Escape to North Padre Island on the Texas Coast

Padre Island, Texas is a barrier island that extends over a hundred miles of Texas coastline, running from Corpus Christi to the Mexico border. The southern part of the Island is a popular place at spring break and has a reputation as being a party beach. North Padre Island on the other hand, is something else entirely. For starters, it's not that well known. Most people I've come across, when I tell them about Padre Island, they automatically assume it is South Padre Island that I'm talking about. Perhaps this is not without good reason. Indeed when I called AAA to ask about booking a room on the Island, they didn't even have a listing in their International Hotel Database for a North Padre Island. I even gave them the zip code, and they still said they had no listings. Of course they had listings for the southern part of the island. I found that very odd, considering that here are a handful of hotels here.

North Padre Island is separated from South Padre Island by the Port Mansfield Channel, so while you can drive down the beach a long way, you cannot get to South Padre Island from North Padre. What you can get to by driving down North Padre Island is to the National Seashore. There's nothing there, and I mean that in a good way. It's all dunes, tall beach grass, and wildlife. There are so many kinds of birds here, from seagulls, to cranes, to egrets. There are even flamingos!

And if you don't feel like driving very far down the Island to have some peace and quiet, you don't have to! The beach nearest the northern tip of the island, and hence closer to the city of Corpus Christi, is fairly tranquil at most times of the year. Even in summer, if you come during the week, there are relatively few people on the beach compared with some other beaches I've been to. About the only time the beach is packed is on a holiday or on a nice weekend in the summer.

A cool place to go on North Padre Island is to the Lighthouse. No, it's not a real lighthouse, although it does have a small one as part of its architecture. Rather it's a bar located at 15241 Leeward Dr. just off of Whitecap Blvd. One cool thing about it is that it's lit up at night with blue colored lights that are made absolutely gorgeous by the fact that they reflect off of the water of the inlet that the building sits by.

If you'd like to drink your wine and ale in solitude or down on the beach, you can buy alcohol at Whitecap Wine and Ale located at 14414 Whitecap Blvd, which is conveniently close to everything on the island. Yes, alcohol is allowed on the beach, just remember that glass containers are not, so whatever you buy needs to be in aluminum or plastic or put into such a container.

Speaking of things allowed on the beach, driving is one of them. Unlike most places in the country, you are allowed to drive on the beach on North Padre Island. However, you are not allowed to drive within fifty feet of the water. Also, you must have a beach parking permit to park on the beach, and they can be obtained at a variety of locations, including the Wal-Mart or HEB on Flour Bluff. The beach patrol will give you a ticket if you park on the beach without one. You don't necessarily need a four wheel drive to drive on the beach. I've seen plenty of little cars down there. However, just because you have a four wheel drive, don't be lulled into thinking that you can drive through anything on the beach. While I've never seen a little car stuck, I have seen more than one SUV or pickup truck stuck because they got into something they shouldn't have.

I completely recommend vacationing on North Padre Island. It's a great place to come and relax, where all times are "island time" and no one's really in much of a hurry. As with any vacation that involves a location that could potentially have a hurricane, I suggest getting travel insurance, in case you are forced to cancel your trip or cut it short because of a mandatory hurricane evacuation.