
SOUTH BEACH PADRE ISLAND NATIONAL SEASHORE FREE
With bike and golf-cart rentals or a ride on the Free Island Metro – everything you want to do on South Padre Island is just minutes away. All of the major attractions are within a couple of miles radius.

With everything close by and centralized, South Padre Island the most pedestrian-friendly vacation destination in Texas. The South Padre Island Attractions are accessible. Brownsville boasts the Glady’s Porter Zoo: a nationally recognized open air zoo, Children’s Museum, huge shopping centers, hiking and birding trails, and the International Bridge to Mexico where you can walk or drive over for lunch, shopping, and spa-treatments. Neighboring communities are bustling with unique cultural and affordable attractions. The city center also includes a Go Kart track, sand castle village, fireworks viewing, live music spots, night clubs, and mini-golf. The Gravity park calls out to the most adventurous visitors with its reverse bungee jump, sky swing, and Ferris Wheel.
SOUTH BEACH PADRE ISLAND NATIONAL SEASHORE ZIP
Other hotspots on the Island include the Adventure Park where you can zip line, hang out in the petting zoo, or horseback ride on the beach. The center runs an education program with plenty of fun learning activities for kids and even a summer camp.

A visit to the turtle hospital and hatchling release are life-changing events perfect for any age. As an added bonus, families can adopt a hatchling or an entire nest to support conservation efforts. If you’re visiting from April to November, you may even be lucky enough to witness a scheduled hatchling release of the endangered Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle. Sea turtles are rescued, rehabilitated, and released from South Padre Island County Beaches. North Padre Island boasts an aircraft carrier museum and art museum near the beach, but South Padre Island and its neighboring communities have dozens more family-friendly attractions. South Padre Island even offers free island transportation, so you really never have to get in your car!

With a compact city-center and busy boulevard nestled between the bay and beach, South Padre Island is ideal for travelers who may not want to drive to every attraction on their to-do list. Visitors to South Padre Island regularly opt to leave their cars at home and walk, bike, or ride the Free Island Metro to get around. North Padre Island is not as pedestrian friendly as South Padre Island. While North Padre Island is closer to large shopping and urban centers, there is no shortage of conveniently located things to do in South Padre Island! While North Padre Island is picturesque, it’s more of an urban vacation spot than a tropical one.

The waters at South Padre Island will keep you actively involved in water sports: kiteboarding, flyboarding, windsurfing, paddleboarding, kayaking, surfing, or even chilling with the dolphins! You can also find eco-tours, go fishing, and go horseback riding on the beach. Additionally, if you enjoy swimming or water sports of any kind, then South Padre Island is waves above the rest. You can walk directly on the sand from one end of South Padre Island to the other, whereas much of the shoreline in North Padre Island has rocky inlets, concrete seawalls, and private beaches not accessible for families or those who need accessibility modifications. Labeled among “the cleanest water in the country.” All of South Padre Island’s city beaches are easily accessible on foot. The water is clearer, warmer, and calmer than other beaches on the Gulf of Mexico. Gulf waters are tested annually and South Padre Island regularly rates among the safest, cleanest water. If you’re looking for a tropical beach vacation spot, then we know you want the best beaches! Beaches in South Padre Island are objectively more scenic and isolated than those on the North end of the Padre Island National Seashore.
