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June 12, 2019 | By Anna-Kay Reeves
PINS has a list of nest locations and projected hatch-dates— the next predicted hatch date for 2019 is June 12-16, with dates continuing through mid-July. However, hatchlings are unpredictable and emerge when they’re ready, according to the park.
June 10, 2019 | By Heather Brand
At the historic Luther Hotel in Palacios, proprietor Jack Findley often mingles with guests on the front porch overlooking Matagorda Bay. Findley’s path to Palacios was circuitous.
June 6, 2019 | By Emily Roberts Stone, Executive Editor
Share your favorite coastal memories and photos using the hashtag #myTXcoast for a chance to be featured on our social media accounts.
June 4, 2019 | By John Lumpkin
Could there be a better way to experience a town comprised of at least 70 percent saltwater than to get to the water as fast as you can? With 41 square miles of Redfish Bay inside its city limits, Aransas Pass offers just that—
a self-described “Saltwater Heaven” building on its revival after Hurricane Harvey’s destruction in 2017.
May 31, 2019 | By Clayton Maxwell
From Port Arthur to Port Isabel, navigating the best of Texas’ bays, beaches, and bards
May 31, 2019 | By
Even when clouds loom, any day is a good day on Follett’s Island, which features about 11 miles of coastline along the Gulf of Mexico. Free access to the beach is available at multiple points between Surfside Beach and San Luis Pass along Bluewater Highway. During the summer, the water temperatures are usually a balmy low- to mid-80 degrees—perfect for fishing, swimming, horseback riding, birding, and camping on the beach.
May 30, 2019 | By Joe Nick Patoski
There are few places in and around Texas where the visible fish—plus dolphins, peregrine falcons, and brilliant-pink roseate spoonbills—outnumber the people viewing them. The Laguna Madre is one of those places, the only body of water in the state that truly qualifies as extreme.
May 23, 2019 | By Pam LeBlanc
This year marks the 12th edition of the Texas 200, a self-described “rolling messabout” up 200 miles of Lone Star coast June 10-14. Boats of all types and sizes, many built in garages, cruise in company through bays, cuts, and bayous and into the Intracoastal Waterway.
April 22, 2019 | By Pam LeBlanc
Incredible sculptures, delicious food, and fun times to be had April 26-28
November 24, 2018 | By Heather Brand
People who visit the coast during the summer may think there’s no surf in Texas, but that’s because they haven’t seen the waves of winter.
In late January through mid-February, storm-driven northerlies blow across the Gulf of Mexico, roiling the placid surf into choppy waves that can build to heights of 5 feet and taller. Offshore winds then polish these waves to produce smooth, jade-colored swells that build then break, curling in a clean line, row after row. For those willing to brave the chill, there are plenty of destinations along the 367 miles of the Texas coast to give off-season surfing a try.
“Most people are fair-weather surfers,” says James Fulbright, proprietor of Strictly Hardcore Surf Specialties in Galveston. “There are 70 percent fewer surfers in the water in winter.”
October 30, 2018 | By
Fishing is intrinsic to Port Aransas. What would you expect from a town that was once named Tarpon because the fish were so bountiful that even President Franklin D. Roosevelt was drawn to these waters? Over-fishing reduced the tarpon population years ago, but this year’s anglers will find ample opportunities to cast for flounder, kingfish, shark, mangrove snapper, ling, and Spanish mackerel.
May 30, 2018 | By Wes Ferguson
With miles of undeveloped shoreline, San José Island offers room to roam.
When Hurricane Harvey struck last summer, it made landfall on San José Island, a coastal retreat where U.S. presidents have come to fish and fundraise, and everything but a broad and empty beach is owned by a family of billionaires.
May 23, 2018 | By John Lumpkin
Anticipation grows as you roll down the window and drive onto the Port Aransas ferry to cross the narrow channel to Mustang Island. Salty air invades the senses, and sunrays glint on the shifting waters where dolphins play. As you disembark into the heart of this historic fishing town, brown pelicans skim the water for dinner or perch on weathered piers. Fishing boats rock gently in the harbor, rigged for their work in nearby bays or the open ocean.
May 23, 2018 | By W. F. Strong.
I get my first clear view of South Padre Island from the summit of the Queen Isabella Memorial Causeway. At 85 feet above Laguna Madre, the bridge reveals the island stretching majestically on a north-south line, like a thin ribbon of sand floating in a cobalt sea.
Published 10 times per year by the Texas Department of Transportation, Texas Highways, the official travel magazine of Texas, encourages travel to and within the Lone Star State and tells the Texas story to readers around the world.
