About South Padre Island
South Padre Island is unique in that it is the only spring break destination in the US that is an Island. College students began flocking to South Padre in 1984/85 when Texas refused to raise its legal drinking age to 21 like most other States did. That alone was enough momentum to push it as you see today.
SPI is typically ranked as one of the top 10 beaches in the continental US by sources like Yahoo Travel, the Travel Channel, CNN, + more. A nice beach matters on spring break.
South Padre has went through downturns and upticks on popularity amongst college students. The good news is, with the ban on drinking on the beach in Gulf Shores Alabama to Panama City Beach, Florida, South Padre Island as has Texas has shrugged this off. Open containers are legal on the beach for those 21 and over. There is currently a true surge in students going to South Padre in February, March and even April. In fact, Panama City and Gulf Shores are strictly enforcing underage drinking in a very aggressive way.
South Padre is also much further south than any other Gulf Coast destination. It lies as far south as Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Why does that matter? Easy. It is tropical that far south, and that means WARM TANNING WEATHER great for the beach.
Boasting 3 regional airports of Mcallen Texas (MFE airport code) United, American, Delta, and Allegiant Airlines all service this hub. Harlingen Texas (HRL airport code) hosts United, Southwest, and Sun Country Airlines. Brownsville Texas (BRO airport code) hosts American, United, and AeroMexico flights. Airport transfers are a breeze with www.southpadreislandlimos.com that has private car & limo transfer non stop to the Island.
If you are thinking about “road tripping” down to South Padre, (ie driving down), this is how approximately 90% of students arrive to save money. From Minnesota, it is about 22 hours. From Kansas, about 15. From Colorado, about 16. This gives you an idea about travel times, though opening up google maps makes a lot of sense to figure it out.
The Island’s clubs and bars allow students 18 years of age or older to enter, though you must be 21+ to drink. By day, students flock to Clayton’s Beach Bar, home to the largest spring break beach stage in the world hosting up to 25,000 students per day + BYOB friendly during the day. Another great feature of South Padre is the local Island Transit service, which are tourist mini buses that run Free of Charge from 7 am. to roughly 9 pm 7 days a week, picking up all along Padre Blvd.
While as a barrier Island of over 500 miles, only 7.5 miles of South Padre is inhabited. This makes it condensed and very easy to get around. Unlike other Texas beaches, within City limits vehicles are prohibited on the beach. Wide, clean sandy beaches await you. Arguably, South Padre has some of the best salt water bay fishing in the Country. Group fishing trip excursions run just $40 per person for half a day, and limiting out is nearly to be expected. There are several great restaurants on the Island that allow you to bring your fresh catch in and they cook it to order.
One of the most cool things about South Padre Island is not just a real variety of hotels that accept students, but Padre has massive 1, 2, and 3 bedroom condos so that your group can all stay together. For example, some of our beachfront spring break condos like Sunchase, Peninsula, Saida, and Inverness we can accommodate groups of up to 250 students. Fraternities and Sororities LOVE this about us. Our hotels, same deal, we have upwards of 100 rooms per hotel to hold big groups. South Padre better than any other destination can host large groups that all want to stay by or near each other.
The Island is also home to Schlitterbahn Beach Resort, home to one of the Nation’s top 10 waterparks. Even in March, their indoor water park & lazy river are open and heated for you to enjoy. Parasailing, go carts, + many more activities await student travelers. The Island is home to Sea Turtle Inc, one of the largest Sea Turtle rehab projects and hatcheries in the US. Want to learn to surf or kiteboard? No problem. The Island has the unquestioned best surfing and kiteboarding on the entire Gulf Coast of the US – not just Texas.
By night, expect World Class DJs by the likes of Morgan Page, Tiesto, Skrillex, Kaskade, Waka Flocka Flame, DJ Skribble plus many many more at renowned clubs like Louies Backyard, Clayton’s Beach Bar, Tequila Sunsets, + Peninsula Island Beach resort hosting upwards of 7000 wild students per night, particularly during Texas Week. The clubs open at 8 pm and go to bar close at 2 am. Then, it is off to Denny’s, SPIDog, or Whataburger for 24 hour a day munchies.
Quick Tips on booking Spring Break on South Padre Island:
- Review sites are ok for the Island, but remember, most negative reviews are from old people that complain about how crazy it is in March
- Watch out for hidden fees when booking online whether it’s a hotel, rental agent, or online travel agency. These fees can be deceptive and cost you a lot of unplanned money on arrival. Get EVERYTHING in writing up front, guaranteeing no hidden fees when you arrive.Examples:*Condo or hotel “security wristband fee” $25 to $40 per person
*”refundable” damage deposits, particularly if cash is required $50 to $100 per person
Note: These are rarely refunded
*Linen fee $20 to $75 per condo
*Booking fee or processing fee $20 to $50 per condo
*Damage protection insurance (covers almost nothing) $69 to $109 per condoIn general, be VERY LEERY of damage “deposits.” Property owners nickel and dime you for towels, linens, stuff in the room they claim is broken after you leave to stolen furnishings to arbitrarily charged “excessive cleaning fees.” It is not like you are going to sue them in Texas when you are from South Dakota, and they know this.When you check in, REQUIRE they give you a check in / check out form like you get for student housing. Fill it out, return it. TAKE a picture of it on your phone and one other persons. Take pictures of, as well as video of any damages to the room the minute you arrive. This is called evidence for your credit card company if they try rip you off. Legitimate condo owners and hotels WILL require a debit or credit card (usually from every single person traveling or occupying that room or space) and that ONLY gets charged if true damages occur. Require PICTURES from them if they state damages.Remember, ALWAYS use a credit card so you have dispute protection if you get ripped off - The other most common spring break scams we see are these:Craigslist listing for condos. NEVER use craigslist to reserve a condo for spring break. Repeat NEVER EVER – repeat after me…NEVER use craigslist to book space during peak March spring break you WILL get scammed!
- Sites like homeaway, air b n b, or V R B O sometimes have unscrupulous Owners that will put up an attractive rate, then you do a deposit of say $500. They don’t take the condo rental listing down, just increase the price. Once they get a higher price, they cancel you, refund your money, you have no recourse, you can’t do a review as you didn’t stay there, and take the new group for more money. They can do this over and over again to insure they get the most premium price. We see sad faces all the time onsite on the Island of students cancelled as little as 48 hrs prior to arrival. Sure, they get a “refund” but what good does that do? Everything is sold out or sky high in priceFinally to avoid getting hosed – use COMMON SENSE. If the deal is too good to be true, it certainly is. In March, it is prime time peak travel season. There are not $40 hotel rooms or $500 condos for the week. We said it once we will state it again, ALWAYS book ALL TRAVEL using a major credit card – because if you get rolled, you can call your credit card company and dispute the charge and they go to bat for you to get a refund.Want to book a nearly all inclusive student experience package this Spring Break without worries of getting scammed this spring break?
Other useful tips about Texas Spring Break
- If you are stuck using your vehicle to drive down, PRE COLLECT prior to anyone sitting their skinny fanny down in your vehicle for gas, an oil change when you get back and TWO car washes (one when you arrive one when you get home). Not fair your car gets used, and you get the shaft on these expenses
- Book early. Like any peak week travel time, waiting until the last minute for SPI will not get you a deal – it will get you into a super high price situation and may be a deal killer budget wise for you to even go. Incentives go to those that book first semester, particularly prior to even Thanksgiving
- Booze tends to be more expensive in Texas than Yankee states. Bring some hooch.
- There is a check point when you drive OUT from South Padre north about 60 miles from the Island. There is NOT a check point on the way down/in. On the way out, do NOT have weed or any drugs in the car, you can be arrested.
- Do NOT drink and drive while on the island. With cabs costing only $3 per person to go anywhere, anytime, you are truly a moron to do this. If your friends try to get you to drive, OR they want to drive your ride..just say NO WAY JOSE
- SLOW DOWN from Waco, Texas until south of San Antonio, and again as you approach Los Fresnos & Port Isabel Texas. They WILL give you a ticket. Austin motorcycle cops are brutal on I35…you have been warned. Wear your seat belts.
South Padre Island Spring Break is unique in that it is the only spring break destination in the US that is an Island. College students began flocking to South Padre in 1984/85 when Texas refused to raise its legal drinking age to 21 like most other States did. That alone was enough momentum to push it as you see today. There is not another destination in the USA that has more Greeks on Spring Break than SPI
SPI is typically ranked as one of the top 10 beaches in the continental US by sources like Yahoo Travel, the Travel Channel, CNN, + more. A nice beach matters on spring break.
South Padre has went through downturns and upticks on popularity amongst college students. The good news is, with the ban on drinking on the beach in Gulf Shores Alabama to Panama City Beach, Florida, South Padre Island (has Texas) has shrugged this off. Open containers are legal on the beach for those 21 and over. There is currently a true surge in students going to South Padre in February, March and even April. In fact, Panama City and Gulf Shores are strictly enforcing underage drinking in a very aggressive way.
Spring Break South Padre Island is also much further south than any other Gulf Coast destination. It lies as far south as Miami, Florida. Why does that matter? Easy. It is tropical that far south, and that means WARM TANNING WEATHER great for the beach.
Boasting 3 regional airports of Mcallen Texas (MFE airport code) United, American, Delta, and Allegiant Airlines all service this hub. Harlingen Texas (HRL airport code) hosts United, Southwest, Frontier, Delta, and Sun Country Airlines. Brownsville Texas (BRO airport code) hosts American, United, and AeroMexico flights. Airport transfers are a breeze simply call Cantu’s City Taxi at 956 761 4747 to book it roundtrip in a safe van cab that will hold up to 6 people making it affordable.
Choosing South Padre Island as your Spring Break is a safe, cheap choice that all of your friends can “sell” to their parents more easily than Mexico as well as afford as you can just jump in a card and drive on down
Once on the Island, a few tips to not get evicted or tossed in the slammer:
- Don’t smoke weed in your condo or hotel room. Keep that shit outside your space
- Don’t smoke weed on the beach
- Don’t DRINK on the beach if you are a minor, that is THE worst place to try that
- Don’t use a FAKE ID on the beach. Those are REAL cops asking you for an ID. Show them a fake, that’s a felony. Not good. In general, underage drinking isn’t super hardcore enforced in Texas. The biggest jackasses though….yeah…they get MIPs.
- Do NOT have a house party, ie after hours party. That’ll get you evicted. Pre gaming seems to be fine, but you through a rager the cops are evicting you and guess what? No refunds if that happens
- Don’t get in a fight. It’ll get you thrown out of bars, possibly arrested, and likely evicted from your condo or hotel room. Save that later when you get home Roid Boy….
Other Miscellaneous ideas to help you:
- Condoms. If you haven’t seem one of these, please do google it. They prevent unwanted souvenirs. As so many people cheat, have open relationships, or think that “one hookup” won’t count for their boy or girl back home…you give them the Clap or Gonorrhea when you get home…or worse….the herp or….yikes. STDs generally take 2 to 4 weeks to incubate, and then…sad, stressful news. Bad deal. Wrap that rascal. We didn’t even mention pregnancy from a one night stand….uff duh….Wasted or not, hot or not, wrap it up
- Try to book a condo if you can afford it. The kitchen will save you a ton of money by way of frozen pizzas, ramen, cereal, spaghetti, etc.
- Try to book something on the beach. Yes, the Island is only 2 to 4 City blocks wide, but lugging a cooler or your shit down to the beach every day gets old really, really fast. It also really takes the party down a notch. Big Greek groups book the best, they don’t book Motel 6 or some shitbox off beach condo complex. Just ain’t happening.
There is a super Wal Mart in Port Isabel Texas just across the bridge from the Island that is..well..cheap for supplies. Use Ben’s Liquor warehouse on the Island for the beat prices - Liquor stores are CLOSED on Sundays on South Padre. However, you can still buy beer and wine at Wal Mart, HEB, or Stripes gas stations on Sunday. Off sale from these places ends at 12 midnight, so be prepared. Liquor CAN be served onsale on Sundays at bars and restaurants.
Have questions or need advice? Email us: info@southpadrespringbreak.com
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WHY US?
- Our name says it all – we are all about South Padre Spring Break
- Based on South Padre Island, book with Locals
- Access to the BEST Spring Break Condos and Hotels on SPI
- FREE Entry into Louies, Claytons, Tequilas, & more at night
- Clayton’s Beach Stage is INCLUDED at no extra charge & is BYOB
- Our hotel/condo/party packages require just $50/down to book
- South Padre Island is BYOB friendly on the beach
- Our Condo Pool areas are BYOB – bring your own beverage FREE