South Beach

The South Beach section of N. Padre Island National Seashore is an amazing place to be. According to more than one ranger, the length of stay limit is never enforced. Having been here many times, warnings about wind and encroaching surf are true. If it's going to storm, move to the bay side camping area. Walk your chosen spot on the beach before you park to ensure you're not going to sink into sand you can't escape. You can park the largest motor coach here, carefully. Leveling a truck camper? No problem, shovel some sand under your tires and run it over a few times to pack it. My visits here exclude the summer months. Not too hot, super relaxing. One bar of service if you climb the sand dunes behind the beach. Pro tip: folks will try to haul ass past your site and some jack wagons will cut it close. I dug a hole in the sand, dropped a beach log in it, and wrapped my reflective vest around it. Kept them at a distance.

Camping on the beach for the price of admission to the National Seashore. If you have the America The Beautiful pass, admission and camping are FREE.
Pick up a tide chart at the visitors center and make sure the high tide is less than 1.5 to be safe.
The wind can blow the sand and there are some soft spots. We did just fine with an F150 and a 6000lb travel trailer.
On Saturday and Sunday there will be more traffic as the fishermen drive past the campers to get down the beach.
In 11years of RVing with 200+ camp spots, this is one of our favorite spots.

Just a great place to go for solitude. No noise except the waves breaking on the beach and an occasional vehicle headed even farther down the beach (you can go up to 60 miles down the beach). 4WD only after about 6 miles. Our 4X4 1/2 ton had no problems dragging out 21' TT to the 10 mile marker, but would not attempt to go any farther than that due to soft sand. Just a great spot. Big rigs often seen in the first 5 miles of the beach. No one within miles of us.

We spent 2 nights here the first week of August, 2021. It was wonderful! And yes, YOU can do it too with some planning & preparation. The day before we pulled our camper down to the beach, we drove about 12 miles down the "beach road" in our truck (no camper) considering if we would be able to find firm flat sand between the hard-packed road and the very soft sand near the dunes. Stop by the visitors center & get information about tide times so you can judge how high the waves will come up on the beach. Be sure you bring everything you need as it is a long slow drive back to the city. BE PREPARED! If it's summer, you'll likely need your AC so be sure to have adequate generator fuel. And of course, bring plenty of water.
Having said all that, this was a beautiful & peaceful experience as we were blessed with clear skies and blue water. We also were fortunate that we saw no jellyfish or seafood in the water, but sometimes this is a problem. (Good idea to bring vinegar for a jellyfish sting.) If you enjoy star gazing, this is the place! As anticipated, you will be saddened by all the ocean debris (trash) washed up as well as fresh litter left behind by careless visitors, but bring some extra garbage bags, spend a little time filling them, and deposit in dumpsters as you exit the beach. It really doesn't take long to fill several bags. Don't leave any food outside at night as we saw two coyotes on the beach in the late afternoon. Watch for vehicles of day visitors driving up & down the beach road as most do not adhere to the speed limit (15 mph). Overall this was a wonderful experience (if you are prepared) and we look forward to coming again when the weather is a little cooler. We even got to see a Kemp's Ridley sea turtle hatchling release at dawn at the Visitors Center. An amazing once in a lifetime experience!

Technically not free because you do have to pay the entrance fee to get into the National Seashore. However if you have the America The Beautiful pass entrance is free, and then you can go camp on the beach for free. I would definitely have a four wheel drive vehicle, we would have been stuck if we didn’t not. We did see some other vehicles that were not 4 wheel drive, so navigate carefully if you come without. The beach does get very crowded on Sundays. We really enjoyed this spot. Waking up to the sunrise was amazing. If you pick up a bag of trash off of the beach and take it to the visitor center they will give you an Adopt A Beach badge. Cell signal was non existent, so be prepared with tide and weather information.

We took advantage of the full 14 days here as the weather and tides were mellow in early March. Do be aware of the winds and the tides while staying here but it is not as scary as it sounds.
Negatives: From oil tank trucks to the ice cream man there is traffic most of the day also with local beach goers. The sand is very fine and sticky here and will get into every crevice of your rig. The salt air will corrode your metal fast so be prepared to do some maintenance afterwards. You can get 4g on Verizon if you walk to the top of the dunes.
Positives: Amazing sunrises, long walks on an endless beach. Lots of wildlife. The sound of the ocean. The dog ran free. Free with your National Park pass.

Parking right in front of the ocean on such beautiful sand with my rig checked off a bucket list item for me. Lots of space between campers and the roar of the ocean made for great sleeping. The sand is great for sand castles. I perhaps was just lucky but it was absolutely beautiful weather - not much of a breeze, just right. I would have stayed longer but for two things 1) the sand is gets everywhere. I suspect it's impossible to keep out of the sheets. I have a kid and two dogs so it was a bit hopeless but even the kid said the sand in the camper was just too much. 2) My kid likes to swim. She swam a bit and then we saw several man-o-war jellyfish wash up on shore. I suspect that is a seasonal thing but that was it on the swimming for us!

The only other thing I didn't care for was the traffic on the beach. I was there on a weekend and I am sure that made things worse but there was a steady stream of traffic passing right in front of my trailer. The waves are so loud that you can't always hear the cars coming and it's just a little disconcerting at times.

I read some reviews about how the sand will ruin your vehicle/camper. There is a car wash that is RV friendly not far from camp and it washes off just fine. I couldn't see any damage to my rig.

I have no regrets about camping on this beach. I hope to do it again someday - really enjoyed it.

Great place, lots of space. Nearest neighbors were 1/2 mile away over the weekend. First 1-2 miles are busy but clears out as you go south. Pay attention to the tides, listed at the visitor center. Our last day was peak tide for the month and our tires got wet; the previous day’s high tide missed us by 20’. Most campers stayed put as moving woulda probably made it worse (one trailer tried and got stuck in the soft sand). Not too much worry but enough we thought we’d pass it on. There’s a FREE FILL AND DUMP STATION. Get your supplies before going in to park because it’s a good 15-20 minute drive to the nearest market.

Our first time beach camping with our TT. Very easy access, sand was packed with no issues towing our 30 ft. We camped about a mile down the access road, but you can go another 50 miles south until you hit the channel. Quite a few rv’s, another airstream, large 5th wheel and a Class A. A few tents and vans. So if you got a big rig you will have no problem. Vaults and large trash receptacles at beach entrance. You can walk to the visitors center a mile on the beach from the entrance. Keep in mind they are closed Monday and Tuesday currently. At the visitor center they do have bath houses if needed. Big plus is the road right before the visitor center parking lot, they offer free dump and fill. Bring extra trash bags or pick one up at the visitor center, this is a hot spot for the currents to bring lots of plastic bottles and cans ashore. Our morning walks involved collecting trash. It’s not a “trashy” beach but it just brings in ocean waste from Mexico and the states surrounding the gulf unfortunately. Oh, no cell service for Verizon, but you can get WiFi at the visitor center.