andreadee

I am traveling with my 21 year old daughter and my two friends (55 & 58). We are flying into Houston in the early part of April and staying somewhere on Galvaston Island. We know nothing about this location. Would love to hear what people suggest regarding the best location on this island to stay. We do not want to be by craziness but do want some fun. We like a useable ocean for walking and possibly swimming. We also want a pool. What recommendation can your offer. Thank you

Seamus

Hi - first, it's GalvEston island
May I ask how you wound up choosing a place you know nothing about?
Briefly, Galveston is a long, narrow barrier island. The most developed portion is on the Eastern end. The West End is more "beachy" feeling with private homes and some condos, many on the beachfront. There are several hotels that would provide what you want, as well as vacation rentals (e.g., condo properties) that you can see if you do a search on a site like booking.com or trivago.com. Be prepared for beaches that are more grey than white sand and water that is more brown than blue. And note that you will need a car.

andreadee

We stumbled upon Galvaston Island. We wanted Florida as we are traveling from MI. The prices were astronomical. We could have traveled to Europe cheaper. We wanted to go somewhere warm. Hang at the pool, walk the beaches. Our travel agent suggested this place and none of us know a thing about it. We are getting very discouraged as many are telling us it's not worth going to. It will be a lazy vacation but we like to walk beaches and find shells and sand dollars (I'm guessing by your post that won't be happening). Sure...we love to swim in the ocean but not being able to do that isn't a deal breaker but a beautiful ocean is a plus and your post leads me to believe that won't be there either. I don't want a real touristy place as we went to Myrtle Beach a few years back and the actual boardwalk was filled with undesirables. Thankfully we were about 45 minutes north of where all the craziness was. Someone told me to spend only a few days on the island and maybe it Houston for a few days for shopping and dining. We are three gals, mid 50's and one 21 year old girl. I envision sunny days, laying by the pool, walking the beach looking for treasures and finding some fun places to dine...Texas style & hispanic too. Do you think Galvaston is the wrong place for us?

tomfuller

My advice would be to drive south to Corpus Christi and stay there. Drive over the causeway over to Padre Island in the daytime. The Padre Island National Seashore is bound to be nicer and warmer than GALVESTON Island

Seamus

And I'd go further - Corpus and its nearby North Padre island beaches are better than Galveston, but if you want really nice beaches, head to South Padre Island - though you may be going up against the Spring Break crowds at that time of year. And THAT's cray-zee!