south padre island

A UFO-shaped object sits on a beach backlit by a descending sun

Art

The ‘UFO’ That Washed Ashore On South Padre Island

The island's unofficial nude beach doesn't have little green guys but instead displays an eccentric collection of art

By Isóbel Perez

August 13, 2025

Cars park on a road that ends and leads into sand dunes with an ocean in the background

Road Trips

Where the Highway Ends

By Danielle Lopez

May 7, 2025

A sea turtle lays on a table as a person wearing gloves holds it

Wildlife

Inside the World’s Largest Sea Turtle Hospital

By Amanda Ogle

March 1, 2025

A man in a white wet suit rides a white surf board on a wave.

Sports

Hit the Waves at the Texas State Surfing Championship

By Brant deBoer

December 6, 2024

Umbrellas line the shore in front of a grassy knoll, looking out at a vast expanse of clear blue water and waves in the Gulf

Road Trips

A Tropical Getaway on South Padre Island

By Joe Nick Patoski

September 5, 2024

Nature

Dig for Seashell Treasures on Padre Island

By Christopher Collins

May 28, 2024

Editor's Note

Down in the Dunes

By Emily Roberts Stone

May 28, 2024

Like a Local

Experience Harlingen in the Rio Grande Valley Like a Local

By Cynthia J. Drake

March 20, 2024

Road Trips

A Weekend Getaway in Port Isabel Brims with Seaside Treasures

By Cat Cardenas

March 19, 2024

Weekend Getaways from San Antonio: Comfort and South Padre Island

By Marisa Charpentier

May 30, 2023

Dark blue storm clouds form over clear blue water with a dark seashore in the foreground

Sightseer

The Calm Before the Storm on South Padre Island

January 24, 2023

An alligator in the low wake of Padre Island National Seashore

Texas Highways Exclusive: The Captured Malaquite Beach Gator Tells All

By John Nova Lomax

May 28, 2021

The shore of Surfside Beach offers calm waters and a wide-open beach is in the Brazosport area. Photo by Kevin Stillman.

6 Texas Daytrips to Drive Away the Winter Blues

By Joe Nick Patoski

December 30, 2020

A Kemp's ridley hatchling on Padre Island. Photo courtesy National Park Service.

COVID-19 Makes it Harder to Track Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtles on Padre Island

By Amanda Ogle

May 18, 2020

5 Texas Podcasts to Listen to Now

August 15, 2019

Summer for Procrastinators: Surfside Beach

July 11, 2019

Visitors from a Distant Sea Bring Tiny Treasures to Texas Beaches

June 13, 2019

Endangered Turtle Hatchlings Draw Crowds Along the Texas coast

June 12, 2019

Escape to the Mother Lagoon for a Quiet Coastal Getaway

May 30, 2019

Serious Surfers Brave the Winter Chill to Ride Texas’ Waves

November 24, 2018

Queen Isabel Inn

November 4, 2018

Groups of people on horseback on a beach

Explore South Padre Island with a Drive up State Park Road 100

By W. F. Strong

May 23, 2018