South Padre Island, TX
Things To Do
Honorable Mention to Palace
If you’re like me and you always like to take home at least one souvenir, Palace is the place. They have mugs, cups, tchotchkes and a design your own t-shirt stand where you can literally design your own t-shirt to take home. They also have other clothing items if you forgot to pack something or need some new beachwear. If you forgot any beach accessories, they have that covered too. The pricing was fair for a souvenir shop and the customer service was excellent. Bonus, the 90’s playlist they had going absolutely slapped.
Honorable Mention to Blue Marlin Supermarket
We needed a few things like water and soda for our hotel room so we stopped by this supermarket and it was perfect for what we needed. It’s a small store, but they have all the basics you could need as well as beach accessories and sunscreen. Pricing wasn’t bad at all and the customer service was great.
Other Mentions
Sea turtles are a big deal on South Padre Island and there are a few activities you can do surrounding that theme. If you are visiting around mid-June or August you can watch hatchling releases on the beach. The National Park Service website gives more information on that. Sea Turtle Inc. is the largest enclosed sea turtle hospital in the world and it’s right on South Padre Island for you to tour. Check their website for more information and to plan your visit. Finally, there are sea turtle statues around the island that you can take selfies with and collect a prize at the visitor’s center. More on that HERE.
Have you been to South Padre Island, TX? Let me know what you did while you were there and what you thought!
Sugar Kingdom
I had seen this place in a few TikTok videos and wanted to see what it was all about. It’s located on the main road across the island with a giant whale out front, you can’t miss it. They have a variety of different candy as well as a glass case full of fudge. The candy you see in the middle of the store can be purchased by the pound which is nice if you just want to try a few things and not take home a whole bag. The experience is fun, though I would also say it’s average. I didn’t really see anything here that I couldn’t get anywhere else. There’s also a bunch of different candy stores along the main road that you could try so let me know if there’s a better one! All of that being said, if you’re looking for an air conditioned place to kill a little time, this is a great option. There is also an arcade located next door if you want to take your candy on the go.
Seashell Beach
If you take State Park Road - 100 until it dead ends, you’ve made it to Seashell Beach! The drive out there is actually beautiful with all of the sand dunes. Cars were parked along the side in various locations just so people get out and walk on the sand dunes and take pictures .We parked on the side of the road at the dead end and walked out toward the ocean. This beach definitely lives up to it’s name because the sand is FULL of crushed seashells. I could’ve spent the entire day out there just looking for whole seashells to bring home. Since the water was freezing, we did not go swimming, but we could see this being the perfect beach day with all of the visible sand bars just off shore.
If you have the appropriate vehicle (we did not) you can drive out on the beach. There is a fee and 4x4 is required, but my parents have done it in the past and want me to tell you that if you’re able to do it, you definitely should.
We actually found this beach by accident trying to get to the UFO beach to see the UFO art installation. What we didn’t know is that it’s at least a mile hike along the beach and sand dunes to get to the UFO beach. We were not prepared to do that, but I know some of my misadventurers are so let me know if you make it to the UFO beach and if it’s worth the hike.
