Travel

As you head north on the island, the main drag Padre Boulevard turns into Ocean Boulevard also known as State Park Road 100. After leaving town, you’ll see public beach access 5 and 6 where you can drive onto the beach. After these, eventually the road ends. But there are still another 15+ miles of island. You’ll need an off-road capable vehicle from here.

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Take a virtual around South Padre Island with Google maps. Start at Coconuts on Laguna Boulevard, Louie’s Backyard is right next to it, and then comes the Wahoo. It’s the best bar hop walking tour on the island. The food and drink are phenomenal and the bayside sunsets spectacular from any and all of these establishments.

$1.75 for 3 Minutes

Rust and corrosion are facts of life on South Padre Island. Make sure that you wash your vehicles often to combat it. The salt air hit’s hard and fast. The Isle Wash is the only car wash on the island.

For all you mobile Internet users, cellular broadband access works on the island. The speed is acceptable, but the latency is high.

Expect lots of browser refresh from dropped packets.

South Padre Island’s Cellular Tower

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South Padre Island is located at the bottom tip of Texas where the Rio Grande river meets the Gulf Of Mexico.

From Brownsville take TX-48 straight to the island. From Corpus Christi, head south on US-77. If you’re coming from the Rio Grande Valley, go east on US-83. A couple miles after US-77 & US-83 join together just past San Benito the hometown of Freddy Fender (He’s on the water tower), take the TX-100 exit to the island.

The nearest airport to fly is Brownsville International. It’s 20 miles from the island. Valley International in Harlingen is also an option 40 miles away. There are shuttle services available to the island from both.