Isla Blanca Park Campground

I would agree with others that the draw here is the beach. It is beautiful and there is a nice boardwalk. Thats about it though. The actual park is a complete dump. Roads are potholed and falling apart. Sites are close and not maintained. Hookups are in really bad shape. The best part was our site had the hookups on the wrong side!! No way to hook up the sewer hose (would have had to go under the rig). I noticed many open sites that had the same problem with hookups on the wrong side. Nowhere is this mentioned. The County has a money grab going on here and obviously has no intention of fixing this place up. Why would they when the “Winter Texans” fill it up all winter. They wont be getting any more of my money.

RV park: I picked a large spot and there was lots of distance between neighbors and I had a concrete patio with a picnic table. All utilities worked as expected, though Wi-Fi did not. T-Mobile 4G and 5G worked well instead. Electricity is billed separately. For me, it was only $12~ for six days of use. Grass contains plenty of prickly burrs. Have to check-out in person, mainly to provide the electric meter reading. Was very windy, so had to keep a fan on to drown out the howling wind noise. Extremely affordable stay overall.

Regular park: Lots of places to walk. Beach access is superb. Loads of showers and benches. Grounds were clean as well.

Don’t know where to start? We had a mechanical issue and got in an hour after closing. You can’t call anyone…ever. They have had “phone problems” since at least Dec 2020. We could it even leave a voicemail. So the guy at the entry would not let us in even though we had confirmation. Finally with 50 cars piled behind us, he gave us the number for his boss who we reached (he was very nice).

At 8 am the next morning, I went to officially check in for our placard and as soon as I walked in I was told I had to wear a mask. I told them I did not have one and was vaccinated. They said I could not check in with them unless I wore one. I informed them that the Governor Abbott had an executive order that they can’t do that and they said the local judge had made an order requiring it. This is actually not true. As of today, there is one coming but it has not been announced as to when. I recorded the ordeal and finally a supervisor (I think the same nice guy as the night before) came out and I told him that if these people have some sort of an issue, just pass the paper through the door or something. He agreed and spoke to them. So the woman who works in there (who is a government employee) had an issue with me recording her and call the police.

So fret I left and am walking back to the park (which is a hike), an officer pulls up. I cranked up Facebook live and had a good conversation with him. He informed me that the witch in the office called in and said I was causing a commotion. Seriously? I told him I had the entire ordeal recorded, and he was good with it.

As for the park? As I sit here surrounded by ants, I am trying to fill my water tank as we have to use the water pump in conjunction to even use the toilets. I have filled 50 gallons after 2 hours.

Other than those issues, great location. If it wasn’t for the nice supervisor I would go with a one, but these people need to know state and local laws.

We love Isla Blanca Park! Beautiful beach and bay, big outdoor pavilions, some sites are better than others so it’s recommended to check on Google Earth to see if the site have a concrete pad or not and how close it is to neighbor sites.

Great view to SpaceX rocket launches, and great weekly & monthly price.

Cell signal is weak for AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile but there’s an option to connect cable internet with Spectrum so that works great for longer stays.

The check in process is long and annoying, and the park can use some better maintenance and lawn care but otherwise, it’s a beautiful park right on South Padre Island!

Just what we expected in a South Padre Island State Park on the beach. I estimated 600 sites all full. We were near the bay so there were beautiful vistas. There is no shade and it is hot even in April. Good place for beach activities. But be cautioned. Your GPS will send you down a long road that ends in sand with no turn around. Registration is at an unmarked building before you enter the park once you do find it. Paved sites. No WIFI. Free cable with one channel, ESPN. No laundry. Impossible to contact by phone. Lots of room for improvement for a State Park.

South Padre Island Beach camping doesn’t get much better than what you’ll find at Isla Blanca County Park. In this video, we provide you a walking tour of this premier South Padre Island beach camping destination and show you a fee schedule toward the end of the video; video uploaded here on Campendium for your immediate reference. Monthly rates are deeply discounted at this full hookup campground that offers direct access to South Padre Island’s spectacular Gulf beaches. Verizon cellular service clocked in at 47.0 Mbps download speed and 8.81 Mbps upload speed. AT&T cellular service clocked in at 27.8 Mbps download speed and 0.09 Mbps upload speed. T-Mobile cellular service clocked in at 37.8 Mbps download speed and 19.5 Mbps upload speed.

We stayed at Isla Blanca for 2 months. We loved it. We stayed in a site outside the main gate (behind Dirty Al's seafood restaurant). We had a nice little community here, but would probably stay inside the park next time just to be closer to the beach and more families, although it was nice to have more yard space (had an open site next to us the entire time) and we didn't have to stop at the gate every time we came back. The SPI off-season community was calm and quiet. Lots to do and explore (highly recommend the birding and nature center) and great places to eat. The grass has LOTS of prickers which makes it impossible to walk barefoot anywhere, but that comes with the territory. The sunsets here are amazing, and it's super easy to access the beach. Our site was level and easy to hook up. We have a 40' MH and toad, and didn't have any trouble at all. The check-in/registration process was slow, but it depends a lot when you arrive and things were extra crazy bc of the COVID protocols. There is a lot of paperwork to fill out, but I think the staff was doing the best they could with the current situation/limitations.

I came here to specifically be here for the Space X Starship SN9 launch. I managed to get very lucky in that regard. After mistakenly driving to the park entrance instead of the campground check in the park attendant told me to turn around, which was easy and directed me to the campground check-in. The campground check in is about 200 yards before you get to the park entrance to the right so be alert and you will save yourself a turn around. Because of Covid, check in was a little timely but after signing in I just hung out in my camper in the waiting section until they came and got me to check in. Very friendly staff and since I mentioned I was here to watch the launch he put me in section B which he said "there are some really nice folks back there as well". My site number was B15 which has sewer, electric and water (no cable which does not matter to me anyway. After getting set up I went about my normal shy self. The next day my neighbor Russ spotted me outside and said hey, everyday we all get together at 4 for BYOB happy hour if you want to join us. I'm glad I did because these are all long term park folks and they pointed me to the best spot I've seen for the launch which is only 100 feet from my site. I in turn told the group I would alert them of any launch activity. I really enjoyed their company during my stay and the campground itself is loaded with features, there is a mobile LP truck that comes around everyday, RV repair if you need it, long term folks are happy to loan tools etc and you has some amazing restaurants, grocery store, and liquor store within 5 miles. With the camp site you also get free access to the park on the beach as well. Lastly, I had 3 bars on Verizon and no issues.