Vacation advice needed: Texas beaches with young kids

[fickman]

We're considering a trip to either Mustang Island or South Padre Island. I haven't been to either in my life and my wife has been to Mustang only.

The catch is, we usually try to do vacation when school is in to avoid the crowds, so I guess I wanted to know what either of these would be like in June. Are they full on college party scenes right now? Are they so crowded you can't move left or right?

We would probably plan for a slow placed, unscripted trip with the main goal being to relax on the beach and play for a few hours each day.

We have four young kids (6, 4, 3, and 1) and would be in a popup camper. We'd be doing this on a budget and typically enjoy state parks. . . or camping facilities with some trees and separation between campsites. (We do water and electric hookups.) The KOA parking lots can be brutal in a popup because every sounds comes through.

We're leaning to these two because a family very close to us just moved to Fredericksburg, so we'd likely use that as an overnight stop on the way down.

I'd appreciate any input before we make our decision. We may end up going out West to visit family this time and doing the beach trip later in the year.

[chuck j]

Galveston and the beaches will be very crowded , it's a tourist town but ya'll would have a lot to see and do . We go fairly often to fish , do not know when your going but you might want to check on the arivial of the seaweed , every year it clogs up the beach area .

[TxRVer]

I can't give you advice about the summer crowds. I like SPI during Thanksgiving. See if the RV park on the south side allows popups. It's away from the hotels and the beach may be less crowded. You can always drive north on the island to tbe deserted areas. Maybe even find a spot for the RV. Check with the county parks dept. for more information.

[wheelgun1958]

Watch for tar balls.

[Divided Attention]

Skeeters will be thick as thieves, stock up on bug spray and sunscreen, we like the combo that bullfrog has. Have a great time!

[PBratton]

Check out Rockport.

[ErnieP]

Port Aransas. You can park on the beach for next to nothing.

[gthaustex]

Port Aransas. You can park on the beach for next to nothing.

+1 for Port Aransas....

The times I have been there over the past few summers it was not crowded at all.

[EEllis]

What I have found that works for me is looking for the beach that is most expensive and staying away from free ones. The parks that make you pay, on Texas beaches they are all public parks (state, county, or municipal), generally have much better facilities, better upkeep, and tend o be more family oriented because the collage kids don't want to spend their beer money on parking. Sure they will be crowded anyway but it will be much more reasonable than the open beaches.

[rwg3]

When our children were little we vacationed down there regularly. After trying all of the locations we ended up on North Padre Island, Corpus Christi. We stayed in a condo hotel on the Gulf side. It had two bedrooms, full kitchen, barbecue center, kiddie pool, regular pool and of course beach and gulf! There are nice places in Rockport and elsewhere along the Laguna. The Laguna's water tends to be very shallow and very warm. Jelly fish can be a bit of a problem but they are pretty easy to spot.

Mustang is separated from N Padre by a bridge over a channel and for all practical purposes they appear to be one. There are several ones that offer similar amenities and come in many different size facilities and price points. Corpus had many interesting things to do with the kids in the event of bad weather. Most places will get full and stay full as soon as the school year gets out until just before school starts. For us the best time of year to visit was October as the weather was nicer, slightly cooler temps but the gulf was warm as result of all the summer sun.

Fell free to pm if you want particular recommendations on anything.

[RPBrown]

Port Aransas. You can park on the beach for next to nothing.

+1 for Port Aransas....

The times I have been there over the past few summers it was not crowded at all.

[ddstuder]

If you have a 4WD, you can get on Padre Island from the north. Once you travel 5-6 miles south, you will have the whole beach to yourself! We went down in August a couple years ago, and drove all the way to the Port Mansfield Cut. We did not see another soul on the whole island once we were 7 miles down the beach. It is almost 40 miles to the cut.

SPI is the longest stretch of undeveloped beach on earth.

[fickman]

If you have a 4WD, you can get on Padre Island from the north. Once you travel 5-6 miles south, you will have the whole beach to yourself! We went down in August a couple years ago, and drove all the way to the Port Mansfield Cut. We did not see another soul on the whole island once we were 7 miles down the beach. It is almost 40 miles to the cut.

SPI is the longest stretch of undeveloped beach on earth.

That sounds great. . . we used to have one, but we traded it in for a 12-passenger van when #4 was born.

To the others, I'm not interested in boondocking. I'd like the best place for a popup with water and electric hookups, even if we're not camping on the island(s) or the beach. It could be 10-30 mins away.

It looks like we're not going to do this in the coming weeks, so we may try for August or September after the public schoolers are all back to the grind.

With that in mind, the advice so far has been helpful, and I definitely welcome more.

[puma guy]

I haven't been there in years, but I used to go to Malaquite Beach in Corpus Christi and it was never too crowd. Bolivar during the week is not too bad. We had a house there for 20 years until Ike you. Even on non holiday weekends you can find areas less crowded.

[gthaustex]

If you have a 4WD, you can get on Padre Island from the north. Once you travel 5-6 miles south, you will have the whole beach to yourself! We went down in August a couple years ago, and drove all the way to the Port Mansfield Cut. We did not see another soul on the whole island once we were 7 miles down the beach. It is almost 40 miles to the cut.

SPI is the longest stretch of undeveloped beach on earth.

That sounds great. . . we used to have one, but we traded it in for a 12-passenger van when #4 was born.

To the others, I'm not interested in boondocking. I'd like the best place for a popup with water and electric hookups, even if we're not camping on the island(s) or the beach. It could be 10-30 mins away.

It looks like we're not going to do this in the coming weeks, so we may try for August or September after the public schoolers are all back to the grind.

With that in mind, the advice so far has been helpful, and I definitely welcome more.

If you are looking for a place with hookups, I do know of one in Port Aransas. I have never personally stayed there, but some of my acquaintances have and liked it. I think they have full hookups and they are only 10 mins or so away from the beach that faces the Gulf. There are probably other similar options as well, I just don't know of them. If that sounds interesting, send me a PM and I will give you a specific name and you can do further research.