Break here three times (1983, 1986, 1987). I enjoyed my stay every time. The winds in March can be terrible, and the ocean churn often makes for dirty seas.

  • Reply
    Stephen-KarenConn's Profile Photo
    Dec 10, 2004 at 4:37 PM

    Hi Dave, Beautiful pictures and tip. We loved seeing the turtles when we were in South Padre. Stephen

TexasDave's Related Pages

South Padre Island Travel Guide

 
Explore the World
Travel Destinations
TexasDave's Profile Photo

TexasDave

“"It's got to be the going, not the getting there, that's good"- Harry Chapin”

Online Now

Male

Top 1,000 Travel Writer
Member Rank:
0 0 4 6 7
Forum Rank:
0 0 0 6 9

Badges & Stats in South Padre Island

  • 19 Reviews
  • 27 Photos
  • 14 Forum posts
  • 3 Comments
  • 62,554PageViews
  • See All Stats
  • See All Badges (44)

Have you been to South Padre Island?

  Share Your Travels  

Latest Activity in South Padre Island

Photos in South Padre Island

See All Photos (27)

Top 10 Pages

See All Travel Pages (100)

Friends

No friends yet.

Travel Interests

See All Travel Interests (5)

Latest South Padre Island hotel reviews

Best Western Fiesta Isles Hotel
95 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: May 20, 2013
Isla Grand Beach Resort South Padre Island
209 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: Jun 13, 2013
La Copa Inn Resort
205 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: Jun 13, 2013
Sunchase IV Resort
28 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: Jun 4, 2013
Pearl South Padre
235 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: Jun 9, 2013
Comfort Suites South Padre Island
144 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: Jun 16, 2013
Royale Beach and Tennis Club
45 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: May 15, 2013
Howard Johnson Resort
17 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: Jun 13, 2013
Saida I South Padre Island
14 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: May 14, 2013
Padre South Hotel On The Beach
68 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: May 7, 2013
Wanna Wanna Inn South Padre Island
60 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: May 7, 2013
Bahia Mar Resort
1 Review & Opinion
Peninsula Island Resort
86 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: Jun 9, 2013
Travelodge South Padre Island
402 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: Jun 15, 2013