South Padre Island/San Antonio
 

We are thinking about going to Texas in early April to celebrate our anniversary and my husbands 65th birthday. We have never been to Texas but love walking the beaches and enjoying birds and wildlife and possibly go out fishing for a day . I know the beaches won't be the white sugar sand like in Florida but are the beaches a hard sand that are easy to walk on? Not sure if there would be enough to do in SPI for a week so thought we might split the time and also go to San Antonio since we have never been down there. If we split the time how many days do you suggest in each location? Do you know of any nice condos on the beach? Thanks for any help you can provide us.

well first of all before going in April I would carefully check the chamber of commerce or someone in SPI when they expect Spring Break to happen .. you dont want to be anywhere near there when 10000's of college students invade the capital of US spring break places .. yes the beaches are clean packed sand around the hotels and resorts and many walk them .. they have a great birding area and center but not sure of the migration habits of what will be there that time of year .. fishing is what they do best, you can fish the ocean or the calmer bay area for just about anything for cheap .. we just got back from spending a week there and had plenty to do .. San Antonio is a good 4 hours north of there .. I am about to finish a report of my trip this last week to be posted in Texas forum soon .. hope this helps

A week might be a bit long in South Padre-- that is up to you. But if you are going all the way down there, you need at least four nights (three full days.) You should find plenty to do based on your interests. If you are walking on the beach, stop by and have a pina colada at the Wanna Wanna beach bar for me!

I will definitely check with the Chamber of Commerce for spring break dates, can't imagine being in the middle of that. Is there a particular portion of the island that is better than another as the island is so long?

there is no part better or worse, it is such a small island .. the lower half is civilized and the other north portion wide open nothing .. I have just posted the 1st portion of my trip report, reading it may help you a bit

The main consideration is whether you want to stay on the bayside or the gulf, so be sure your lodging fits your preference.

A great resource that lives on the island and has all the info that you would need to plan a lovely trip is SouthPadreTrips (dot) com. Hope this helps. :D

I also live in San Antonio. It would be great if you planned your trip around Fiesta here. The activities are numerous and the festivities have something for everyone. Parades, events, food, etc. It's like a cultural Mardi Gras of San Antonio that lasts about a week and a half. This year, Fiesta is April 18 -28. Also, Spring Break season is completely over in South Padre so relaxation will be in top order. Early April still has quite a few Spring Breakers from various parts of the country. For Fiesta information simply Google "Fiesta San Antonio 2013" and there will be plenty of links that will provide you with a plethora of information. Viva Fiesta!!! :D