The Wild Coast
Headed for the beach this summer? Escape the crowds at these five out-of-the-way places where the coast is always clear.
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For me, the respite from the crowds offered a chance to reconnect. I watched the younger one’s fascination with a dead man-of-war that had washed up on the beach and observed the older one studying the waves intently, waiting for just the rights sets and perhaps the perfect swell in the hope of making the most of what is, at best, a three-second thrill. After drying off, I wandered back into the dunes, hoping to scale one of the hills that looked taller and sturdier than those on South Padre. I was immediately besieged by a swarm of hungry deerflies, an experience that gave me a better understanding of the Karankawas, the fierce coastal tribe that smeared stinky alligator grease and dirt on their bodies to cultivate a foul and offensive body odor. Now I knew why.
Meanwhile, the older one had retreated to the water’s edge. “He’s not a kid anymore,” I thought to myself, as he busied himself in the sand, constructing a moat for a handful of tiny coquinas he’d dug out of the mud—only to have an errant wave sneak up and wash the whole thing away. I recognized his cry of disappointment as a mock one. He knew as well as I did that the ocean always takes back what it has given. At the beach you’re never too old to play in the sand.
The Scoop: Sea Rim
Getting there From Houston, take Interstate 10 east to Winnie, then Texas Highway 73 east to Port Arthur. Follow the signs to Sabine Pass and Texas Highway 87. From Galveston, take the Bolivar ferry to Highway 87, turn left at High Island on Texas Highway 124 to Winnie and follow directions above. The distance to Sea Rim on both routes is around one hundred miles.
Park info Entry fee: $2 per person. Beach lifeguard: No. Amenities The park headquarters (409-971-2559), raised on stilts on the beach, has restrooms, showers, and picnic tables; ice and bug spray for sale; and beach chairs and umbrellas for rent, as well as a small interpretive display.
Camping Twenty spaces are available for RVs in a paved campground east of the headquarters with electricity, running water, and a dump station, $10 per night; ten tent sites are located in an adjacent area with running water, grills, picnic tables, and a rinse shower, $7. Weekend reservations should be made at least three weeks in advance. Primitive camping is available on four raised wooden platforms in the marsh, accessible only by boat, with attached privy, $5 per night. Beach camping is allowed.
Activities Airboat tours Wednesday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., departing from Myers Point. Tours last about an hour. $13.50 adults, $8.50 for children ages 6 to 11. Reservations recommended. Canoe rentals: $15 full day, $10 half day. The visitors center and Gambusia Trail are wheelchair accessible.
Food and lodging None in the park. Sabine Pass, ten miles east, has a convenience store and the Channel Inn, an old-style seafood eatery featuring barbecued crab. The Olde Tyme Diner serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The chain motels in Port Arthur, a 23-mile drive from Sea Rim, include a Holiday Inn and a Ramada Inn.
Side trip Sabine Pass Battleground State Historical Park. Confederate troops led by Lieutenant Dick Dowling won a decisive victory here in 1863. The strategic importance of the pass, now surrounded by oil platforms and heavy industries, is underscored by the presence of concrete bunkers built during World War II. The Civil War battle is reenacted every September.
The Scoop: High Island
Getting there From Houston take I-10 east to Winnie, then turn right on Texas Highway 124; it’s eighteen miles to High Island. From Galveston take the Bolivar ferry to Texas Highway 87, then continue 28 miles to High Island.
Activities Birdwatching: The birds are not hard to find. There are two primary in-town sanctuaries, including Smith Oaks, around one hundred acres next to Birder’s Haven (admission $5 a day or $20 a year). Other popular spots are the Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge and the Bolivar Flats Shorebird Sanctuary, near the Bolivar ferry landing, each less than half an hour away. Beachcombing: Possible but not desirable. Speeding vehicles are a hazard on the hard-packed sand, as are the many beer drinkers.
Food and lodging Dinner choices on the Bolivar Peninsula include De Coux’s and the Stingaree in Crystal Beach and the Bolivar Landing in Gilchrist. Inland, it’s Al T’s in Winnie. If you want something more than standard fare, you have to go to Galveston or Beaumont. Birder’s Haven Bed and Breakfast, at 2081 Winnie Street, sleeps eight (four beds), with full kitchen, large bath, and continental breakfast ($65 for two, $85 for three or more). Another house that sleeps up to eight is available on Seventh Street. For reservations and information, call 409-286-5362; at night 286-5321. The Gulfway motel is an alternative; its restaurant is open for breakfast and lunch during spring season only.
Side trips George E. Kahla’s Fresh Junk (pronounced KAY-luh), on the west side of Highway 124 in High Island. This is my choice for the most imaginative junk shop on the Texas Coast. At George’s urging, I bought a fake arm. The free ferry from Bolivar to Galveston provides a twenty-minute ride across Galveston Bay to Galveston. The ferry runs every twenty minutes. You can park and walk on or drive, but if you do the latter, remember that the lines can be long at peak hours.
The Scoop: Matagorda
Getting there The Texas Parks and Wildlife ferry departs from Port O’Connor. From the south, take Texas Highway 35 to Green Lake, then turn right onto Texas Highway 185 to Seadrift and continue to Port O’Connor. From the north or west, pick up Highway 185 in Victoria and proceed as before. Port O’Connor is approximately fifty miles from Victoria.
Park info Ferry service is once daily on Thursday and Friday, departing Port O’Connor at 9 a.m. and leaving Matagorda at 4 p.m., and twice daily on weekends, departing Port O’Connor at 8 and 10 a.m., leaving Matagorda at 2 and 4 p.m. No service Monday through Wednesday. The ferry carries a maximum of 47 passengers and reservations are strongly recommended. Call 512-983-2215. Fee for passage: $10, $5 under 12. Drinks, snacks, and microwave sandwiches are available for purchase. What to bring: Drinking water, food, provisions, and flashlight if staying overnight. Surfboards and bicycles are allowed on the ferry. Pets allowed on six-foot leashes. No boomboxes.
Camping Two campgrounds—Army Hole near the boat dock and the Beach Campground two miles away. The latter has two covered picnic tables. Fees: None. Reservations: Not needed. Fires: Permitted only in designated fire rings or in the tidal zone of the beach where there is no vegetation. Use of driftwood is permitted.
Activities Hiking, biking, fishing, and birdwatching are the main activities here. The park has eighty miles of roads, sand paths, designated trails, and beachfront. Do not attempt to go cross-country. More bird species have been recorded here than anywhere else in Texas. The visitors center display includes three aquarium tanks with silversides, hermit crabs, sand minnows, and Atlantic drills, and a collection of flotsam and jetsam that washed onto the beach, including driftwood from Brazil and a whale vertebra the size of a truck tire.
Food and lodging No food at the park, not even a vending machine; the nearest restaurant is Clark’s on the Intracoastal Canal in Port O’Connor. Two bunkhouses at the Air Force base have beds for rent. One has four rooms with four beds in each room. the other sleeps twelve in one room. You can rent a bed for $12. The bunkhouses have window AC units but otherwise are spartan accommodations. If you want privacy, you have to buy all four beds in a room ($48). Port O’Connor has the Sand Dollar and Port motels. In Seadrift the ten-room white clapboard Hotel Lafitte (512-785-2319) has been lovingly restored by innkeepers Frances and Weyman Harding. Staying there is like being a guest in someone’s home. Upstairs and downstairs porches have comfortable white rockers and sitting chairs with wonderful views of San Antonio Bay. No children under twelve allowed; a tolerance for teddy bears and lace required. A single room with shared bath rents for $60 a night, including a sumptuous breakfast and complimentary cake and cookies and wine on arrival.
Side trip The ruins of Indianola—one of Texas’ major nineteenth-century ports, wiped out by two hurricanes. From Seadrift, go north on Texas Highway 238 toward Port Lavaca, then east on Texas Highway 316 to Indianola.
The Scoop: Padre Island
Getting there Padre Island National Seashore is 30 miles from downtown Corpus Christi via Texas Highway 358 and Park Road 22 and 36 miles from Port Aransas via Texas Highway 361 to the park road.
Park info Admission: A seven-day pass is $10 per auto or $5 per individual hiker or bicyclist. Seniors may obtain a lifetime pass for $10. Disabled visitors are admitted free. Metal detectors, fireworks, loaded firearms, and nudity are not allowed. Pets are prohibited at Malaquite Beach but allowed elsewhere if leashed.
Camping Malaquite Beach has 47 sites for tent and RV camping, first come, first served. Primitive camping is permitted on the beach and at two locations on the Laguna Madre: Bird Island Basin, just east of the entrance gate, and Yarborough Pass, at milepost 15. All campers are limited to fourteen consecutive days.
Activities Malaquite Beach is Texas’ best. Umbrellas and Boogie Boards are for rent. Park rangers offer beachwalks and other evening programs; for information, call 512-949-8068. The Grasslands Nature Trail is a three-quarter-mile self-guided walk through dunes and grasses. The trailhead is just south of the entrance gate to the park. Bird Island Basin is a popular site for windsurfing. Launch fee: $5. No rentals. The visitors center has exhibits on the geology, wildlife, and history of Padre Island.
Food and lodging Rival seafood houses Frenchy’s and Snoopy’s are under the JFK causeway in Flour Bluff. A wider variety awaits in Corpus Christi. The only hotel on North Padre is a Holiday Inn. Condos are available on Padre and Mustang islands to the north; phone 800-678-6232 for availability. Many motels are located on South Padre Island Drive in Corpus Christi.
The Scoop: Boca Chica
Getting there Boca Chica beach is 22 miles east of Brownsville on Texas Highway 4.
Park info No entry fee. No lifeguard. No showers, no phone, no restrooms or privies. No straying behind the beach.
Activities The beach is one of the best in the state, as nice as South Padre except for more trash.
Food and lodging A van with “Hector’s Elotes” on the side was selling roasted corn, soft drinks, and frozen treats. Lodging is in Brownsville or South Padre.
Side trip Boca Chica is a side trip.
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