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Family Beach Vacation | South Padre Island

I was so excited to visit South Padre Island for the very first time, and it was also Walt and Whitney's very first trip to the beach! If you aren't familiar with the area, South Padre is about 6 hours south of Austin and only 30 minutes from the border of Mexico. Come along as I share where we stayed, what activities we enjoyed, and where we ate!


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STAY:
When booking our trip I used VRBO and specifically looked for a condo that was walking distance from the beach. If you've taken a family beach trip you know how much stuff comes with you to the beach...chairs, toys, towels, sunscreen, snacks, and more! I did not want to have to load up the car and drive to the beach. Thanks to VRBO I found this amazing condo located in the PERFECT location and I loved the open kitchen/living room layout. The condo is 1,399 sq. ft, 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and has beautiful modern decor. My sister and her family rented a condo next door and they would come over every morning to eat breakfast. The condo sleeps 8, and has access to two pools, 2 hot tubs, a fitness center and an enclosed kids play area.

The best part is the beach is a two minute walk away! When the kids needed to use the restroom or we wanted to eat lunch, we easily walked back to our condo. We rented a tent and chairs for $40 a day which I HIGHLY recommend. To rent a tent you need to go to the main office as you must pay in person. VRBO is by far my go-to site for searching and booking a rental for vacation. It's easy to share what places you are considering with other people in your group so you can all agree on where you want to stay. My tip is make sure there are lots of rooms and beds so everyone can have their own space. I've slept in one room with all 5 of us and it was not a pleasant experience!

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EAT:
There are hundreds of restaurants along the island, and the best part is all the fresh SEAFOOD! We ate breakfast and lunch at our condo and for dinner ate out. Lobo Del Mar Cafe was a fun atmosphere with live music and a beautiful view of the ocean. Every night at 8:15pm bagpipes would play, and at 9pm there is a fireworks show on the water. You can view the fireworks from most of the restaurants that face that side of the island.

Our last night we enjoyed dinner at Sea Ranch while my nieces babysat my kiddos. It was a Saturday night and a wait was expected so we grabbed a drink at the bar and sat out back on the water and watched the boats come and go. It's one of the nicer restaurants on the island, but most people were dressed casual. I had lobster tail for the first time and it was delicious! Other entrees we loved included fried shrimp, crab, oysters and tuna steak. We actually took our oyster shells back to Walt and Whitney as souvenirs...bahaha!

There are lots of ice cream and dessert shops around town great for kiddos if you're looking for a snack while you shop or after the beach. Other restaurants that were recommended included The Palms Cafe, Blackbeard's, Yummies Bistro for breakfast, Laguna BOB, Parrot Eyes and Louie's Backyard.

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ACTIVITIES:
There are so many great activities for families at South Padre! Here are a few:

- Gravity Park: Adventure and amusement park located in the center of the island. Attractions include go-karts, mini-golf, trampoline, arcade, climbing wall and a sky coaster wing with a view of the whole island. This is better for older kids and is only open from 7pm - 12am daily.

- Schlitterbahn Waterpark

- Sand Castle Lessons: They offer two and three hour lessons for groups that want to make a serious sandcastle! Open to all ages, although my toddlers would want to smash it the entire time. I think this would be such a fun family activity!

- Watersport Rentals including jet skis, parasailing, stand up paddle boards and kayaks.

- Guided Fishing Trips

- Pirate Ship Adventure Cruise: This would be so fun for kids and they serve dinner on board!

- Skydiving: Talk about an amazing view! I'm kicking myself I didn't do this, but I'm just now finding out about it.

- Dolphin Watch Tour

- Sea Turtle Rescue Center: Children under 4 are free

- Island Vehicle Rentals: Rent golf carts, off road jeeps, bicycles, mini-cars, and scooters

- Shopping: There are tons of beach shops along both sides of the island great for souvenirs!

- Beach: If you don't have access to the beach via your hotel/condo there are public access spots.  If you want to take your vehicle it costs $15 per car. My tip is to bring bodyboards, sports balls (volleyball, football, soccer ball) and sand castle tools. I bought my kids these $4 shovels and they were obsessed!

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If you get the chance to visit South Padre I hope you find this guide helpful. Happy travels my friends! Check out #coultertravels to see more of our family adventures.

Our stay was stay was gifted by VRBO, but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

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8.02.2019

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey I was interested in the condo you stayed in and the link isn’t working. Was hoping for more information on it. Thanks so much

January 7, 2026 at 7:14 AM
Nikki said...

Hi Jesse, your South Padre Island vacation photos look absolutely wonderful, and it looks like the perfect spot to just relax and unwind with the family! Whenever we head to the beach, we always make sure to pack a football so the kids and I can set up a mini pitch on the sand and stay active. It is such a great way to bond, though my family's absolute obsession with the sport doesn't stop when the sun goes down. In the evenings, my husband and I love relaxing on the deck and checking out upcoming match stats for the weekend leagues. I’ve been using the footballpredictionstomorrow.com lately to get quick, reliable breakdowns of the next day's games right from my phone. It really adds some extra excitement to our holiday sports nights when we know exactly what to look out for. Thanks for sharing such a lovely travel guide!

July 6, 2026 at 3:09 AM
Oleksandr said...

Ein Familienurlaub am Strand in South Padre klingt nach einer großartigen Gelegenheit, gemeinsam Zeit zu verbringen und unvergessliche Erinnerungen zu sammeln. Die langen Sandstrände, das warme Wetter und die zahlreichen Freizeitmöglichkeiten machen das Reiseziel besonders attraktiv für Familien mit Kindern. Mit einer guten Planung wird der Urlaub für alle entspannt und abwechslungsreich.
Nach einem inspirierenden Reisebericht nehme ich mir gerne etwas Zeit zur Entspannung. In letzter Zeit schaue ich dafür gelegentlich bei https://win-spirit.de/ vorbei, was für mich eine angenehme Möglichkeit ist, meine Freizeit zu genießen.

July 15, 2026 at 7:54 AM

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