All Aboard!
Where the surf's up.
Isla Blanca Park, South Padre Island (from the Queen Isabella Causeway, go south on Park Road 100 for 1 mile; 956-761-5493). Surfers waiting for the next tropical disturbance in the Gulf to churn up those once-in-a-blue-moon monsters know that the rest of the time, the waves get better the farther south you go. So if you're serious about surfing, don't stop until you reach the jetties off Isla Blanca Park, at the southern tip of Padre Island. The combination of the prevailing southeasterlies, the point break, and offshore sandbars translates into waves that actually hold their shape long enough for you to get a decent ride. Open daily 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.; $4 per vehicle ($2 after 5 p.m.).
Nueces County parks beaches, Padre Island (from Interstate 37 in downtown Corpus Christi, head south on the Crosstown Expressway, turn left on Texas Highway 358 [South Padre Island Drive] for 9.5 miles, where it becomes Park Road 22, then continue east on 22 to Padre Balli Park or turn north on Texas Highway 361 to J. P. Luby Surf Park and Port Aransas Park; 361-949-8122). Three county park piers north of the Padre Island National Seashore—Bob Hall Pier at Padre Balli Park, Horace Caldwell Pier at Port Aransas Park, and J. P. Luby Pier—are the busiest surfing spots on the Coastal Bend; the bitchin' waves around Bob Hall are worth putting up with other boarders and fishermen—not to mention sharks—competing for the same space. Open around the clock; $5 per vehicle (one-month pass).
Port Mansfield Cut, Padre Island (you can either drive 25 miles up the beach from South Padre to the Port Mansfield Cut and paddle several hundred yards across the channel to the north jetty or drive on the sand the 130-mile round trip to the cut from the entrance to the Padre Island National Seashore, 8 miles past the entrance to Padre Balli Park on Park Road 22, which is the extension of Texas Highway 358 [South Padre Island Drive]; 361-949-8068). The jetties at the Port Mansfield Cut catch the winds in similar fashion as the jetties at Isla Blanca, meaning more waves and less mush. The trick is getting there. Open around the clock; $10 per vehicle (one-week pass).
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