Padre Island National Seashore

Camping at South Padre Island National Seashore is an unforgettable experience! The pristine stretch of coastline offers breathtaking views of the Gulf of Mexico and stunning sunrises. The remote location provides a peaceful escape, perfect for stargazing at night and enjoying nature without distractions. The beach camping sites are spacious and allow you to camp right by the water. Whether you're fishing, birdwatching, or simply relaxing, this spot offers something for everyone. It's a fantastic destination for those seeking solitude and a trueconnection with the outdoors. Highly recommended for nature lovers and adventure seekers alike!

Awesome place to drive on the beach. The sand is usually well groomed and packed down, allowing 2 wheel drive vehicles good access. Just make sure to stay on packed sand, or you will sink in pretty quickly. Luckily, most people will stop and help if you get stuck.

Very scenic place. Not much in avaliable services, so be certain to bring food, water, and other necessities. You can drive on the beach here south of the visitor center, but don't do so unless you have a 4x4. Do not disturb a sea turtle if you find one.

We went the weekend of November 15th. the water was crystal clear, all the way up to my waist, we were able to see stingrays on the sandbar Medium-sized turtles also. As the waves crashed on the sandbar, we were able to see fish swimming in the waves. The water is amazingly clear!

Padre Island National Seashore is an amazing primitive camping area or also great for day use. We came here to camp on the beach with our RV. This is a 4 WD area and we have that, otherwise DON’T take your regular RV here on the beach. Theres 2 dedicated camping area on park grounds ,Bird Basin & Malaquite. Before you drive onto the South Beach at Padre we filled up with fresh water, used the dump station and disposed of trash. We also grabbed a couple yellow trash collection bags provided by the park service to pick up trash. Unfortunately there’s a fair amount of trash on the beach. We easily filled our bags right away from picking it up in the area we chose to camp. Everything from Mylar balloons to prescription glasses and plastic bottles. We camped at about mile 6, and there are mile markers every 5 miles as you drive down the beach. We highly recommend coming to Padre Island National Seashore either for day use or camping . Just make sure you have EVERYTHING to be self sufficient when you come here as the closest “town” is about 15 miles away. The visitor center center has ice, water and snacks, but being prepared for a primitive experience will make your stay enjoyable. REMEMBER- if you don’t have an off road ready vehicle/ 4 WD beach driving may not be for you as towing will be super expensive to get out.

Okay beech, not many shells but plenty of things to sting you. Don't recommend going barefoot as there is a lot of sharp plastic and some glass. If you sit still long enough, the tiny crabs come out around 5pm.

Let's start with acknowledging the excellence of having this area more or less protected as a national park. However, I was a bit disappointed. There are hardly any trails in this park. I suppose you should walk along the beach. Secondly, if you seek peace in nature, this is not your place. The first 5 miles of the beach is doable with more or less any car and this, it seems, is the thing to do here. An unending stream of SUVs and trucks kept driving on the sand. So basically you should enjoy the beach which at the same time is a busy street. My son put it well by asking "Dad, is there some real swimming beach around here? Such that there's no cars driving?"

Beautiful seashore! I went two times when I was in the area. Rangers were friendly. Saw lots of cool stuff on the beach.