The Texas Gulf Coast Has Charming Fishing Towns, Quiet Beaches, and Lesser-known U.S. History

Often overlooked for the East or West Coast, America’s “Third Coast” has never been the first—nor the second—place that comes to mind for a stateside beach vacation, but times are changing and Texas’s Gulf Coast is calling.

The state is home to 3,359 miles of shoreline along the Gulf of Mexico, and from Sabine Pass to Boca Chica, it’s giving travelers more and more reasons to visit. Last April, my mother and I drove 369 miles of the coastline to rediscover the history, culture, and natural wonders it has to offer.

The road trip route is nearly perfect, framed by large city hubs with easy-to-access airports including Houston and San Antonio; the mid-sized beach cities of Galveston and Corpus Christi; and a slew of small towns and state parks in between.

Roll the windows down and feel the sea breeze while a well-curated playlist fills the soundscape and follow my stop-by-stop guide to the Texas coast, prioritizing stylish accommodations, top-tier seafood, and nature excursions.

Galveston

On our first day in Galveston, as we walked Seawall Boulevard overlooking Pleasure Pier at sunset, my mom recalled her last trip to the island in the mid-1970s. She claimed she didn’t remember it looking this beautiful. My one and only visit was decades ago, in middle school, when my main priority was riding the roller coaster. In November of 2023, Galveston welcomed the seaside-modern boutique property Hotel Lucine and its notable restaurant, The Fancy. The locally owned hotel opened its doors the same month Princess Cruises brought its largest ship to town, marking Galveston as its launch port for Caribbean routes from Texas.

Hotel Lucine, a lighthouse guiding newcomers toward the island, was opened by Robert Marcus and husband-and-wife team Dave and Keath Jacoby. Keath was born in Galveston and always dreamed of returning and helping to revive the city. The original mid-century, 61-room beach escape has been meticulously revitalized from the original 1963 motor court and now has an elevated surf vibe. The minimal yet inviting rooms open to the interior courtyard, where only bold palm leaf-patterned drapery lies between guests and the pool view. The hotel lobby is lovingly called The Den, where all-day menus are served alongside a rotating selection of coffee drinks, cocktails, and snacks. On a tour with Keath, she explained the space names to me by relating it to the way an aunt would reference the spaces in a home—the casual den area for snacking and lounging and the fancier dining room for dinners and parties. The Fancy is the intimate candle-lit dining space where there is a view of the ocean from almost every seat.

Chef Leila Ortiz is behind the menu at The Fancy, and while she comes with an impressive resume of working in well-known chefs’ kitchens (think: Houston’s Chris Shepard and New York’s David Chang), this is her first executive chef role and she brings a breath of fresh air to the Galveston food scene. “I want to keep having fun and keep putting unique dishes out and hopefully the community accepts,” she told me.

The Rooftop is a vibe day or night with live music and views of the ocean, but dusk is when the hotel team’s attention to design details really shine. Lucine, the French word for the iridescent sheen on the inside of an oyster shell, was the inspiration for the roof, and it shows. Fun, colorful tiles throughout the property were sourced from Ladrilleria Favilli, a family-owned tile company based in Granada, Nicaragua.

In lieu of spending much time on the water, we walked up and down the historic streets of downtown, exploring the Harborside neighborhood, The Strand, and side streets hosting Victorian-era homes and other 19th-century mansions. These few blocks mark 190 years of history. Galveston’s past closely mirrors New Orleans’, with ports on the Transatlantic slave route that served a large swath of the American South. As lifelong students of Texas history, we grew up knowing this was where Juneteenth took place before it finally became recognized as a federal holiday in 2021.

Visitors can stroll through the self-guided Juneteenth Freedom Walk to see the historically significant sites throughout town and visit the Nia Cultural Center, where we learned from a local artist about the Black community’s ongoing efforts to establish and build the International Juneteenth Museum through the Juneteenth Legacy Project.

Another likeness to New Orleans lies in the traces of Italian immigrant history, including the infamous family name on the storefront at Maceo Italian Spices and Imports. Sam and Rosario Maceo were known for bootlegging, gambling rings, and other crimes in Galveston between the 1920s and 1950s.

The Galveston Art Center and many of the shops along Post Office and Market Streets like Tangerine boutique, Galveston Fishing Company, and Picnic Surf Shapes are the byproducts of locals going out and seeing the world, only to return home with worldly knowledge and a desire to bring new business to town. The result is a new era for Galveston, which is keeping its history alive while embracing what’s next.

Matagorda Bay

Our next stop on this meandering four-day springtime trip lies 106 miles to the west. We made our way by driving along the Seawall all the way down the shore into the small town of Surfside, Texas, a place where scattered beach homes are built on wooden posts one story above the ground for protection from storms. Up the narrow state highways, the landscape shifts to farmland, with grazing cattle and tall stalks of green. The tree-lined farm to market road took us back down to where the Colorado River spills into the gulf. Here, homes sit along canals and flags advertise fresh live shrimp and crawfish. Boats parked on trailers dot the inlets leading to Matagorda Bay Nature Park and campground.

Day visitors and overnight guests can utilize a variety of rental options to explore the quiet wetlands of the Colorado River estuary. My mom and I spent about an hour and half kayaking as fish jumped about and birds stood by waiting for their lunch. Our lunch was of course po’boys, french fries, and iced tea—a gulf classic.

Rockport

Onward down the coastline was our one-night stop in Rockport, a place I keep thinking about months later. An small, undisturbed fishing town with untouched charm, it’s not known to many—although word is slowly spreading. The recently opened Reel ‘em Inn—a 1950s motel with a pier redesigned in partnership with well-known Texas-based architect group Lake Flato—is helping. If I could, I would hole up here for a couple of weeks every summer and take solace in the coastal-contemporary fishing lodge on the Aransas Bay, as a small group of smart Texans have done for decades. Reel ‘em Inn’s guest-exclusive fishing pier jets out into the bay for prime fishing opportunities or dolphin viewing, and I indulged in pure joy out on the pier, alone at 8 a.m. with a cup of freshly brewed coffee. From the room’s large window, I watched a crew of fishermen clean their catches as the sun rose before we dragged our feet to the check-out desk.

Rockport Beach was the first Texas beach to be awarded a Blue Wave environmental certification, and it is accessible by car for a small fee or by foot or bicycle free of charge. A Blue Wave beach designation defines a beach as litter-free and ADA-accessible, and means it hosts bathroom facilities and swimmable waters.

The town is experiencing a mini-revival along its main streets thanks to bars and restaurants such as Gabriela’s Seafood + Tapas, Whiskey Palm, and Pik-Nik Culinary Market + Deli (yes, they will set up a beach picnic upon request). Locals prefer to roll through town on golf carts, the most charming quality of many of America’s beach towns and islands.

We hit the road and said “see you soon” as we headed towards Port Aransas, a larger resort town only 20 miles from Rockport and accessible by ferry.

Port Aransas

Port Aransas is a family-friendly beach town where the preferred accommodations are rental homes where large groups can settle into a weeklong trip or retirees can spend the winter months. Not unlike the human snowbirds, hundreds of actual birds use Port Aransas and neighboring Mustang Island as a popular resting place in their seasonal migratory patterns through the Central Flyway.

Port Aransas’s Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center was our first stop, as we knew we were nearing the end of the springtime spectacle. If you can get there in late February, the Whooping Crane Festival is an annual Port Aransas event while the big, endangered birds make their way through. Even as a non-birdwatcher, observing the birds and serious birders was a delightful way to spend an afternoon. The center is free and buzzing with activity.

Notable stops in what locals affectionately call “Port A” include the Jetty Boat to San Jose Island for prime beach combing and fishing, Grumbles Seafood Co. and Trout Street Bar and Grill for casual bayside dining. Saltwater Gypsies Fine Food + Gift Market is the spot for trinkets and specialty beach snacks, and Dylan’s Coal Oven Pizzeria, located in the Cinnamon Shore vacation home community, is the place to share hot slices.

The main attraction for nature enthusiasts is Port Aransas’s proximity to wildlife refuges and state parks like Mustang Island. A short 15 minute drive, Mustang Island State Park, nearly 4000 acres of a fragile barrier island with a paddling trail, natural beaches and campgrounds. Beyond the sand dunes, the beach provides a scenic escape from the more crowded beaches of Port Aransas.

Padre Island National Seashore

To round out the road trip, we drove 30 minutes from Port Aransas to spend our last morning roaming the Padre Island National Seashore. Its 66 miles of protected coastline gives way to grasslands, sand dunes, a unique hypersaline lagoon, and a significant nesting place for the critically endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtles. The hatchling release period from mid-June to August is a popular time for visiting.

Padre Island National Seashore is the longest stretch of undeveloped barrier island in the world, and the seemingly infinite sprawl of land and sea engulfs the senses and feels like full immersion in seaside nature. The shallow Laguna Madre is prime for windsurfing, and the climbable sand dunes on the Grasslands Nature Trail lead to the landscape that was once a source of life for the Karankawa indigenous peoples of the gulf.

Our last stop was lunch in Corpus Christi, a 40-minute drive from the seashore and a 170-mile drive from San Antonio. Corpus Christi is home to Tejana icon Selena, and its downtown has had exciting restaurants and bars open in recent years, including Lucy’s Snackbar, BUS, Wildflowers, and Nueces Whiskey Library.

San Antonio, the second-largest city in Texas, was our natural end to the trip. For out-of-state travelers, it offers a convenient airport for a return flight home. For me, it is home. A Texas Gulf Coast road trip offers ample educational moments through culture, history, and nature—and endless experiences that are uniquely Texas.