Hello All:

I am travelling to South Padre Island for my first time this April (after the Spring Break rush) and am looking for suggestions on hotels. Based on what I've read on other posts the Radisson, but I'm looking for other hotels in that area, I guess the southern part of South Padre Island.

Also I was wondering about doing a day trip to Mexico. I will have a car and want to know if it is safe to drive in Mexico, obviously during the day. I've heard the border towns are rather dingy with a lot of begging and what not going on. Are there other towns/cities further in Mexico that would be worth a drive? Possible Monterrey? How far of a car ride would that be?

Thanks in advance for all your help!

where2next

I lived in south Texas for several years. Aransas Pass on the north end of the island is where we spent lots of time. Fantastic 300 ft. wide beaches.

We never drove our car into boarder towns...too many problems and lines. Walking is easy. Went to about four boarder towns. They are very touristy and different than towns further into Mexico. And yes, there are lots of children who will be begging for money. Kind of hard to deal with at first.

Are you aware that you cannot drive US rental cars into Mexico?

If you do have your own car and you decide to drive it into Mexico, be sure and purchase Mexico insurance from a Sanborn's office near the border. Your own US insurance is not valid in Mexico. Monterrey will be too far south for a day trip from SPI, but you could stay overnight and make it a 2-day trip

Where2
There were three chains on the south end of Padre--the Radisson, Holiday Inn and Sheraton. They all looked like average hotels, I believe from what I've read the Radisson is the best. We checked into rates and it was fairly expensive, we felt. So we didn't stay at a hotel, but rented a condo further up Gulf Blvd. on the beach. On the north end of the commercial section was a nice looking LaQuinta across from the convention center. It is a newer hotel. There are some other chains on the main strip that are not on the beach. There are lots of condos to choose from if you decide to go that route, just google South Padre condo rental or vacation rental and you'll find lots to choose from.

We took a trip to Montemorros (sp?) but in all honesty, it was a waste of time, IMO. We parked on the main street in Brownsville and walked over the bridge, and then it was another 1-2 mile walk to the market, and I felt a little intimidated....no one bothered us, but I wasn't overly comfortable or confident. It's fairly run down and dirty, I felt, and we didn't buy anything nor did I see anything that warranted buying. If you do go, it was about a 25 minute ride to Brownsville from S. Padre.

I've read here that the other border town a little further west is better.

Hi!
I live just a few miles south of South Padre Island, so I hope I can personally answer your questions. I have also written a guide for people like you who are looking for advice in the area:

1.) Here's my visitor's guide to SPI: http://www.spireviews.com/articles/visitors.html

As for Matamoros, I'm sorry to say, it's not the place that it is used to be. Like the others, I would recommend you drive out to "Progresso" instead of Matamoros.

If you have additional questions, you can email me here: [email protected]

Are you going to visit Schlitterbahn on your trip? We love the Austin area one. It was the most relaxing day and not your typical theme park at all.

http://www.schlitterbahn.com/