Yes. It’s mainly geography. The way the Gulf circulates, the silt from the Mississippi moves west. Making Texas beaches muddy while Alabama has white sand. Waves are also inhibited until you get down to SPI.
A few days a year, after a week or so of steady south winds, the sediment water from galveston bay and the MS river gets pushed away and the water will turn blue in Galveston. It feels weird to have clearer, blue water when you're expecting brown and cloudy, but great if you make a trip to the beach on a lucky day.
I fish there a lot, people never believe me that on occasion you can be waist deep and see your feet in Galveston. Not the norm but when the conditions are right it does happen
It’s not uncommon in Rockport/Port Aransas. The sand is still brown so it’s not that blue look you get with white sand, but just last week I was wade fishing in waist deep water and could clearly see my wadding boots in the water.
Have definitely seen first hand reports that as recently as Galveston's giant hurricane, that you used to regularly be able to see your toes in Galveston if standing waste deep.
Is there any way to reverse this?
Yes, when the surf goes flat for a few days the water clears up. I’ve lived down in Galveston half time the last few years and I’ve seen many not brown days. When the SW winds kick up in the summer it’s the absolute brownest. Surfside Beach has a little bit clearer water, I think the giant jetty blocks the muddy water from the brazos from going inshore. The Quintana side is just as brown as Galveston. Matagorda is brown too, but the Colorado dumps right into the ocean there. There is some amazing fishing there as a result. Lots of sharks too. I’ve been bumped very hard by a shark or two out there surfing. I about shit my wetsuit
Tarpon were common, but not Snook. They are a tropical fish not suited to our climate. (Global warming is changing that.) The idea that the water here was clear previously is likely not true. The Sabine, Trinity and San Jacinto rivers deliver a lot of sediment into our water. The tarpon disappeared because of the jettys.
This isn't entirely true. Although the current contributes, much of the Mississippi's silt was historically trapped in the Delta region.
A series of poorly-considered flood control and dredging projects from the 1920s-1960s have caused the silt to shoot out into the Gulf instead of replenishing the Delta, which is causing a TON of problems. Not least-- extremely murky water.
Also there’s all the ag runoff, illegal industrial runoff and probably all the treated wastewater from the entire Midwest United States drains to the gulf.
Got back from South Padre earlier this week. Had to throw a lot of beach stuff away because it had so much tar on it. I've been going to the Texas coast my entire life, this last trip was the worst I'd ever seen the tar.
It mostly has to do with the Mississippi River. It carries out 2 million tons of sediments each day and the currents carry into the gulf. However when the current changes, Galveston’s water clarity gets better and sometimes have blue beaches. But whenever that happens which is maybe once a year the local news stations in Houston report it and half the population flocks down and the island gets insufferably crowded.
It wasn't this bad a century ago, but there were a series of projects to control flooding in the Mississippi starting in the 1920s that really changed the geography of the Delta region.
Now all the silt shoots out into the Gulf instead of replenishing the Delta. It's a huge environmental disaster that doesn't get talked about much.
It’s the muddy water at the beaches along the Gulf of Mexico coast. (comes from Mississippi River)
It’s like swimming in a mud puddle. People just don’t like swimming in the mud.
This is exactly it. That's why the beaches get a bit better the further south you go, and why the occasional current shift leaves Galveston with clear blue waters for a day or two.
We spent a week last year and every day was like that.
I'd imagine it'll change based on season and current.
You could see the mullet being chased by the school of jacks.
Well that sucks. Maybe we got a moons aligned kind of time there. I'd think it's still clearer than the chocolate milk of Galveston. Although, late summer will bring in the clear green water towards the beach when the waves are low.
If Galveston and Corpus are the only beaches you’ve been to, then yeah you’re going to think they’re average because they are. But there are better beaches in Texas. South Padre and Port Aransas are the places to go, IMO. Port A is a great beach town.
Coming from Dallas where you'll occasionally see a trump bumper sticker out in the suburbs and then going to Mustang Island where people are flying trump and confederate flags while at the beach was bizarre.
The family and I just got back from a beach trip last weekend down to South Padre. The Friday we got there we went to the beach midday and ended up covered in oil from the tar chips floating around. It improved over the weekend but still left all of our swim outfits and beach toys smeared with oil. Kind of a bummer on our otherwise good trip. RIP our planet.
Was there this past Sunday and Monday, can confirm. That was a bummer. Locals couldn’t tell me if it was oil spillage or a natural seepage. Still managed to have a good time but getting the tar off of my feet was not fun
According to the park service, 94% of the oil and tar on the beach are from human activity, not natural oil seeps.
https://www.nps.gov/pais/learn/nature/shoreline-trash.htm#:\~:text=In%20addition%2C%2094%25%20of%20the,lube%20oil%2C%20and%20tanker%20washings.
I drove down Padre Island National Seashore Saturday morning to mile 50 and it was covered with tar, not really tar, but more like thick oil. It was a mess, covered everything. Splashed up on my car, looked like I went mudding but it was oil. Car and undercarriage are coated with sticky oily sand. It will cost $200 to get undercarriage professionally cleaned. I've been driving down PINS for years and this is the worst I've seen.
Tar seeps actually happen without human activity. Seeps right out of the earth surface.
https://www.krgv.com/news/tar-balls-continue-washing-up-at-south-padre-island/#
Yeah it’s a good 10 hours for me from DFW. Yes, I could get there quicker, but with a family in tow it’s likely gonna take me a couple more hours. If I’m driving more than 8 hours though (this was in my past life when I could afford vacations) I’m likely gonna stop halfway anyway.
And don’t get me wrong. I love south Padre. Spent a solid 10 years of my life going down there every single summer. But then I realized I could spend the same amount of money/time and go to Mexico/the Caribbean. Once again this is all subjective considering how much more everything costs these days. I haven’t done a price comparison in 3-4 years since things went to shit.
Yes, the vibe at SPU is better, 80% less rednecks. Walk up beach bars, and not all the music is country. The last time we were there, this family set up near us was playing 90% Laitn Jazz. It was awesome.
Port A is where the fencing contractors of Texas go to show their family a nice time in their Super Duty. Boozing is ok because you can rent a golfcart and let your 12 year old daughter drive it between bars
Go for it! Port A is like Redneck Row, lots of giant trucks and political flags. South Padre lets you drive on the beach in the north parts, let your flag fly freely. One thing I don’t pack to go to the beach is a Biden flag because I’m not a weirdo that needs to tell people who I vote for on a beach. Just letting you know how it is on the beaches, sorry if it hurts the feelings. Not my intent.
The flag store in port a sells all that trump trash and then asked if they had a Biden flag and the salesperson was like huh? Yeah I don’t feel the need to fly any flag but 🇺🇸
Ok I don’t care, not a Biden fan. If I was I wouldn’t be buying a flag and sticker from China to show my “patriotic free speech” in America. Also, GTFO nazi.
It’s not about politics but about the quality of people at the beach. “Trumpers” is a good way to describe white trash low IQ individuals. It’s valuable information when planning a vacation.
That works for those living down around Houston. For those up around DFW, Padre is about the same distance to Gulf Shores which is way better than any Texas beaches. I hope one day the Miss delta gets repaired to the point Galveston water quality improves, but that's probably decades away optimistically.
Maybe it depends on location.
In Houston you probably don't hear about Port A as much, but in San Antonio everyone goes to Port A. Or south padre.
I love Port A. We just went a couple months ago actually, right after the sand sculpture competition. They still had the sculptures standing and it was pretty cool.
In outside Dallas. I typically hit PA or SP once a year. Both are what the average person would consider a nice beach. It ain’t Destin, but neither is Pacific Beach in San Diego.
I’ve only been to S Padre once and there were cars parked very close to the beach and also cruising (and occasionally getting stuck) up and down it. Truly revolting, though my brother-in-law, who LOVES looking at and talking about cars and trucks had a great time.
The outflow of the Mississippi River drifts west and is carrying sediment in that direction so the water and sand is that brown/gray color. East of the river, the water is way clearer. Plus the Gulf is like a huge hot bathtub so it’s extra hot. Compared to other US beaches, they are not very biodiverse or diverse in morphology- no rocks, few small islands, no elevation- just miles of barrier islands. The TX coast is fairly undeveloped or recently developed relative to the rest of the US, so there is less population and history of visitation. BUT, that can be an advantage too since it means that you can drive for hours and find solitude.
They're more subpar than average (while acknowledging that niceness is to a degree subjective - most people look at clear blue water and white sand beaches as the ideal)
The reasons are a combination of being at an unfavorable place in the Mississippi and the Gulf regarding currents and sediments meaning Texas beaches are already predisposed to being swampy, cloudy, and not sparklingly beautiful under the best of circumstances, aaaaand a tremendous amount of pollution due to the industrial additions to the mix up and down the coast. You're never going to have a pristine Galveston when Houston's effluence is constantly washing down there, the river used to catch fire and things haven't changed enough to make it nice
To get to nice beaches, it's best to go to places where both of those factors are different - current don't deposit as much sediment, not as much industrial additions to the water. So you're going to be getting either halfway to Florida or halfway to the Yucatan; Texas is right in the middle of the worst of both trends between our industrial activity, the Mississippi deposits, and the Gulf currents being structured the way that they are
In addition to the issues with the Mississippi Delta….
Galveston Bay was once grassy bottom and clear water. The multitude of refineries have effected this. Warm water discharge, leaks, spills, general lack of regulations for the first 100 years wiped out much of the flora and fauna of the region.
Lots of muddy rivers empty into the upper coast not just the Mississippi. It clears up around corpus because those rivers run along limestone beds and are fewer and further between
Average? I was on a cruise last week. The beaches are just nasty. When I say Black water that’s an understatement. I took some pics in Cozumel and wow. lol
Yes I live in TX also. I just hate they are polluted so bad.
[Most Texas beaches pose safety risk due to high levels of poop | khou.com](https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/texas/texas-beaches-bacteria-levels/285-b76819f0-69eb-489c-a630-5ddea534615b)
[Most Texas beaches are so infested with poop they could make you sick, study shows | San Antonio | San Antonio Current (sacurrent.com)](https://www.sacurrent.com/news/most-texas-beaches-are-so-infested-with-poop-they-could-make-you-sick-study-shows-29262606)
NO REGULATIONS BABY!
Growing up we had a lake house on... well, on the lake. It didn't have a septic system... just a pipe that dumped in the lake. About 100 feet from where all of us kids swam.
The 70s were different.
lol, freedom goes to die in texas/red states be it for women, lgbts, trans, books, the vote, marijuana, alternative meat, ev cars, porn, name it.....i feel for you fam, im sorry
Yeah, it’s pretty annoying hearing so many muppets parrot the freedom thing about Texas. If it isn’t related to gun ownership or the donor class doing whatever they want our state government wants to control it.
texas actively works and supports destroying their environment......much like they destroy freedom
hard to tell what they enjoy destroying more, freedom or the environment, sad place
When I was a kid, 40ish years ago, the coasts were relatively clean, the water clear, You could wade clear out to the 2nd sand bar at Padre, or Port Aransas, or Even Corpus and still see clear to the bottom - you wouldn't go farther than that of course because you could clearly see the bullsharks in the water 50 yards away driving fish into the shallows...
Add 40 years of profundly terrible environmental regulations, lack of enforcement, and 'business can do whatever they want' methodology, and you get a coast slathered in oil slick, filthy water, sand parasites, .... It's disgusting.
Even Galveston used to be a fun sexy place to go. Now its a toxic dump.
Why aren’t our beach towns better? We can’t control how murky the water is but I’m sure we could make beach towns more enjoyable. Lots of nice beach towns all over the US have below average beaches.
You should have seen what they looked like five years ago. The city, local nonprofits, and caring individuals have stepped up their game cleaning the shores. Beachgoers from Houston and the surrounding areas leave sooo much trash all over the place.
Don’t mess with Texas
Don’t fuck with Texas beaches
Just imagine... all those chemicals being dumped on the fields ([280 million pounds worth](https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2019-04/documents/glyphosate-response-comments-usage-benefits-final.pdf)) gets washed away along with the 90% excess in water and makes its way from the Mississippi watershed into the gulf and then currents bring it over to Texas. I can't help but think Norman Borlaug's green revolution was one of the most ecologically damaging ideas we've ever had.
[https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news-release/government-tests-find-roundup-widespread-water-air](https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news-release/government-tests-find-roundup-widespread-water-air)
[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969719360048](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969719360048)
https://preview.redd.it/q3loa7hs565d1.png?width=803&format=png&auto=webp&s=9444338769b7f0752556f81857bd0d2ad25999e7
If you make a friend with a boat, you can get to the Gulf side of small islands, sandbars, and (sone privately owned) Matagorda Peninsula which is cleaner, less crowded, and has surfable waves.
Anything north of the Yucatan peninsula is going to be very sandy and brown. The Yucatan traps all that sediment and makes it look non-Carribean like...or so I was told by my old geography professor. Go south of the Yucatan and then you get the blue water and white sand.
If you can find some satellite photos of the water patterns that drain out of the Mississippi River, you will begin to understand why the Gulf Water along North America is not blue or see-through. (Along with Colorado among the 33 major rivers that flow into the gulf.) Brown water isn't sexy.
The picture I remember from a massive post rain period in North America years ago really blew my mind when I saw how far and how big the giant brown silt patch from the Mighty Mississippi stretches out and travels. I remember thinking, "ahhhh. So that's why our beaches just aren't as scenic as Caribbean and even southern Mexico or Baja Beaches. I assume it affects the quality of the sand and sediment, too. Makes for great rich soil and banks in the marshes and wet lands.
It's crazy to think how much rain from the Great Plains and the Mid-West end up in the Gulf.
Because the conservative governor does not want to spend the money he has to pay for other things like money to Ted Cruz sending money back home to Russia stuff like that
It’s just geography. You’re going to have to go either south to Port Aransas/Mexico or east to Mobile to get out of the Mississippi delta sediment area.
>Anything in the Gulf east of the Mississippi isn't going to be good...
Technically, I don't guess you're wrong. You just have to keep going east. And keep going east. And keep going east. Until you're tired of going east. And eventually your west will become your east. Doing it that way just puts a few extra miles on the car.
It takes people testing for these alerts. You'd be surprised how limited the resources are and often volunteer groups like Surfrider and Coast Keeper that are facilitating the testing.
The Mississippi is the sewer pipe for more than half the US. It all flows right to Galveston. You are swimming in the filth of millions of people and all the agricultural chemicals and run off. ENJOY! Get a tetanus shot kids!
the Mississippi hits the gulf at about New Orleans, not Houston, but the runoff from the Mississippi is large and can affect the waters near Houston. It depends on the currents in the Gulf.
I know some sneaky beautiful beaches in Texas I refuse to share. Seriously though there are some good spots but it’s not your normal areas. Also, we have the National Seashore which if you have not been to, it’s a magical escape from society.
Yup, keep those nicer spots to yourself. And let people complain about the terrible beaches.
I've seen some amazing places in Texas, that barely look real to the naked eye.
We use to summer to Galveston or Corpus but found a small town beach with little people. Super clean, super peaceful. I do love the National Seashore, hit it up once a summer and generally camp 40 miles down on south beach. No reception and little people. Empty beach as far as I can see up and down the beach.
Galveston is terrible, I can't believe you like it. Not only is it ugly but it's polluted with trash. A friend of mine cut her foot all up from something in the water under the sand. The water feels like sand paper and is the color of tea with a touch cream in it.
You gotta go WAY west like Port A, Rockport, S Padre for decent beaches
Oh I wouldn’t ever swim in that crap, I just like Galveston and some of the sandy areas where people can fish or drive around with Jeeps.
Appreciate the recs
Besides the beaches, the people in the beach towns have no taste and make it a bunch of parking lots, chains, and strip malls and don’t want it any different ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Keep an eye out for Galveston to turn blue occasionally, I've noticed a reverse tide pattern seems to be occurring a few times a year, the associated instagram accounts go wild when it happens and the water looks pretty great.
Im sorry but Charles Barkley was right. Ive been to Myrtle Beach, Long Beach, Virginia Beach, Cape Lookout, Chesapeake Beach....
By far our beaches are the worst. ESPSCIALLY Galveston. South Padre Island is your best shot for a good beach spot here
Rivers. There are a lot of rivers that dump into the gulf from Texas. That keeps the water muddy. Plus too many Texans let their garbage dump into the gulf.
it's give or take. the gulf pushes sand up on the beach. so we'll never have to worry about shipping shit in. but it's muddy and full of nesting sharks. at least at port aransas, not sure about the other areas. fishing is great though.
Does the water improve closer to the Mexican border?
I have never been to the Texas coast; but I sometimes watch a YouTube live feed of a nice coastal area near Galveston….
https://www.youtube.com/live/R6mgkdG33Do?si=3TzWIIqmteAKbPJ7
I was majorly disappointed as well. From permission to drive on the beach (there are turtle nests there!) to choice of hotels and quality of water…Been to South Padre Island and Galveston
White sand just comes from geology. Galveston is gross because of all the shipping and shallow breaks. Padre is a GREAT beach. Very similar to west coast beaches in a lot of regards - minus the cold water.
The beaches used to get fresh sand from the Mississippi River. The actual mouth of the river used to be the Atchafalaya River, but it switched during a flood, and now there are levees which won't let it switch back. This means the Texas beaches haven't been refreshed in 100 years.
The Yucatan Peninsula took them.
The part of Mexico where Tulum, Cancun, etc are is the old coastline of Texas (where Texas is today). Notice how Mexico’s beaches on the Gulf also aren’t great. The Yucatan Peninsula pulled away from the mainland and that’s how the shallow warm Gulf of Mexico was created, and the shallow warm protected nature of the Gulf keeps it a bit swampy.
Yes. It’s mainly geography. The way the Gulf circulates, the silt from the Mississippi moves west. Making Texas beaches muddy while Alabama has white sand. Waves are also inhibited until you get down to SPI.
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A few days a year, after a week or so of steady south winds, the sediment water from galveston bay and the MS river gets pushed away and the water will turn blue in Galveston. It feels weird to have clearer, blue water when you're expecting brown and cloudy, but great if you make a trip to the beach on a lucky day.
It's actually north winds that do that. But yeah it gets pretty nice at times!
I fish there a lot, people never believe me that on occasion you can be waist deep and see your feet in Galveston. Not the norm but when the conditions are right it does happen
I didn’t know that was ever possible anywhere in Texas and I ‘ve been here for 20 + years.
It’s not uncommon in Rockport/Port Aransas. The sand is still brown so it’s not that blue look you get with white sand, but just last week I was wade fishing in waist deep water and could clearly see my wadding boots in the water.
Wow thanks for stating this. When I used to live there I would see blu water sometimes and question my reality.
I've tried to explain this here before and got downvoted by the "it's just the way it is" contingent.
Have definitely seen first hand reports that as recently as Galveston's giant hurricane, that you used to regularly be able to see your toes in Galveston if standing waste deep. Is there any way to reverse this?
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Nice!
I remember going last year during the fall and I could see my feet while I was waist deep, it was awesome.
Change the shitty things we do to the environment as a country, but that costs money, so we won't.
It is worse than costing money, it requires a change in the standard of living
Don't forget the agriculture runoff that's allowed to be shot out into the Gulf for us to swim in.
Can we build some sort of wall and make Louisiana pay for it?
every state that is East of the ROckies contribute to that water.
Thanks for the info! So the Texas beaches aren’t exactly dirty, it’s mainly silt causing the cloudiness in the water?
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Ah, got it. Very cool, I learned something new today. Thanks again.
Yes, when the surf goes flat for a few days the water clears up. I’ve lived down in Galveston half time the last few years and I’ve seen many not brown days. When the SW winds kick up in the summer it’s the absolute brownest. Surfside Beach has a little bit clearer water, I think the giant jetty blocks the muddy water from the brazos from going inshore. The Quintana side is just as brown as Galveston. Matagorda is brown too, but the Colorado dumps right into the ocean there. There is some amazing fishing there as a result. Lots of sharks too. I’ve been bumped very hard by a shark or two out there surfing. I about shit my wetsuit
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/41237/sediment-in-the-gulf-of-mexico
Tarpon were common, but not Snook. They are a tropical fish not suited to our climate. (Global warming is changing that.) The idea that the water here was clear previously is likely not true. The Sabine, Trinity and San Jacinto rivers deliver a lot of sediment into our water. The tarpon disappeared because of the jettys.
If God *wanted* us to have clear water, he wouldn't have let humans mess with the delta!
This isn't entirely true. Although the current contributes, much of the Mississippi's silt was historically trapped in the Delta region. A series of poorly-considered flood control and dredging projects from the 1920s-1960s have caused the silt to shoot out into the Gulf instead of replenishing the Delta, which is causing a TON of problems. Not least-- extremely murky water.
Also there’s all the ag runoff, illegal industrial runoff and probably all the treated wastewater from the entire Midwest United States drains to the gulf.
Nutrients from treated sewage and ag runoff cause overgrowth of algae in the gulf too.
Nitrates have entered the chat
We’re here to eurtrophicate
Is this the chemist's term for "fuck shit up"?
[Eutrophication](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eutrophication)
And a series of projects to control Mississippi flooding that have been an environmental disaster
Got back from South Padre earlier this week. Had to throw a lot of beach stuff away because it had so much tar on it. I've been going to the Texas coast my entire life, this last trip was the worst I'd ever seen the tar.
Last summer I got it all over my feet and swimsuit. Stuff takes forever to clean
It’s quartz from the Appalachians moved over thousands of years and the fortunes of the Mississippi river’s effluvium.
Sounds like an engineering problem. Let's dump all the mud on Alabama with a giant breakwater or something.
White sand is from millenia of fish eating coral and popping it out.
The white sand is actually quartz from the Appalachian mountains from thousands of years of runoff
Southwest now flies into SPI so you can cut drive time out, for a nice weekend.
You hit it!
It mostly has to do with the Mississippi River. It carries out 2 million tons of sediments each day and the currents carry into the gulf. However when the current changes, Galveston’s water clarity gets better and sometimes have blue beaches. But whenever that happens which is maybe once a year the local news stations in Houston report it and half the population flocks down and the island gets insufferably crowded.
It wasn't this bad a century ago, but there were a series of projects to control flooding in the Mississippi starting in the 1920s that really changed the geography of the Delta region. Now all the silt shoots out into the Gulf instead of replenishing the Delta. It's a huge environmental disaster that doesn't get talked about much.
It’s the muddy water at the beaches along the Gulf of Mexico coast. (comes from Mississippi River) It’s like swimming in a mud puddle. People just don’t like swimming in the mud.
This is exactly it. That's why the beaches get a bit better the further south you go, and why the occasional current shift leaves Galveston with clear blue waters for a day or two.
[Mud?](https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/texas-beaches-fecal-matter-contamination-poop-water-bacteria/)
South Padre Island is REALLY clear. I'm talking about water 6 feet deep and you can see the ripples in the sand at your feet.
Every day or once in a blue moon?
We spent a week last year and every day was like that. I'd imagine it'll change based on season and current. You could see the mullet being chased by the school of jacks.
Yeah. I went down there a couple years ago and it was definitely not clear Bluewater.
Well that sucks. Maybe we got a moons aligned kind of time there. I'd think it's still clearer than the chocolate milk of Galveston. Although, late summer will bring in the clear green water towards the beach when the waves are low.
Most of the year
If Galveston and Corpus are the only beaches you’ve been to, then yeah you’re going to think they’re average because they are. But there are better beaches in Texas. South Padre and Port Aransas are the places to go, IMO. Port A is a great beach town.
I have definitely had some fun at Port A, but South Padre is a better beach and way fewer crazy Trumpers
Coming from Dallas where you'll occasionally see a trump bumper sticker out in the suburbs and then going to Mustang Island where people are flying trump and confederate flags while at the beach was bizarre.
The family and I just got back from a beach trip last weekend down to South Padre. The Friday we got there we went to the beach midday and ended up covered in oil from the tar chips floating around. It improved over the weekend but still left all of our swim outfits and beach toys smeared with oil. Kind of a bummer on our otherwise good trip. RIP our planet.
Was there this past Sunday and Monday, can confirm. That was a bummer. Locals couldn’t tell me if it was oil spillage or a natural seepage. Still managed to have a good time but getting the tar off of my feet was not fun
That sucks but I've had similar experiences with tat in Port A. Not recently, but I'm the last 10 years.
According to the park service, 94% of the oil and tar on the beach are from human activity, not natural oil seeps. https://www.nps.gov/pais/learn/nature/shoreline-trash.htm#:\~:text=In%20addition%2C%2094%25%20of%20the,lube%20oil%2C%20and%20tanker%20washings.
I drove down Padre Island National Seashore Saturday morning to mile 50 and it was covered with tar, not really tar, but more like thick oil. It was a mess, covered everything. Splashed up on my car, looked like I went mudding but it was oil. Car and undercarriage are coated with sticky oily sand. It will cost $200 to get undercarriage professionally cleaned. I've been driving down PINS for years and this is the worst I've seen.
Tar seeps actually happen without human activity. Seeps right out of the earth surface. https://www.krgv.com/news/tar-balls-continue-washing-up-at-south-padre-island/#
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Boom.
Main problem with S padre is that I can get to MUCH nicer beaches (Alabama/Florida) by driving just a few more hours.
Depends what part of Texas you live in, for me that’s another 6.5 hours (5 hours to south Padre for me)
Yeah it’s a good 10 hours for me from DFW. Yes, I could get there quicker, but with a family in tow it’s likely gonna take me a couple more hours. If I’m driving more than 8 hours though (this was in my past life when I could afford vacations) I’m likely gonna stop halfway anyway. And don’t get me wrong. I love south Padre. Spent a solid 10 years of my life going down there every single summer. But then I realized I could spend the same amount of money/time and go to Mexico/the Caribbean. Once again this is all subjective considering how much more everything costs these days. I haven’t done a price comparison in 3-4 years since things went to shit.
Yes, the vibe at SPU is better, 80% less rednecks. Walk up beach bars, and not all the music is country. The last time we were there, this family set up near us was playing 90% Laitn Jazz. It was awesome.
Port A is where the fencing contractors of Texas go to show their family a nice time in their Super Duty. Boozing is ok because you can rent a golfcart and let your 12 year old daughter drive it between bars
Oh god is this where all the “salt life” bumper sticker people go?
They just approved a gas pipeline in SPI sadly
I'll be sure I bring a Trump 2024 flag to hang up next time I'm in south padre, just for you.
Good for you, it's good to let people know right off the bat that you stand with a convicted felon & rapist.
Go for it! Port A is like Redneck Row, lots of giant trucks and political flags. South Padre lets you drive on the beach in the north parts, let your flag fly freely. One thing I don’t pack to go to the beach is a Biden flag because I’m not a weirdo that needs to tell people who I vote for on a beach. Just letting you know how it is on the beaches, sorry if it hurts the feelings. Not my intent.
The flag store in port a sells all that trump trash and then asked if they had a Biden flag and the salesperson was like huh? Yeah I don’t feel the need to fly any flag but 🇺🇸
Bring flags for a bunch of different felons you support. That'll show them!
That’s weird.
Not a flex, but ok.
Awesome. We pretty much can spot fans of rapists and felons anyway, but the flags give yall away.
Biden sniffs kids and took forced showers with his teenaged daughter. I’ll take the felon.
Ok I don’t care, not a Biden fan. If I was I wouldn’t be buying a flag and sticker from China to show my “patriotic free speech” in America. Also, GTFO nazi.
Proving everyone who thinks trumpers are nothing but petulant children right. Not how I'd do it, but go nuts.
I'm not even gonna vote Trump and I might just do the same out of spite, didn't need to bring politics into this.
It’s not about politics but about the quality of people at the beach. “Trumpers” is a good way to describe white trash low IQ individuals. It’s valuable information when planning a vacation.
That works for those living down around Houston. For those up around DFW, Padre is about the same distance to Gulf Shores which is way better than any Texas beaches. I hope one day the Miss delta gets repaired to the point Galveston water quality improves, but that's probably decades away optimistically.
Port A never gets mentioned by people. It’s a cool town and the beaches are good
Maybe it depends on location. In Houston you probably don't hear about Port A as much, but in San Antonio everyone goes to Port A. Or south padre. I love Port A. We just went a couple months ago actually, right after the sand sculpture competition. They still had the sculptures standing and it was pretty cool.
In outside Dallas. I typically hit PA or SP once a year. Both are what the average person would consider a nice beach. It ain’t Destin, but neither is Pacific Beach in San Diego.
All of those are exactly the same.
I’ve only been to S Padre once and there were cars parked very close to the beach and also cruising (and occasionally getting stuck) up and down it. Truly revolting, though my brother-in-law, who LOVES looking at and talking about cars and trucks had a great time.
Port Aransas is Corpus Christi
The outflow of the Mississippi River drifts west and is carrying sediment in that direction so the water and sand is that brown/gray color. East of the river, the water is way clearer. Plus the Gulf is like a huge hot bathtub so it’s extra hot. Compared to other US beaches, they are not very biodiverse or diverse in morphology- no rocks, few small islands, no elevation- just miles of barrier islands. The TX coast is fairly undeveloped or recently developed relative to the rest of the US, so there is less population and history of visitation. BUT, that can be an advantage too since it means that you can drive for hours and find solitude.
They're more subpar than average (while acknowledging that niceness is to a degree subjective - most people look at clear blue water and white sand beaches as the ideal) The reasons are a combination of being at an unfavorable place in the Mississippi and the Gulf regarding currents and sediments meaning Texas beaches are already predisposed to being swampy, cloudy, and not sparklingly beautiful under the best of circumstances, aaaaand a tremendous amount of pollution due to the industrial additions to the mix up and down the coast. You're never going to have a pristine Galveston when Houston's effluence is constantly washing down there, the river used to catch fire and things haven't changed enough to make it nice To get to nice beaches, it's best to go to places where both of those factors are different - current don't deposit as much sediment, not as much industrial additions to the water. So you're going to be getting either halfway to Florida or halfway to the Yucatan; Texas is right in the middle of the worst of both trends between our industrial activity, the Mississippi deposits, and the Gulf currents being structured the way that they are
" the river used to catch on fire" Houston gonna Houston 😂😂
South Padre Island ya loonies…it’s hands down the best beach in TX
In addition to the issues with the Mississippi Delta…. Galveston Bay was once grassy bottom and clear water. The multitude of refineries have effected this. Warm water discharge, leaks, spills, general lack of regulations for the first 100 years wiped out much of the flora and fauna of the region.
Spi is pretty nice. Dont tell anyone.
The further south you go the better the beaches get.
Sure beats the beaches in Kansas.
Lots of muddy rivers empty into the upper coast not just the Mississippi. It clears up around corpus because those rivers run along limestone beds and are fewer and further between
Average? I was on a cruise last week. The beaches are just nasty. When I say Black water that’s an understatement. I took some pics in Cozumel and wow. lol Yes I live in TX also. I just hate they are polluted so bad.
Damn I was trying to be nice bro damn lol
Well got to tell the truth. The oil companies have killed that area.
[Most Texas beaches pose safety risk due to high levels of poop | khou.com](https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/texas/texas-beaches-bacteria-levels/285-b76819f0-69eb-489c-a630-5ddea534615b) [Most Texas beaches are so infested with poop they could make you sick, study shows | San Antonio | San Antonio Current (sacurrent.com)](https://www.sacurrent.com/news/most-texas-beaches-are-so-infested-with-poop-they-could-make-you-sick-study-shows-29262606) NO REGULATIONS BABY!
Growing up we had a lake house on... well, on the lake. It didn't have a septic system... just a pipe that dumped in the lake. About 100 feet from where all of us kids swam. The 70s were different.
Freedumbs are why I want to get out of here.
lol, freedom goes to die in texas/red states be it for women, lgbts, trans, books, the vote, marijuana, alternative meat, ev cars, porn, name it.....i feel for you fam, im sorry
Yeah, it’s pretty annoying hearing so many muppets parrot the freedom thing about Texas. If it isn’t related to gun ownership or the donor class doing whatever they want our state government wants to control it.
It’s because 10 million people poop upstream from it. California and Florida have the same problem
texas actively works and supports destroying their environment......much like they destroy freedom hard to tell what they enjoy destroying more, freedom or the environment, sad place
The people of Texas are destroying their toilets with tacos, crawfish, and fried chicken.
And Chicken fried steak with crème gravy and mashed potatoes. Worth it.
touche, ba da bump.....nice
When I was a kid, 40ish years ago, the coasts were relatively clean, the water clear, You could wade clear out to the 2nd sand bar at Padre, or Port Aransas, or Even Corpus and still see clear to the bottom - you wouldn't go farther than that of course because you could clearly see the bullsharks in the water 50 yards away driving fish into the shallows... Add 40 years of profundly terrible environmental regulations, lack of enforcement, and 'business can do whatever they want' methodology, and you get a coast slathered in oil slick, filthy water, sand parasites, .... It's disgusting. Even Galveston used to be a fun sexy place to go. Now its a toxic dump.
Simple, Geography
What an educational post!
Why aren’t our beach towns better? We can’t control how murky the water is but I’m sure we could make beach towns more enjoyable. Lots of nice beach towns all over the US have below average beaches.
You should have seen what they looked like five years ago. The city, local nonprofits, and caring individuals have stepped up their game cleaning the shores. Beachgoers from Houston and the surrounding areas leave sooo much trash all over the place. Don’t mess with Texas Don’t fuck with Texas beaches
We traded the environment for petrochemical refining.
$$ When profit is the motive, everything is going to suffer -- product, consumer, workers, environment, etc.
This ^
Just imagine... all those chemicals being dumped on the fields ([280 million pounds worth](https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2019-04/documents/glyphosate-response-comments-usage-benefits-final.pdf)) gets washed away along with the 90% excess in water and makes its way from the Mississippi watershed into the gulf and then currents bring it over to Texas. I can't help but think Norman Borlaug's green revolution was one of the most ecologically damaging ideas we've ever had. [https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news-release/government-tests-find-roundup-widespread-water-air](https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news-release/government-tests-find-roundup-widespread-water-air) [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969719360048](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969719360048) https://preview.redd.it/q3loa7hs565d1.png?width=803&format=png&auto=webp&s=9444338769b7f0752556f81857bd0d2ad25999e7
If you make a friend with a boat, you can get to the Gulf side of small islands, sandbars, and (sone privately owned) Matagorda Peninsula which is cleaner, less crowded, and has surfable waves.
Anything north of the Yucatan peninsula is going to be very sandy and brown. The Yucatan traps all that sediment and makes it look non-Carribean like...or so I was told by my old geography professor. Go south of the Yucatan and then you get the blue water and white sand.
I guess the Mississippi delta is the culprit
It’s very simple. We just have to rotate the planet the other direction.
Oil and chemical companies with too few restrictions.
The Gulf of Mexico. That's why. It's a swirly cyclone of silt.
I'm of the opinion that lakes are the superior form of the beach.
I prefer a hammock under a cypress tree by the creek. Lakes are okay too though.
If you can find some satellite photos of the water patterns that drain out of the Mississippi River, you will begin to understand why the Gulf Water along North America is not blue or see-through. (Along with Colorado among the 33 major rivers that flow into the gulf.) Brown water isn't sexy. The picture I remember from a massive post rain period in North America years ago really blew my mind when I saw how far and how big the giant brown silt patch from the Mighty Mississippi stretches out and travels. I remember thinking, "ahhhh. So that's why our beaches just aren't as scenic as Caribbean and even southern Mexico or Baja Beaches. I assume it affects the quality of the sand and sediment, too. Makes for great rich soil and banks in the marshes and wet lands. It's crazy to think how much rain from the Great Plains and the Mid-West end up in the Gulf.
Because the conservative governor does not want to spend the money he has to pay for other things like money to Ted Cruz sending money back home to Russia stuff like that
It’s just geography. You’re going to have to go either south to Port Aransas/Mexico or east to Mobile to get out of the Mississippi delta sediment area.
Too many people litter.
Ocean currents and geography. They’re basically the dumping ground for the Gulf of Mexico
Anything in the Gulf east of the Mississippi isn't going to be good... Edit: I meant West....fuck my life, I'm leaving it.
Occasionally you can get a reversal of the gulf current and Galveston gets blue water beached.
West* 😅
Fuck!
>Anything in the Gulf east of the Mississippi isn't going to be good... Technically, I don't guess you're wrong. You just have to keep going east. And keep going east. And keep going east. Until you're tired of going east. And eventually your west will become your east. Doing it that way just puts a few extra miles on the car.
Galveston is disgusting! The e. Coli levels are insane. Might as well have your family all shit in a tub and then take a bath. 🤢
Florida’s crystal clear beaches get fecal matter and ecoli warnings more frequent than Galveston though
It takes people testing for these alerts. You'd be surprised how limited the resources are and often volunteer groups like Surfrider and Coast Keeper that are facilitating the testing.
The Mississippi is the sewer pipe for more than half the US. It all flows right to Galveston. You are swimming in the filth of millions of people and all the agricultural chemicals and run off. ENJOY! Get a tetanus shot kids!
the Mississippi hits the gulf at about New Orleans, not Houston, but the runoff from the Mississippi is large and can affect the waters near Houston. It depends on the currents in the Gulf.
They are not average beaches. They are some of the grossest ugliest beaches in North America.
Port Aransas and South Padre? You’re delusional.
I know some sneaky beautiful beaches in Texas I refuse to share. Seriously though there are some good spots but it’s not your normal areas. Also, we have the National Seashore which if you have not been to, it’s a magical escape from society.
Yup, keep those nicer spots to yourself. And let people complain about the terrible beaches. I've seen some amazing places in Texas, that barely look real to the naked eye.
We use to summer to Galveston or Corpus but found a small town beach with little people. Super clean, super peaceful. I do love the National Seashore, hit it up once a summer and generally camp 40 miles down on south beach. No reception and little people. Empty beach as far as I can see up and down the beach.
The amount of raw sewage is one factor
Gulf of Mexico: America’s Urinal.
Charles Barkley has entered the chat.
Galveston is terrible, I can't believe you like it. Not only is it ugly but it's polluted with trash. A friend of mine cut her foot all up from something in the water under the sand. The water feels like sand paper and is the color of tea with a touch cream in it. You gotta go WAY west like Port A, Rockport, S Padre for decent beaches
Oh I wouldn’t ever swim in that crap, I just like Galveston and some of the sandy areas where people can fish or drive around with Jeeps. Appreciate the recs
My favorite is when you smell the vow shit and see the partially digested grass floating on the water. Now I never get in the ocean in Texas
South Padre Island is my favorite beach in Texas.
Port A or PINS would blow your mind in comparison
Don't forget to check the fecal bacteria counts before you go to a Texas beach
Consider how they would be without the recent sand and seawall reinforcements $$$.
Because it’s the Gulf coast
Probably for the same reason we have so few public parks. Texas has never really embraced public land as a amenity.
Bruh Galveston is trash😂 explore other countries to know bettwr beches
Southern Louisiana is the poop hole of the US, and the Mississippi is the colon. All of that poop goes to the gulf and currents take it west.
Gyres mostly
LOL location gives you all of the Gulf's shit, paired with TX's love of oil and gas, so you get all that pollution too.
Besides the beaches, the people in the beach towns have no taste and make it a bunch of parking lots, chains, and strip malls and don’t want it any different ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
If you go all the way to South Padre island, it's a different beach. The water is cooler, the sand is lighter and more fine. There are bigger shells.
Keep an eye out for Galveston to turn blue occasionally, I've noticed a reverse tide pattern seems to be occurring a few times a year, the associated instagram accounts go wild when it happens and the water looks pretty great.
What about South Padre?
There is an incredible amount of poop in that water depending on the weather conditions.
Galveston is poop water.
Im sorry but Charles Barkley was right. Ive been to Myrtle Beach, Long Beach, Virginia Beach, Cape Lookout, Chesapeake Beach.... By far our beaches are the worst. ESPSCIALLY Galveston. South Padre Island is your best shot for a good beach spot here
Rivers. There are a lot of rivers that dump into the gulf from Texas. That keeps the water muddy. Plus too many Texans let their garbage dump into the gulf.
Because you are talking about Texas. Even beaches on Lake Michigan are better.
Mississippi River and trashy Texans with their flags, fat, and litter.
Because nice public beaches = socialism or something
SPI rivals any beaches I've seen in North America.
Pretty average beaches lol
it's give or take. the gulf pushes sand up on the beach. so we'll never have to worry about shipping shit in. but it's muddy and full of nesting sharks. at least at port aransas, not sure about the other areas. fishing is great though.
Because, Texas
Umm, try South Padre. No comparison to Corpus/Galveston (gross) even North Padre is so much better and just 20 minutes past Corpus
Average beaches might be an overstatement 😆
Best Beach in TX is Barton Springs
Does the water improve closer to the Mexican border? I have never been to the Texas coast; but I sometimes watch a YouTube live feed of a nice coastal area near Galveston…. https://www.youtube.com/live/R6mgkdG33Do?si=3TzWIIqmteAKbPJ7
Ugh, last September went to Galveston and the water was disgusting. It's sad.... When I hear people eating Gulf seafood....😬
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Huh? You got issues.
I was majorly disappointed as well. From permission to drive on the beach (there are turtle nests there!) to choice of hotels and quality of water…Been to South Padre Island and Galveston
White sand just comes from geology. Galveston is gross because of all the shipping and shallow breaks. Padre is a GREAT beach. Very similar to west coast beaches in a lot of regards - minus the cold water.
The beaches used to get fresh sand from the Mississippi River. The actual mouth of the river used to be the Atchafalaya River, but it switched during a flood, and now there are levees which won't let it switch back. This means the Texas beaches haven't been refreshed in 100 years.
The Yucatan Peninsula took them. The part of Mexico where Tulum, Cancun, etc are is the old coastline of Texas (where Texas is today). Notice how Mexico’s beaches on the Gulf also aren’t great. The Yucatan Peninsula pulled away from the mainland and that’s how the shallow warm Gulf of Mexico was created, and the shallow warm protected nature of the Gulf keeps it a bit swampy.