Magnolia Beach Dispersed Camping

First time at Magnolia beach. I camped from 2/18/2023 thru 3/4/2023. Port Lavaca is maybe 20 minutes and has a Walmart, HEB and a few other big box stores. All the reviews are correct...shell beach with no worries about getting stuck, bathrooms with flush toliets, cold water showers, trash cans located throughout the camping area and wind!! Very eclectic crowd which made the stay so much more interesting. I was there the full 14 days and had only one neighbor I was glad to see go...they threw their trash on the beach. Great FREE camping!! Loved it!

Please note - there is a 10,000 lb axle or tandem weight limit coming through magnolia just before you get to the beach.

To avoid this follow 316 until you hit ocean drive and turn left. You’ll come in the “back way” through Indianola beach. Once you get to magnolia there’s several access roads there to enter the beach and avoid the bridge

Nice flushable bathrooms with plenty of lights. Water is great but watch the wind. About 100 feet out the water only gets to 4-6 feet deep so it’s excellent for swimming kayaking or fishing

This is a really great place for a night or two—or longer—if you just want to relax and do nothing. We read some reviews saying that it’s too crowded, but we felt that for free beach camping in Texas during the winter in mild temperatures, the amount of campers here was what we expected and we had no trouble finding a spot. After taking a bike ride along the coast, we noticed this first beach is the most popular, but there are more camping options further down that were completely empty and had the same signs with the same camping rules. If you think it’s too crowded, you may want to drive a little further down to find more space. Our two nights here were quiet, and we enjoyed the day sitting outside and seeing an occasional ship sail by. It's nice to have trash cans on the way out.

Not sure why this is called a “beach”, as it’s in a bay, with zero waves. We’re used to beach Boondocking in our 30’ TT with our 3 dogs & (yes- we are “those people” who enjoy electricity & our generator). So normally we fill up our propane tanks, water tank +extra 60 gal water bladder, & our 15 gal gas tank so we can park far away from others, to not disturb y’all. Drove in from DFW, arrived @2:30am w a sick dog & had to run the generator. Felt like a total jerk, but now we know never to come back here. If it’s this crowded in DECEMBER, omg I can’t imagine summers! We’re headed further south to padre, as it’s sooo much better & spacious! I will say though.. Magnolia Beach is pretty clean. Haven’t seen any trash & a few cans along the road, which is nice. Also like that you don’t have to worry about tides & leveling issues. Beach is very level here for your rv!
**WATER FILL UP TIP: we filled up our tanks at the Conoco station in Victoria 5903 Houston Hwy. at their air/water pump. **Accepts quarters only- no cards!!

Where to start?
Lots of room on the beach at this time of year. We picked out a nice spot, and set up for the week.
Gale force winds for two days, but you are totally exposed to the bay, so it is what it is.
Public washrooms were clean and re-stocked every day. Garbage cans were emptied daily as well. How can you go wrong with the price of $0.00? You can't!
There is a nice HEB grocery store in Port Lavaca, about 12 miles away. Small downtown area, but worth the trip to support local vendors, as we always do.
The beach was very clean, we barely found garbage to pick up, which we did when we came across any.
2-3 bars of Verizon, so that was nice.
Would definitely come back during the slow season, but I would be hesitant during high season due to potential crowding.
What a great place!