Any recs appreciated.
I'm temporarily "stationed" in the valley. Trying to have my fam come down for a few days. Problem is Padre will be overrun by drunken college kids (spring break, I miss those days). Is there easy excess further up the way?

Any other ideas for someone stuck in the valley to take his 6 & 7 yr old to the beach???

My suggestion would be to head for Rockport. No, it's not "jumping", but for little ones, it's plenty of fun. It's also safe. Just my two cents worth.

Go down highway 4 to Boca Chica Beach. See SpaceX on your way in. Just check for potential road closures in advance.

Might try Padre Island National Seashore. Doubt students are trying to get passes for that when they'll all be at South Padre or Port A/North Padre.

South Padre to Rockport is over 3 hours each way.

North Padre is accessed near Corpus and is also 3 hours each way.

No one in South Padre ever drove to North Padre or Rockport for beaches.

I wouldn't stay away from the beaches because of the college kids but the VT, and I don't know that if you went all way the north to Mansfield that you could get away from it during spring break.

Either go to Boca Chica, as suggested, or go to the farthest entrance (5?) and head north on the beach towards the Mansfield jetty.

Be aware once close to the jetties it can be unofficially clothing optional.

That was shocking and unpleasant with our kiddos.

billyjack2009 said:

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That was shocking and unpleasant with our kiddos.

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Sorry you had to find out that way, I found out the hard way as well. And not the good kind of hard.....

Go to beach access 6 early in the morning, there will be no spring breakers in the morning and VT will be minimal.

Leave by lunch thirty and you'll be fine. Any longer than that and you'll have dip****s driving 60mph past you.

Also, don't stop in the narrow sections where the dunes are close to the water. You'll just be in everyone's way.

The problem with accessing the beach on South Padre is that in order to do so, you have to access SPI then drive north to the public access points. During Spring Break, you're going to have to deal with all of the traffic that ends up down there during Spring Break. So, go early and leave early if you want to avoid that ****show. Or, as was already posted, head to Boca Chica Beach. It won't have the South Padre crowds and you drive past Starbase on your way there.

RIGHT

"Go to beach access 6 early in the morning, there will be no spring breakers in the morning and VT will be minimal."

You would have encountered me and my fishing buddy in the '80's. We did a little 'Spring Break' in the traditional sense, but it was always an odd two-different-worlds scenario when all our peers were so into the festivities and we'd be pouring over tide tables, scoping out the best bait stands and hauling tackle through noon throngs after 6 hours of fishing.

Alrighty… round two

All previous replies appreciated. Boca Chica was great. Pretty much avoided any thing SPI first go round. This coming week though… what do you do with two young'uns for 4 days??? I've done my research but hoping someone from the crowd could throw a wildcard my way

The Last Cobra Commander said:

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Alrighty… round two

All previous replies appreciated. Boca Chica was great. Pretty much avoided any thing SPI first go round. This coming week though… what do you do with two young'uns for 4 days??? I've done my research but hoping someone from the crowd could throw a wildcard my way

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Hit the beach and drive north. You won't find ANYBODY after a mile or two.