Galveston versus Padre Island

zaitcev

zaitcev

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Pete Zaitcev
Which one has better resorts for a couple of days of rest? Does either of them have any good surf and a rental business for boards?

P.S. The Galveston airport FBO is pretty dire, but leaving that aside for the moment, just looking at the hospitality facilities.
 
zaitcev said:
Which one has better resorts for a couple of days of rest? Does either of them have any good surf and a rental business for boards?

P.S. The Galveston airport FBO is pretty dire, but leaving that aside for the moment, just looking at the hospitality facilities.
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@Jay Honeck can probably give you an opinion on this. Checkout http://www.ameliaslanding.com/
 
The further counter-clockwise you go from the Mississippi River, the clearer the water and less muddy the beaches.
 
455 Bravo Uniform said:
The further counter-clockwise you go from the Mississippi River, the clearer the water and less muddy the beaches.
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Track up or north up? :) meaning - looking south or looking north?
Or to be completely plain - east or west of the delta?
 
:D Looking north. Basically west of the delta. I used to live in Houston. Galveston is not quite “white sandy beach”. Corpus/Aransas area is nicer. Padre is more typical sandy barrier island.

I cant comment on the rental/resort aspect.
 
Galveston has some rental ladies. Dunno ‘bout boards.
 
Galveston does have the aviation museum. Beaches are "meh". Decent towered airport (at least last time I flew in) with services & rental cars. Walking distance to a hotel/convention (Moody Gardens) complex & a Schitterbahn water park. It also has a song, sung by Glen Campbell.

Padre has better beaches, and a longer stretch of beaches. It's further from major cities, but still crowded. South Padre is a vacation community and a spring break destination. Port A (Port Aransas) is at the north end of the island, and features an airport (KRAS) and some decent restaurants and hotels (if they're open...). Don't know about rental cars, but Jay Honek's hotel has a courtesy car from the airport.

Different places, different reasons to go to each. Port A and South Padre will probably be quieter and cleaner, but there's more to do up near Galveston, including the Johnson Space Center if you rent a car.
 
wsuffa said:
Galveston does have the aviation museum.
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The Lone Star Flight Museum is now at Ellington. Following major damage to the facilities and exhibits during Ike, they announced the decision to move inland and finally opened the new facility last year.
 
zaitcev said:
Which one has better resorts for a couple of days of rest? Does either of them have any good surf and a rental business for boards?

P.S. The Galveston airport FBO is pretty dire, but leaving that aside for the moment, just looking at the hospitality facilities.
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I’d recommend Port Aransas over Galveston if “rest” includes just lounging at the beach.

The Texas gulf coast isn’t a renowned surf area.

Port A’s airport isn’t the greatest, either.

Both are family friendly. Galveston, feels to me like an east coast, mid-Atlantic destination.

Port A/Mustang Island, feels like a beach/coastal town.
 
Us here in Houston call it Galvatraz for a reason.


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Nsconductor said:
Us here in Houston call it Galvatraz for a reason.
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Yeah, I can't believe anyone would consider Galveston a destination. I worked out on the island back in the late '90s and thought it was going to be cool. It IS an island after all.

Then I got there...

Holy sh*t!!! It's a freakin' slum surrounded by water. Want a beach? No beaches because of the sea wall. All eroded away.
 
timwinters said:
Yeah, I can't believe anyone would consider Galveston a destination. I worked out on the island back in the late '90s and thought it was going to be cool. It IS an island after all.

Then I got there...

Holy sh*t!!! It's a freakin' slum surrounded by water. Want a beach? No beaches because of the sea wall. All eroded away.
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Gotta head south not too far to find beaches (just a few miles).
 
455 Bravo Uniform said:
Gotta head south not too far to find beaches (just a few miles).
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Yeah, but then you have to dodge the cow sh*t! Granted, last time I was on the island was almost 20 years ago, but I laughed when I saw cattle grazing on the "beach" down towards the south end of the island.

We built an O'Reilly store there, up towards the north end, back in the late '90s and there was no freakin' way I would have stayed on that island. We put bars on the windows of the O'Reilly (actually a roll down shutter that covered the entire storefront and entrance once the store closed). We didn't do that unless it was a really bad area.
 
In general, Texas is a winter surfing spot. Galveston can have some decent rollers, longboard waves. Port Aransas/Mustang Island has decent surf, once again usually longboard waves, same scenario for S Padre. The further south you go along the TX Coast, the closer the deep water gets to shore, so more energy.

Only time I ever took out a short board, was following a hurricane or tropical storm. Some of my buddies, and plenty others, ride short boards, but if you actually want a ride a longboard is required IMO.

You won't have any trouble finding boards to rent wherever you go. Haven't been there since the Hurricane, but my favorite town has always been Port Aransas. If you look around online, you'll find info on all the spots, reports, and webcams. Mustang Island has Bob Hall Pier, the Seawall etc., halfway to Port A is Fish Pass, then Horace Caldwell Pier in Port A, and there is a ferry from fisherman's wharf to St. Joes Island, which is just across the channel from Port A and the best spot if there's a south swell. St. Joes is usually the least crowded and cleanest beach, take plenty of water. That said, its been over 10 years since I was a kid surfing around there.

It used to get really crowded at Bob Hall, I usually avoided it. Seawall is a drift spot, parking lots on both ends, but easy walk up/down along seawall or on beach. Lots of closeouts, but can be pretty fun. There was a good wave just up the coast at the new channel, but the sandbar got blown out and not sure what its like now. Fish Pass can be fun, especially when the water is clear, you'll see lots of fish and turtles etc., but also lots of fisherman. Horace Caldwell used to have a good sandbar on both sides, but usually was best on the north side. St. Joes was always my favorite spot, we'd paddle across, but I don't recommend that at all, take the ferry. Port Mansfield is really hard to get to, 4WD, but was another great spot for S swell, lots of sharks, you will be seeing them there. S Padre was always super crowded, didn't go there much for surf, but always had fun in town. Overall, being a TX surfer will make you a really strong paddler hahaha

If there is no surf, which is often the case, TX has great fishing!


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Hmm. I think Galveston is a neat little town. I don't consider it a "beach" town, but you can find some beaches, and there are some nice resorts along the sea wall.. The historic district called "the Strand" is fun, Moody Gardens is fun, Schlitterbahn is fun.

@timwinters hates everything, so don't listen to him. ;)

If it's beach you a looking for primarily, move on down the coast to Padre Island. South Padre is probably the most pure beach resort town you'll find in Texas. Port Aransas/Corpus Christie area is fun as well.
 
as a Puerto Rico native and Texas resident, i cant recommend any Texas waterfront with a straight face, but if you're looking for the closest to a Florida type beach (forget Caribbean quality, it just ain't gonna happen in the conus) then South padre is probably your best bet without going into Mexico and the Yucatan spots. corpus port a mustang isld may be fine for the unassuming tourist, but i was very undewhelemed with the beaches. nothing like staring at oil rigs while you waddle in stirred-river colored water and construction site colored sand. but beggars can't be choosers and unless you can swing the ga trip to the Florida coast, s padre is as good as it gets for a central tx guy if beach panoramic quality is the metric. good luck.
 
We spent time on the Galveston Island as well as Mustang Island (at Jay's hotel).
Both have the same quality of sandy beaches with muddy water but with different distances from different facilities.
For example, on Mustang Island, you land, grab Jay's courtesy car and drive to his hotel with a lot of food places within walking distance. The beach is about 1/2 mile away, though.
OTOH, in Galveston, you land, get a taxi to the beach hotel and everything is there within walking distance, food, beach, SprawlMart.
Galveston has more businesses and bigger selection of food but Mustang Island is just cooler and has Jay and good beers. :)

Also a fair warning: getting a cab in Galveston can be a hit-or-miss, especially if a cruise ship arrives at the docks (on the other side of the island) and all cabs are full of passengers, driving to Hobby or Bush Intercontinental.

Never been to South Padre but would like to try someday. No nearby airport, though.
 
Don't go in the Gulf if you're West of the Mississippi. You'll live longer.
 
The Galvez and the San Luis are both nice hotels. Never stayed but have been to plenty of conferences there.
 
Tough crowd, question was if he could rent boards and if there was any surf in TX. There are occasionally decent longboard waves, and yes you can rent boards. In winter, the water is cold, but can actually get pretty nice. It is usually chocolate milk all summer long, and you'll prolly see some people you really wish you hadn't in bathing suits...Nobody thinks TX is the Pacific, or covered up with tropical point n reef breaks, but no, go paddle into Jaws and quite being a p***y right

Comparing TX to PR, or the Pacific, is like telling pilots that nosewheel cessnas/pipers are a joke; if they can't get a P-51, at minimum get a T-6, or don't even try its not fun


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Duster said:
Comparing TX to PR, or the Pacific, is like telling pilots that nosewheel cessnas/pipers are a joke; if they can't get a P-51, at minimum get a T-6, or don't even try its not fun


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It's not about that, it's merely about managing expectations. And not overpaying for it. That's all.
 
Ravioli said:
Don't go in the Gulf if you're West of the Mississippi. You'll live longer.
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And even a fair piece east. I go down to the Biloxi/Gulfport area every year or two during crawfish season. Love the people, love the area, LOVE the crawfish, but the beaches and water are freakin' nasty.
 
timwinters said:
And even a fair piece east. I go down to the Biloxi/Gulfport area every year or two during crawfish season. Love the people, love the area, LOVE the crawfish, but the beaches and water are freakin' nasty.
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Not sure the crawfish are any better since they get the runoff from the US from the Rockies to the Appalachians...
 
Clark1961 said:
Not sure the crawfish are any better since they get the runoff from the US from the Rockies to the Appalachians...
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Yeah, I almost added.."not sure why I eat the crawfish even."

But I love cajun food! It may be worth dying for!
 
timwinters said:
Yeah, I almost added.."not sure why I eat the crawfish even."

But I love cajun food! It may be worth dying for!
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Takin' a ride on heavy metals (and various other things including pesticides, fertilizer, sewage of various sources, etc, etc, etc) Gotta love New Orleans tap water in the summer.
 
Clark1961 said:
Takin' a ride on heavy metals (and various other things including pesticides, fertilizer, sewage of various sources, etc, etc, etc) Gotta love New Orleans tap water in the summer.
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No sh*t! But someone has to "take one for the team" and sacrifice the health of their citizens to feed the rest of the nation's gluttonous habits. Thank god we have Texas and Louisiana so eager to do so.
 
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