Bolivar Flats Free Beach

Just moved from Phoenix, AZ and randomly decided that I wanted to go camping. Did a little searching and found this 8/22/19 (Friday) @11pm. Hopped on the ferry and made my way here. Followed the instruction for the “free” area ...which is clearly outlined by the sign as you drive onto the sand. Definitely says “free beach” and points to the left. I like to travel in my car and either camp/sleep in it or if the conditions are good I’ll pitch my tent. It’s a bit windy tonight so I’m going to crash in the car. It was too late to buy a pass so I’m definitely in the free zone. Having cocktails and listening to the waves crash is a beautiful experience. It’s my first. As I arrived, it’s literally empty. Not a car or camper in site. Checked the tide site as instructed by others...only showing 1.4ft so I should be good. Absolutely no complaints and I definitely feel safe. I know at times, as others stated, it can get packed...but tonight, it’s wide open and I feel perfectly safe. Will absolutely be coming out here to camp more often.

Side note...don’t drive too close to the dunes if you have a fwd car...I turned around a little too close to them and almost got stuck. Had it been daylight I’d have had a better view...stay on the packed sand and you’re golden!

Says it’s going to rain tonight...so I’m hoping I’ll be okay to drive out tomorrow afternoon. I’ll give an update if this ended up being a horrible decision. Ha

Very cool to be able to spend the night right on the beach. There were a lot of people taking advantage of the free camping area, to the point it seemed like some people maybe lived here.
You should treat this place as if there is no bathroom... unless you are okay with using a port-a-potty with a literal mound of poop and toilet paper overflowing the seat itself. Gross!!

There were people zipping on four wheelers pretty late into the night, and we had a family(?) that arrived right next to us at 3am with their lights on for awhile and appeared to not sleep the whole night, as we woke up to them still hanging around the tailgate of the truck kicking a soccer ball around. Very weird but they were harmless.

Overall, very neat experience to wake up to the waves and sunrise on the beach. I also recommend taking the free ferry over to Galveston where you can enjoy a day on the beach with your car there as well.

We stayed here for a weekend in early June. The first weekend after all the kids were out of school. It was a little busy during the day. But as the sun went down and people started to leave it was amazing! One tent was the only other person on the beach! Being able to sleep listening to the waves crash was amazing! I will say that as the evening rolled in so did the bugs though. So I would recommend bug spray or something to keep them away. Other than that we LOVED this place. We will be back for sure!!

Beautiful beach camping. Unfortunately, we were only able to stay one night in late February 2019. The weather was beautiful for that one day and we were able to enjoy our free beach spot. However, the next day a front came through and high tide was very high, so we ended up going to a nearby RV park where it was dry. We were very disappointed, but the weather turned bad for the next week and there is no way our solar could have kept up with no sun for that long. Next time we will take a closer look at the weather and try to time it for better conditions. The area is very easy to get to, straight down the highway and turn on Retillion Road. When you hit the beach, the free camping is the to the left which is where we went. The permit camping is to the right. The beach is the same on either side. They don’t start selling permits at the stores daily until March 1. Before that, I think you either get a permit through the mail or the Big store in town sells them on certain days of the week. We stayed on the free side since we did not have a permit. We did walk both sides and there was not much difference between the free and permit side. Everybody parks near the sand dunes. Make sure to check out the tide maps to determine how high tide will get. If the tide is going to be high and you decide to stay, I would recommend positioning your rig to where you can hook up and leave without turning around. You can drive down the beach and go down any road to prevent turning around, but there was a huge washout when we were there, so we had to turn around and go back the way we came. Made things a bit more precarious even waiting for low tide to leave due to the windy conditions. The beach is hard packed sand, so you shouldn’t have any issues. Leveling is difficult since your levelers dig into the sand immediately, but we made it work. Wood would probably work better than traditional levelers. There is some noise from others driving too fast and doing donuts on the beach, but most of that died down in the evening and we were left with the sound of the waves. It was chilly when we were there, so we did have to shut the door later in the evening, but you could still hear the waves. We were not able to find water or a dump. Didn’t matter since we were only able to stay one day. I called around and only one of the RV parks on the island allowed water fills and dump and it was $15 each time or $20 if you filled and dumped on the same trip. We would have needed to fill and then dump later which would have cost $30! Seems ridiculous. If anyone knows of a good place to get water or dump close to this area, please message me and let me know! Internet access was fine, we had service for AT&T and Verizon. Solar would have worked great if the weather would have cooperated even a little. If you need a small amount of groceries, there is a store on the island the locals call the Big store. That has most things you will need. Anything not on the island can typically be found in Galveston after a short, free ferry ride. You can absolutely take your RV on the ferry. You do have to turn off your propane and they will check it, but easy on and off process. Overall, we were disappointed we couldn’t stay longer and will be back to try again!

You do not have to buy a pass to park here. Enter off Rettilon Rd. As you enter onto the beach turn left. The first half mile from Rettilon going Northeast (left) does not require purchase of the pass. Beach is very hard packed and driving is easy. I would watch the tides here very closely. It’s called Bolivar Flats for a reason. Very little elevation. Caught a 38 inch bull redfish off the beach.

It’s such a unique experience to camp directly on the beach! We stopped at ‘The Big Store’ on our way in and got a $10 permit to park on the beach and it’s good until the end of the year! The sand is very packed down, making the access in a travel trailer doable. We have a 30ft travel trailer and didn’t have any issues hauling or parking. Make sure to check the high tide marks and camp near the dunes. Our only disappointment was a few rowdy groups of people in the evenings. They played loud music, had birthday parties and did several donuts on the beach. And some of the people driving down the beach were hauling a**! So be careful if you have pets. A police officer patrolled the area, which was nice. Overall, a great experience!

Great experience staying at this beach. Easy beach access, Free Boondocking. We even stayed on a holiday weekend and the beach was very spacious, felt like we had the beach to ourselves. The weather was great in late November, warm days and chilly nights, and we were able to get in the water. I was impressed by how clean this beach was. Lots of nice wildlife to view. Would definitely recommend.

Free camping throughout the year with a one time $10 pass bought at any store here. Right on the beach is beautiful but very windy (of course). Dogs are welcomed but I didnt see many. Weekends are bumper to bumper and many of the campers...and tents are by the sand dunes. At the waters edge looks like a parking lot...but they mostly have cleared put by suppertime unless there's an event on the beach. We have campfires at night and really enjoyed the ambiance. The beaches are clean, trash cans always nearby, and patrol came by several times a day. It felt safe and I didn't see anything not family oriented.

Had a wonderful time camping on the beach. We stayed in the “Free” area but for $10, you can purchase an annual pass and camp virtually anywhere. There were port a potties located about every 2 miles that were reasonably clean. Trash receptacles were located about every 100 yards which was very convenient and they were emptied daily during our stay. There was some litter on the beach but it wasn’t terrible. We picked a small bags worth daily as we took our walk. You can ride ATV’s/golf carts on the beach, also need an annual pass, $10. Police patrolled the beach several times a day which made us feel good. Felt very safe and the beach was very quiet except for Saturday night, when there were people driving cars/atv’s almost all night. Make sure you have plenty of water as there is nowhere to fill up tanks. Permits are available at local stores but if you forget, there is someone that rides the beach selling them.