Has anyone been to South Padre Island before? We are planning a vacation there, and we need recommendations for affordable places to stay, as well as family friendly activities. We know about Sea Turtle, Inc. and South Padre Island Dolphin Research and Sealife Center. We will definitely go to those places. Any other recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks!
Years, I mean years ago, we went on a couple of trips to Padre.
The most memorable thing we enjoyed the most was Horses on the Beach where we went horseback riding on the beach. We all loved it.
I don't recall where we stayed... We tend to stay in nicer hotels and we were not that impressed at the time with lodging in Padre.
Have fun!
I'd check out tripadvisor.com It's been years since I've been there so I'm not much help. Have fun!!
I went years ago for spring break. One of my best memories was horseback riding on the beach!
We stayed with friends in Brownsville.
We were there last week, and stayed in a condo that I found on VRBO.com. We always use VRBO for all of our vacations. This one was a 2 bedroom, 2 bath one street away from the beach for $159 a night. We usually stay right on the beach, and I missed that, but this was such a deal. It was very clean, and extremely large. There are four of us, my husband and I and our 10 and 16 year old sons, and we had tons of room. We've never gone wrong using VRBO. We used to stay in hotels, but it's so nice having our own room and having a washer and dryer, especially on a beach trip. I hate bringing home stinky beachwear and towels.
I hadn't been to Padre in over 20 years, and was pleasantly surprised by the beach. I've been spoiled by Alabama and Florida beaches with the white sand, so I wasn't expecting much, but Padre was really nice this year. There was NO seaweed, and the water was clearer than I've ever seen Texas water. It was beautiful!
We played miniature golf at each of the 3 courses on the island. Two of them are in terrible shape, but we had a great time! We also drove out to the sand dunes at the end of the island and got out to explore. It was fun.
We went back into Port Isabel and went to the lighthouse and a couple of museums. If you like little small town museums, it's a nice way to cool off.
We ate at a couple of touristy places, but the best place was Dirty Al's. A lot of locals eat there, and the food was great. It wasn't as pricey as some of the other places.
We stayed in San Antonio for a couple of nights on the way home, and it was a wonderful week. I hope your vacation is fabulous, too!
