Talk to me about Port Aransas

userdeleted

I'm trying to convince DH that we need to take a little family vacation this summer. He's not keen on going back to Lake Michigan again because of the 20 hr drive , but I think I could convince him to do Port A since it's closer.

Ideally we'd be on or within very short walking distance from the beach, and I would like to be able to stay for a week. In my dreams this involves spending $1000 or less for accommodations, which would have at least two bedrooms. 

Where is the best place to stay when you're there? I want to make sure that the beach is nice and clean, and the water is swimmable. Somewhere kid friendly, with shops/restaurants in walking distance would be perfect.

Any recommendations? 

brideonjuly8

Port Royal is really nice.  We usually stay at the Aransas Princess when we go with the in laws, and I don't recommend it.  None of the condos have been updated since the place was built.  Or so it seems.

Mrs.Purdue

From my experience (been a couple of times), there is nothing 'on' the beach like what you're probably used to.  They have big sand dunes between all the hotels/houses and the water to help protect the beach, so nothing is really beach front (like in florida, for example). 

I'd recommend renting a house from vrbo.com or homeaway.com.  I've done one hotel there (Holiday Inn Express) and it was nice and walking distance to beach and shops, but couldn't see the beach.  Also done a big house with a group of friends, but not walking distance to shops/restaurants, and I've done a condo there with the same thing.  There are houses in town that you can rent - I remember walking by them, but they won't be "on" the beach. 

Mustang Island is the more 'pristine' beach section, but you'll have to drive everywhere else.  In town, you'll be able to walk, but the beach isn't as nice (in my opinion) and you'll have a further walk to the beach.  

AmethystBride

Last year we stayed at Sandpiper, and it was pretty nice.  We had a 2 bedroom gulf front condo (cheaper than the gulf view, but still had a view of the ocean).  Direct access to the beach.  We stayed 4 nights and it was hovering around $1000.  The great thing about it was it had a kitchen, so we were able to buy groceries and only ate out once.  It's pretty close to Corpus Christi, which has the Texas State Aquarium.  The boys enjoyed that. 

:-)

AggieDaner

I love the Sandpiper, I've been going there since I was a kid!

I also second renting a house, though. We did that once and it was a great decision. The only drawback is that you don't get a pool/hot tub like you do at the Sandpiper.

 Either option is great, I think Mustang Beach is a really cool place to spend a long weekend.

Mrs.Purdue

I think SandPiper was the condo that I stayed at that one time too (on recommendation from this board).  It was a pretty good experience and did have 2 bedrooms, but nothing except the beach/pool is walkable.  In fact, it's pretty far outside of town (maybe 10-15 minutes drive, IIRC).  So it just depends if town/attractions nearby are a deal breaker.