Travel: South Padre Island (SPI), Texas - Beach Vacation for the Whole Family!

Welcome back, friends! I’m beyond excited to share this travel blog post with you today because our family has been vacationing in South Padre Island, Texas for several years now and we just can’t get enough of its unassuming charm and endless fun and beauty! Our first few years vacationing there, we spent the entire week just enjoying beach activities (there are so many!), but more recently, we’ve been taking time to really explore all that the island has to offer! I’m sure that we will be adding more to this list in the years to come, but for now, here are some of our favorites to explore, eat, and take in at South Padre Island, Texas, locally known as SPI.

In this blog post, we will discuss our favorite spots to explore and eat, in addition to our favorite island sights to take in day and night! We’ll conclude with a few of our favorite tips and hints on when to visit, where to stay, and what to bring! Welcome back, friends! We hope you enjoy your adventure to South Padre Island!

What to Explore

The Beach
Fishing
Lighthouse at Port Isabel
Crab hunting on the beach after dark
Sandcastle tent across from Louis Bar ($1 suggested donation)
Dolphin Tours
Fishing Tours
Ghost shrimp catching
Isla Blanca Park (Christ of the Fisherman)
Sea Turtle Inc. (Rescue & Rehabilitation Center)

While our family has yet to explore every adventure that South Padre Island has to offer, we’re sure working our way through the list! The first thing that I’ll note here is how pleased we have been every year with the amazing beaches on the island! The sand is oh so soft and warm on your bare feet (not full of coral and broken shells like many beaches that we have visited). Also important to note is the fact that the unfortunate trash that you so often see at some other Texas beaches is noticeably absent at South Padre Island. The beaches are kept beautiful and incredibly clean! Trash collection is frequent and seamless – often taking place early in the morning before visitors arrive. Lastly, one of the perks of scheduling your trip in the fall (like we do) is that the beaches are mostly empty and often explored with little or no issues regarding the amount of space you and your family have to spread out and play (exception: the busier beach days of Thursday-Sunday)!

Next up… fishing! Because my family suffers too much from motion-sickness on the boats, we usually just fish from the shore. That said, I’ve had friends take one of the fishing charters/tours there at SPI and they absolutely loved it! But, if you plan to surf fish (fish from the beach), South Padre has some great fishing piers on the Bay Side (you’ll see them on your drive to the island) or you can hang out on one of the sandbars on the east side of the island. One of the neat fishing advantages at SPI is that you can walk pretty far out and still be on a decent sandbar that provides shallow water to stand in while fishing in deeper waters. Each time that we visit, our local fishing knowledge grows significantly and we find more and more enjoyment and success. Here are some surf fishing tips from my husband (the more adventurous one) specific to his experience at South Padre Island:

Always check the most updated regulations regarding fishing. They change regularly. Know the size and type of fish that you are permitted to keep. Do not take our word for anything here without double checking with local laws. And don’t forget your fishing license!
You can visit the local gift shops and pick up a tool that will suck/retrieve ghost shrimp out of their little holes in the sand and then you can use them as bait. However, we did notice that they tend to fall apart easily on the hook. You may be better off grabbing some gulf shrimp at the island bait store and using that to fish.
When you fish off the bottom, you’ll likely catch lots of catfish. You can use them as cut bait if you do not plan on keeping them to eat.
We recently tried lures instead of bait and hooked fish left and right, but the ladyfish were very athletic and would spin out of the water and right off the hook before we could get them to shore. Sand trout were easier to catch and hold with the lure.
If legal size/type, smaller fish can be successfully used as cut bait to catch larger fish.
We have also read that sand crabs can be used as bait, but we have not tried this method yet.

The Lighthouse at Port Isabel is a unique and neat experience. It’s located in the middle of shops and stores, not quite the private location that the pics make it appear, but for a small fee you can climb all the way to the top for a beautiful view of the bay and island.

Sea Turtle Inc was a neat adventure for our little guy. The admission price was a bit steeper than we anticipated, but the money goes to a worthy cause. While you’re there, you can see resident sea turtles, including Allison, famous for her flipper prosthesis. You can also visit the Sea Turtle hospital where the organization is treating sea turtle patients with the goal of eventual release back into the wild. And if you time it right, you can even witness when they release the baby sea turtles into the ocean. If I’m being honest, this was a fast in-and-out experience that cost a bit over our budget, but my kid absolutely loved it and it truly is a beautiful and wonderful cause that I can appreciate beyond words.

If you have kids, do not miss out on walking the beach at night with a flashlight or headlamp and checking out all the crabs! Of all the things that we do at SPI, this is absolutely one of my kid’s favorite activities!! We go almost every night of our vacation and he just cannot get enough!

Just to touch on a few more available activities… On our last trip we explored Isla Blanca Park a bit. For a minimal entrance fee, it offers beaches, fishing, a walking trail, and picnic areas. It was our first time dropping in, but we will definitely be back! We also dropped in to check out the Sandcastle Tent just across from Louie’s Bar. For a $1 recommended donation, the sandcastles inside are pretty incredible! Unless you visit in October when SPI has its annual sandcastle event, you may not have a chance to view a lot of professional sandcastles on the beach, so this is an amazing option for those that want a fun peek at what the pros can do with a little sand and water!

The island also has some amazing Dolphin Tours (we went, but my kiddo suffered too much motion sickness to enjoy it). That said, we saw dolphins and it made for a great activity to share!

The gift shops are fun, but many of them carry the same type of beach/tourist merchandise. That said, we always stop by the one with the big shark for a photo op. It has just kind of become a family tradition.

Not yet explored, but worth mentioning, SPI also has paragliding, an amusement park (complete with a ferris wheel, go-kart, bungee, giant swing, and more!), and sand dunes! They also have companies that will teach you how to build incredible sandcastles with your family (for a fee). Note, you cannot drive on the beach at South Padre, but the beach access points (and parking) are plentiful (depending on the time of your visit) and the walk from parking to beach access was minimal when we visited. A cart is super helpful to get your things in and out with ease!

And friends, if you have additional recommendations on things to EXPLORE at South Padre Island, drop us a note in the comments section below!

Where to Eat

Pier 19
Blackbeards Restaurant (Seafood and Grill)
Davey Jones Ice Cream Locker (ice cream & taffy)
Dolce Roma (gelato)
Wanna Wanna Bar & Grill

In being totally transparent, our family usually does a grocery pickup at the nearest Walmart on our way to SPI and fully stocks our condo’s kitchen so that we can cook and eat there for most meals. There is a small grocery store on the island and we use it for the occasional need, but it is rather expensive (understandably). That said, every year we have an ongoing tradition of starting the trip out with a night at Pier 19 Restaurant. This unique restaurant sits on the water and serves up all sorts of good seafood. If you’re there, DO NOT skip the clam chowder! It’s a favorite among every one of our family members that visits!

On our most recent trip, we tried out Blackbeards Restaurant to see what all the buzz was about. It’s very expensive, and a bit out of our family’s usual budget, but it does offer the more high-end seafood options if you’re looking. Davey Jones Ice Cream Locker has ice cream and taffy (for my family members that search out taffy at every beach)! And Dolce Roma is a stop we make every year because we love their gelato! This year, we also tried out the Wanna Wanna Bar & Grill. My husband had heard about it a lot on social media and wanted to check it out. If you’re looking for a bar/grill vibe on the beach, this is definitely your place! And lastly, our family always hits up the Dominoe’s Pizza at least one night on the trip! We did mention that this blog was for kids too, right?! Thin crust Dominoe’s Pizza never disappoints… yummmmm!

And friends, if you have additional recommendations on places to EAT at South Padre Island, drop us a note in the comments section below!

What Sights to Take In

Fireworks at Clayton’s (free)
Sunset at Louie’s Bar (on the bay side) – Jim’s Pier
Photo spot at island entrance

Oh friends… I can’t stress this enough… You MUST take your kids to see the fireworks at Clayton’s Beach/Bar! You just must! Look up the day/time of the show on their website and arrive early to get the seats right on the edge of the balcony, then wait for the most amazing show of your trip to start! They shoot the fireworks off from the adjacent pier and it’s so loud and powerful over your head that you can hardly hear yourself talking, much less anyone next to you. When we were there, Clayton’s played patriotic music and the show was much longer than we expected… longer than our local fourth of July show goes, even! It was the best fireworks show that we have ever seen as a family and it was so close that you could feel the boom with each powerful explosion. We simply loved it!

Before you hit up the fireworks, head over to Louie’s Bar/Jim’s Pier and watch the beautiful sunset. It’s absolutely jaw-dropping and a must-see on your visit. Of course, you can also wake up a bit early and have the beach mostly to yourself as you watch the sunrise on the East side of the island, too!

And I couldn’t end without mentioning that if you need a photo op for your family, check out the South Padre Island sign just across the bridge as you enter the island. There’s parking near the sign to make it super easy to pull up, park, hop out and snap a photo of you and your family!

And friends, if you have additional recommendations on SIGHT TO TAKE IN at South Padre Island, drop us a note in the comments section below!

When to Visit

I cannot give a lot of feedback regarding when is the best time to visit other than our own experience. We have always opted to visit in the fall, just after school goes back in session but before the temps drop. The water is still a comfortable temp to swim and fish and the beach is warm, but not overly hot. Other than the occasional windy day, it’s quite delightful and mostly empty in the fall, making for a very enjoyable beach vacation!

Where to Stay

There are several great beach condos that are managed through Padre Island Rentals. This is how we have opted to book our lodging in the past. Our first vacation to SPI was booked through Airbnb, but when we checked into our condo at the Padre Island Rentals office, they informed us that if we book directly through them, we could save a lot of money. Following this advice, we compared prices for the exact same condo and timeframe the following year (pulling up both at one time) and the Padre Island Rentals total was more than $300 less for the same booking! We’ve been booking directly through them ever since and never had any issues or complaints.

The Padre Island beachfront condo that we stay in provides a beach wagon, toys, beach towels, umbrellas, chairs, and more! It makes for a much easier trip since we don’t have to pack much other than our clothes!

Of course, the obvious things on our list include bathing suits, sunblock, hats and sunglasses. Then we load up the fishing poles, bait and lures. Of course, we make a note to put in our grocery order the day before we are set to arrive and we swing by the nearest Walmart to pick up our fishing permits. But what else is on the list, you ask…

Plastic reptile carrier (because we like to be able to safely hold and check out the things that we catch and then release them back into the wild)
Flashlights and headlamps (for crab hunting)
Tripod – for family photos
Extra beach umbrella and beach chairs (Over time we just began to prefer our own)
Shrimp sucking tool (you can buy one at any gift shop on the island)
Extra sandals (the gift shop ones are terrible quality)
Extra sand buckets and shovels
Seashell identifying brochure – you can buy these on Amazon – for collecting and identifying local seashells.
Some of you will laugh at this, but I bring my oversize coffee cup because the condo always has small coffee cups and I’m a big-cup-of-coffee-in-the-morning kind of girl.
Metal detector
Lifejackets (especially for the littles)
Oversized beach bag
Wagon (if your condo doesn’t provide one)
Reusable water bottles
Baggies or something to keep the water and sand off various items
Ice chest

South Padre Island, Texas is a great (make that AMAZING) spot for your next family beach vacation! I cannot speak to the volume or experience during the height of tourist season (summer or spring break), but I can tell you that if you time your trip right, this place is quiet, clean, beautiful, and so much fun! And the best thing about it… my entire family has a great experience year after year!

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