Facts about South Padre Island, Texas from an insider

Today, I’d thought I”d take the ol’ blog a different way and tell you some things I know about South Padre Island that are rather secrets I think, or at the very least, not known by many.

As I love lists since they are easy to read, that’s how I’m gonna format this post. You’re gonna hear ALOT about food, because I love to frickin’ eat!

• If you get thrown in jail in South Padre, they give you Whataburger fast food for breakfast, lunch, & dinner. While that might sound like heaven – try eating fast food (not just the same restaurant, the same food at the same restaurant.

• The Queen Isabella Causeway (the big bridge that connects the Island with the mainland of Texas) is not just over 2 miles long, you can’t park on it, nor walk over it legally – a tremendous design flaw when you consider all of the tens of thousands of beautiful photographs that could have been taken off that bridge

• The Island of Padre actually runs all the way from Boca Chica Beach (that was cut off to put in the inter-coastal shipping channel by the US Corps of Engineers from South Padre) all the 400 miles to the North past Corpus Christi, Texas. About 27 miles north of the City proper of South Padre if you drove on the beach you’d hit the next “cut” that allows ships to pass to the inter-coastal channel.

• South Padre has less than 5 total miles of habitated land mass. The other 8 miles of US State Highway that goes beyond City Limits has zero homes, condos, or businesses. The road sometimes get “drifted over” by sand when Cameron County (because of budget problems) and the State of Texas get in a fights over which transportation sector should “plow” the road to keep it clean

• If you live on South Padre Island, your kids go to school on the mainland in the Town of Port Isabel – South Padre Island lacks a school of any kind. For that matter, South Padre Island “Golf Course” isn’t located on South Padre – it’s located on the mainland in Laguna Heights

• South Padre Island is commonly referred to as one of the top two places in the United States to kiteboard – because of the constant, steady light wind. The Outer Banks of North Carolina is the other spot typically mentioned to go. (want a lesson go to www.airpadre.com )

• The Mayor of South Padre Island, an incumbant, Robert Pinkerton, won his last election by an incredible landslide over his opponent – a candidate that ran on a platform of “any change is good” – could this spell trouble for the upcoming Presidential race? Bob is also a decorated Marine veteran with a Purple Heart, and we love him!

• The Mcdonald’s Restaurant in South Padre was one of the top 5 highest sales volumes in the WORLD in the early 90’s – due mostly due to their being open 24 hours per day during Spring Break and particulary, Texas week of spring break

• South Padre became a popular spring break destination by way of a fluke in law – in the mid 80’s, Texas REFUSED to raise the drinking age to 21 – making it a haven for a SINGLE YEAR for minors to partake in drinking on spring break. So many college students came that year, discovered its wonderful beaches & weather, and well…the law changed, but the crowds, and spring break tradition, did not.

• The summer months of June, July, & August have higher hotel occupancy rates than Spring Break in March – largely due to the fact that South Padre is a great family destination for summer vacations because of its driveability, and therefore affordabiliy.

• One of the reasons I”m in love with South Padre Island is the people – particularly the local business people – what a tourist doesn’t see is how incredibly hard it is to have to make 12 months of income in 4 months time with this seasonal destination – and do a first class job of it with year round worries & expenses. These people have their shit together, to say the least

• The offshore fishing and bay ishing in South Padre hosts arguably the richest fishing waters in the United States. You simply have to retarded not to be able to catch fish here – and if you have the right guide, you can expect to catch more, and bigger fish, than you have in your entire life

• Drinking on the beach in South Padre Island is legal – but glass is not for obvious reasons (feet getting cut) – you WILL get a $500 fine for your very first violation

• Speaking of the South Padre Island Police – I’ve found them very fair, and not harrassing myself – but there are 3 things they absolutely are hardcore about 1.) Speeding – just don’t do it, they WILL pull you over & ticket you 2.) seat belts. Just put it on ….I won’t mention my staff guy Travis Cherro’s name, but this guy has got like 4 or 5 seat belt tickets in a month before 3.) head lights out – another big time bust issue

Finally, if you are drinking & driving, you’re just plain stupid. Cabs are only $5 to go anywhere if you

are alone. $5 – come on! You’d risk a DUI for $5 – then you deserve one, too.

• South Padre has had a recent real estate boom, since it simply has the (nicest) , the (best) and (cheapest) beachfront real estate in the United States. Like the rest of the US, they have seen a decline in 2008 in both inner island condos (not on the beach) and land lots that are not built on. I would predict January you might be able to get land & real estate as cheap as it has been there in the last 10 years. Can you believe a buildable lot less than 1/2 block to the beach (and ocean) is $175,000? It is. Compare that price to California and you will see the real value there – it’s DIRT, DIRT cheap right now.

• South Padre Island lacks both 5 star restaurants and 5 star hotels. The noteable (and upcoming) exception is the forthcoming opening of the Sapphire condo complex – we shall see. The current nicest condos in South Padre are at the Peninsula in my opinion. This is a timeshare property, but their designer was superb in all ways, and the interiors are the highest end I’ve seen, and I consider myself a bit of a design snob

• South Padre hosts a huge Gay friendly party called Splash! in late April, and early October, having as many as 5,000 people show up for the weekend festivities.

• Mexico, while only 45 minutes away, is barely visited anymore due to fears about border security. These fears are largely false, although drug cartel violence has increased in Laredo, Texas (3 hours away) from Matamorros, the border town closest to South Padre Island

• Some of the most frequented travelers from outside of Texsa to South Padre included the States of Minnesota, Michigan, Iowa, Colorado, Illinois, and Oklahoma

• Retirees that come to the Island to escape the cold winter months up North a their homes are called “snowbirds” in Florida. In South Padre, they are called Winter Texans. Winter Texans are very cheap, and typically eat dinner out before 6 p.m. to save money & take advantage of early bird dinner specials.

• Almost every restaurant in South Padre serves some sort of shrimp in celebration of the local shrimping industry.

Inertia Tours specializes in college spring break trips to South Padre Island under 500 per person, and is the only first class, full service tour and travel company servicing the Island. Please feel free to visit www.inertiaoturs.com, or email us questions: tripinfo@inertiatours.com, or call us toll free 800 821 2176 for more information on some of the great packages we offer to students. The advice is free, and if you can’t tell, I believe that I know more about South Padre than any other copy cat spring break travel companies offering South Padre Spring Break.