Ultimate South Padre Island Family Getaway

My family and I were invited to a South Padre Island getaway on behalf of the South Padre CVB and Texas Travel Talk. All opinions are my own.

I absolutely love South Padre Island! I grew up going there as a child and my times there are the best memories. It brought me such joy to once again take my family to South Padre for lots of fun in the sun and creating memories together! There is so much to love about South Padre, but here are 8 things to consider on your ultimate South Padre Family Getaway:

Drive to the end of the road!

After crossing the bridge if you turn right on Padre Boulevard, you will come to the public beach. For a nominal fee you have access to bathrooms, showers, covered picnic tables, concession stand, and rentals. I have spent many days on this beach.

But after crossing the bridge, if you turn left on Padre Boulevard you can drive all the way to the north end of the Island until the road ends. This is one of my favorite things to do on the Island. You can tell we already trampled the area when I grabbed this photo!

But there are very few people this far out. There are lots of beautiful sand dunes to explore, crabs to find, angels in the sand… Ha ha. “Can I get in the sand?” he asked. The next thing I knew Bobby was making sand angels.

Also, there are not very many people on the beach. There aren’t bathrooms way out there, but it’s a great place to walk the beach and wade. It’s so pretty!

Take a cruise.

Whether you want a sunset cruise, want to see dolphins, want to go fishing, or want some speed Osprey Cruises has it all! We chose the Sunset Pirate Cruise on the Black Dragon ship departing from Port Isabel.

The experience includes a dockside show, and firing of cannon before boarding the ship and there are non-stop happenings to engage and entertain the children the entire cruise!

And don’t forget to enjoy the beautiful sunset. I captured a few photos and then had so much fun with everything else going on on the ship that I actually forgot to watch the entire sunset! So beautiful!

Enjoy your accommodations!

There are many great choices of lodging while on the Island, but on this getaway we stayed at the Isla Grand and y’all my kids were literally jumping up and down. They loved the resort and accommodations so much!

We enjoyed a two bedroom, two bathroom suite with full kitchen and…

amazing view! I’m not usually an early riser, but y’all the sunrise from our room was so worth it. It’s hard to believe this tropical paradise is just in our backyard in Texas!

Relax and be served!

No matter where you stay it’s worth a trip to Isla Grand to dine at Windjammers Beachfront Cafe. The food is delicious. Think melt in your mouth fajitas!

And you absolutely cannot beat the view! It was wonderful to get out of the sun, sit down, and be served. We loved it so much we went back for the breakfast buffet! Yum! Click here review of our stay at Isla Grand!

Visit the Birding Center.

The Rio Grande Valley is a premier place for birding. People come from all over the world to see and photograph the world’s birds.

Included in the price of admission is a pair of binoculars to use during your stay. It’s so neat when you finally get that bird in focus and can see him up close.

Wow! Birds are such neat creatures. South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center is a beautiful place to explore nature with your family!

Get sand castle lessons!

Sand castle lessons with Andy is a must book activity. I have always seen photos of those amazing sand castles, but never in my wildest dreams did I think making one myself was possible. But one lesson with Andy and you will have all the knowledge and tools to make amazing sand castles.

And you will have the time of your life. It was such a blast to watch kids of all ages as well as parents working together to create something grand.

Tada! Here is the finished castle. This is such a great group project as people really have to work together, and the outcome is beautiful. I highly recommend sand castles with Andy!

Head to Schlitterbahn to splash the day away!

Getting 7 people decked in swim suits and covered in sunscreen is quite stressful when all everyone wants to do is jump in the water. But the stress is well worth it when you make it to the water at Schlitterbahn South Padre!

Ahhhh! I could live in the lazy river. Well actually I call it the “No-so lazy river” because it’s actually very exciting! Adventures await at every turn in the river! I can’t tell you how much I love that you can get to slides and “rides” from the lazy river without walking up a million stairs and waiting in the hot sun. If there is a line, you get to wait on your tube in the water.

We had to pull ourselves out of the river when it was time to go. We all wanted to stay. So fun. I absolutely loved that all seven of us could do this as a family.

Get some great seafood.

You can’t go to the Island without getting some fish even if you don’t want to go out and catch it! Shrimp Haus located at Schlitterbaun Resort is famous for shrimp. What else?

And even though I don’t consider myself a seafood fan, it’s different on the Island! I tried the coconut shrimp and it was amazing! I’ve been craving it ever since. And oh my goodness the hush puppies!! They had a little bit of spice to them and were oh so good. I can’t wait to go back.

We left South Padre with hearts full and stories to tell and retell. What an wonderful time spent with family and friends.

Are you looking for more family fun ideas to explore on the Island? Check out Visit South Padre for all the latest activities and fun.