Recreational Beaches
BOCA CHICA BEACH
It’s Like Having Your Private Beach!
Boca Chica Beach is one of the best-kept secrets of Southern Texas. The beach is wide with 8-miles of undeveloped, pure white sand that’s open to vehicles, campers, anglers, surfers, and sunbathers. The coastline is untarnished and wide open. It’s like having your private beach for miles. It lies just south of the well-known beach, South Padre Island.
They are separated only by the inlet, which creates the Laguna Madre. It’s teeming with sea life, and on a particular day, you can spot dolphins launching themselves out of the surf and a rocket streaking into the sky from the nearby Space-X center.
The Rio Grande River is on the southern edge of Boca Chica Beach. It’s an impressive flow of freshwater terminating in the Gulf of Mexico and is the natural border between the United States and Mexico. The two countries are separated by just 35-feet of this shared international waterway.
Realizing Texas was once part of Mexico is easy to comprehend when observing the other
nation from 10-yards away. There’s no wall, no barrier between the two sovereign areas. That brackish water zone, not quite salt-filled Gulf water and not entirely clear river water, perfectly reflects Brownsville’s community.
BROWNSVILLE GREAT OUTDOORS ACTIVITIES
Freshwater And Saltwater Fishing Minutes From Each Other!
All-year-round pro anglers come to Southern Texas to test their skill and amateurs to try their luck. Brownsville is a special place where folks can enjoy freshwater fishing and saltwater fishing experiences minutes away from each other. If you have the time, we recommend doing both!
Boca Chica Beach is a beautiful place to surf fish for red drum. The best thing about it is how pristine the sand and the surf are. You won’t find any boating charters or bait shops there, so be sure to gear up before you arrive. You wade out to the 2nd or 3rd sandbar, set up your pole, and sip a cold one until you get a nibble.
In mid-summer, the Brownsville Police Officers Association hosts one of the state’s largest contests, the BPOA’s Redfish Surf Fishing Tournament. They also host events for special needs children, providing fishing assistance using rods and reels donated by Gordon’s Bait and Tackle. One of the oldest fish supply shops in Texas.
Our many resacas and human-made lakes are teeming with bass, catfish, and – what we locals call Catan – also known as alligator gar, significant prehistoric-looking creatures that, when cooked just right, have delicious white meat. Some of them can get up to 10 feet long and weigh 300 pounds, so you’ll need a lot of chum, a big hook with pieces of chicken, and a heavy-duty leader.
If you don’t pull any fish into your kayak by day’s end, I’d recommend visiting Vermillion Restaurant & Watering Hole , our most iconic seafood spot. They have a great ceviche made from black drum fish. It’s what we call “mas duro”, thicker and more buttery than its cousin red fish. Come for the ceviche and stay for their nachos. They’re the best nachos you’ll ever eat!
TEXAS PARKS AND WILDLIFE
Birds of Resaca de la Palma State Park Field Checklist
