Please reach us at spibeachcondos@yahoo.com if you cannot find an answer to your question.
South Padre Island Visitor's website - https://www.sopadre.com
You can also check out the "South Padre Island Concierge" Facebook group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/SPIConcierge
We spend most of our free time on the beach swimming or going for walks. There is also a Water Park next door. It's typically open from Easter thru mid-September, but hours can vary seasonally so you should contact them if that will be an important activity for you.
We would also recommend a Dolphin Tour. We had a very good experience with Fins to Feathers, which offers eco and dolphin friendly tours for small groups.
The kids enjoy the Sea Turtle Rescue Center, on the north end of the island. A small donation gets you in the door. They rescue injured sea turtles and nurse them back to health, before releasing them.
There is a golf course on the mainland and mini golf on the island, and also go-carts and other fun activities for the kids.
Younger children will find the Pirate Ship cruise fun and entertaining. It heads out from the Pirate Landing restaurant and lasts a couple hours.
Parasailing over the bay or the ocean can be thrilling but it only lasts a few minutes and it's over.
There are many other activities that we haven't tried yet – Thriller speed boat, fishing (including deep sea fishing), horseback riding on the beach, snorkeling, scuba diving, jet-ski rentals, and other water sports.
There is also an arcade on the island for you hardcore “gamers”: Island Arcade SPI
And also an arcade with even more fun attractions like black light mini golf and a maze, on the mainland in Los Fresnos (25-30min drive from SPI).
We suggest stopping by the nearby Visitor's Center on the first day and pick up some brochures of activities you might be interested in.
South Padre Island: Sports & Activities article from Trip Advisor lists all kinds of fun activities you can do on the island.
Read travelers' reviews of the Top Tours & Activities in South Padre Island on Trip Advisor
Our favorite restaurant on the Island is the Palms Cafe. It's located on the beach attached to a small motel with a cozy covered patio dining area. It's a small place but we've never had a bad meal here. My favorite dishes there - lobster, chicken teriyaki sandwich, red snapper salad, my husband likes the burgers here. They make their own potato chips and they are delicious. Also, come back for breakfast and try the malted pancakes. Since it's a small place, they can get pretty busy on the weekends. Try to either go during the week or put your name down and take a walk on the beach while waiting for your table.
If you are in the mood for wings and need to feed a big family try Wing Stop. The food stays hot all the way to the condo, although fries will get kind of soggy. On Mondays and Tuesdays they have specials on boneless wings, however, their family packs are very reasonable any day of the week. This place also gets super busy on the weekends and has a limited parking area. Be careful NOT to park in the towing zone on the other side of the street!
If you are in the mood for fish or shrimp try Dirty Al's (within walking distance from the condo on the bay). Don't go there too late, they close kind of early, around 8pm. We loved their blackened shrimp tacos. Burgers are also good.
If you are looking for a sports bar to watch your favorite team, you can check out Louie's Backyard or Montana's (The Kraken). Louie's has great daily specials, lots of TVs in the upstairs sports bar, but we stopped going because of so many people smoking inside. Montana's main floor level is a family friendly place, great for watching a game. The upstairs open-air bar has a great view of the fireworks and sunset over the bay.
If you are in the mood for great beer, ribs, or pizza try Padre Brewing Co. There is also a good variety of seafood and flatbreads. They brew their own beer and it's very good. If you like their beer, you can buy a growler to-go and re-fill it between 3 and 5pm when it's discounted.
LongBoard Bar & Grill on the bay side, is a waterfront open-air restaurant with a huge dining area. It has great views of the sunset or fireworks over the bay. They have live music every night from some of the best local bands and a large open dance floor area next to the stage.
Also, next-door to Longboard’s is the Lobo Del Mar Cafe is an open-air restaurant, again with great views of the bay. You can “enjoy” a bagpipes performance each evening and live music.
If you are looking for entertainment for the kids try Pirates Landing in Port Isabel. The food is pretty good with a nice selection, and the kids will love the pirate-themed atmosphere.
Wanna-wanna is a fun beachfront small restaurant with a bar-food menu. Try the shrimp basket. We also hear the burgers are good.
If you are in the mood for Italian try Gabriella's. They can get really busy on the weekends, so go there during the week or plan to wait for a bit. They have one of the best beer and wine selections on the island. They have Happy Hour Specials Sunday-Thursday 4-6pm.
Another great Italian place is The Meatball Cafe. We liked the pizza, bread bowl of clam chowder and garlic bread. During less busy weekdays they have 50% off wine.
For quicker or easy to-go options during busy restaurant times you can try:
Russo's NY Pizzeria has good NY style pizza, salads, sandwiches, and pastas. We love the Mullberry and Chicken Rustica pizzas. The carrot cake is the best we've had on the island. They also deliver and are located close to our complex, for an easy to-go pick-up.
Tropical Smoothie Cafe is also located very close to our complex and its rarely busy during dinner time. They have great smoothies, wraps, and flatbread sandwiches.
There are also plenty of quick fast-food options on the island like McDonalds, Whataburger, Dairy Queen, Pizza Hut, Subway, etc.
As you can see we love going out to eat when we are on the island, and there are many good dining options here.
There is a grocery store on the island - the Blue Marlin . But the best prices and selection are to be found at HEB and Super Walmart - both of which are across the bridge on the mainland in Port Isabel. Do the bulk of your shopping there on your way to the island, then pick up the stuff you forgot at the Blue Marlin.
Dirty Al's - located across the street from outside the Beach Water Park, near Sea Ranch, which is a very short drive from the condo. We love to eat there but they also sell fresh fish, shrimp and oysters.
Los Tortugos in Port Isabel - we hear they have very fresh seafood. They also make a very good ceviche and they have friendly service. Stop by on your way to the condo.
You can definitely kiteboard in front of our condo! South Padre Island is a great place for kiteboarding and we see a lot of people kiteboarding from the jetties going north, and directly in front of our condo. Our complex is the closest beachfront complex to the jetties, which makes it a little more convenient. Unfortunately, kiteboarding is something that we haven’t tried yet, but there are a lot of information online .
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