We are considering a vacation to Padre Island in December. What is the weather, what is there to do, what should we expect, and how long a drive to Big Bend? Thanks for input!

The weather is hard to predict _ could be pretty warm (70s), could be downright cold, you probably won't want to get in the water unless you have a wetsuit. There are the typical beach activities, plus pretty good birding and fishing (not sure how good either would be in december, i'm not a fishing or birding person) Or you could drive to Matamoros.

And are you sure you'd want to drive to Big Bend? I have no idea how long it would take, but it's a a long way from padre....

Texasgirl is right that Padre will be too cold to swim in December. Air temps there are usually in the mid 70s in December. Birding and deep sea fishing are always good at Padre, and there are tons of tours for beachcombing, dolphin watch, etc. You can also take a ride at the Padre Island Stables.

You don't want to combine Big Bend and Padre Island into one trip unless you like driving or want to fly a little. Padre is about 5 hours south from San Antonio, and Big Bend is another 4 hours to the west. In other words, you're looking at an 8-9 hour drive to get from Padre to Big Bend. If you must see both, I'd grab a quick Southwest Airlines flight from Harlingen to El Paso and drive from there to Big Bend.

I'm thinking the drive would be more like 11 or 12 hours to Big Bend. Big Bend is a lot more than 4 hours from San Antonio.

I used to live near Padre Island, and wouldn't consider it a good choice for a December vacation. If the temperature is 50 or so, the stiff wind and humidity make it feel very cold. That said, I have been swimming in a pool near there on a 70 degree New Year's Day. San Antonio may be a better choice overall, since the city had so many activities between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

I've been to Big Bend in late November and really enjoyed it. We had a great time camping for a couple of days, until the rain started. Then we nearly froze trying to get the tent down and get the heck out of there.

I would seriously consider avoiding Matamoros. Even though it's a quick trip from Padre to the border crossing Brownsville, it seems like someone is always getting snatched and killed down there. Moreover, how many 5 for $1 alleged "beef" tacos can a man eat?