the beach today
Gulf Coast Guide

South Padre
Island

Island Time

Everything for a day on the southern tip of Texas, conditions, parking, the Laguna Madre sunset and where to eat after the gulf sand.

Today on the Sand

loading live data…

Water Temp

84°

warm · gentle surf

UV Index

9

very high · 10am–4pm

Beach Crowd

Busy

holiday weekend

Beach Toolkit

Beach Conditions

Surf, tides & water temp

Parking Finder

County parks & beach accesses

Bay Sunset

Laguna Madre sunset & live cam

Dining

Gulf shrimp, tacos & fresh catch

Things to Do

Dolphin cruises & fishing

Events

What's on this week

Pick Your Sand

north to south

Isla Blanca Park

South tip · jetties, surf & amenities

County park · $12/vehicle

Andy Bowie Park

North end · dunes, birding boardwalk

County park · fee

Beach Access 3

Free walk-on county access · no frills

Free lot

City Beach Accesses

Street-end walkovers along Gulf Blvd

Free / metered

Beach Access 5 & 6

Drive-on-the-sand accesses to the north

Vehicle beach · fee

Laguna Madre Flats

Shallow warm bay side · kiteboarding & SUP

Bayside · calm

Dolphin Cruises

Open →

Compare daily sails from the marina — wild dolphins on nearly every trip.

Beyond the Beach

day trips

Port Isabel

10 min west

Lighthouse, shrimp docks & the causeway mainland

Boca Chica

40 min south

Wild beach & the SpaceX Starbase launch site

Brownsville

45 min west

Gladys Porter Zoo & the border-city eats

Laguna Vista

20 min west

Quiet mainland golf & birding on the bay

see you on the sand

Water temp, surf and UV are live from NOAA & Open-Meteo; sunset is computed locally for South Padre Island. Crowd level is a weekday/weekend estimate.

Right now at South Padre, the water is 86°F, surf is running 2–3 ft and the air is 86°F but feels like 94°F. Wind is 10 mph from the ENE and the UV index peaks at 7 (high) today. Unprotected fair skin burns in about 39 minutes right now, and the strongest stretch runs 1 PM to 3 PM. Today’s tides: High 12:00 AM, Low 2:09 PM.