The best beach campgrounds can be found in the Coastal Bend region. One of the most popular places to pitch a tent is Padre Balli Beach with nearly 55 paved campsite areas, a bath-house and picnic tables located right next to Bob Hall Pier. Several hardtop campsites provide electricity and water. Padre Balli Park is located at 15820 Park Road 22—at the end of the JFK causeway.
The National Parks Service maintains five camp sites on Padre Island: Malaquite Campground, Bird Island Basin, North Beach, South Beach and Yarborough Pass. Each provides different amenities and different campfire rules, although most allow campfires in fully contained barbecue grills or in a pit dug in the ground. Burn materials have to be brought in — and out — of the park. Check out the rules for each site at the NPS.org site.
Tips for your stay at best beach campgrounds
Thanks to the Texas Open Beaches Act of 1959, the public is guaranteed access to Texas beaches and coastal campsites. As of 2010, however, a court decision now allows coastal land owners to fence off sections of the coastline. You won't find that to be a problem in the Corpus Christi region, however. With Mustang Island State Park and Padre Island National Seashore, campers have miles and miles of Texas coastline still easily accessible. Just drive your car to the spot, get out, pitch a tent, let the camping begin!
While the constant sea breezes help tame the heat of the Texas sun, winds speeds can reach 25 miles per hour or higher at any time of the year, so watch the weather forecasts when camping. Because of the warm temperatures (90s in the daytime and 70s at night during the summer), mosquitoes are plentiful, too. They hide out from the winds in the dunes, so be sure to take insect repellant if you plan on spending any time in the sandy hills.