Best Dispersed Camping near Galveston, TX

Half mile stretch at end of access road to left is nice beach with dunes and free dispersed camping. Other sections require permit (on line or in person). Watch tides and weather, but really easy safe beach with big views. There are of course oil tankers visible and so not a pristine natural area. Adjacent to a preserve. Excellent.

This place is EXCELLENT! From Galveston take the ferry across it's really convenient and free! We took our 26ft Class C RV on the ferry no problem. Pick a spot of the beach and just set up camp! The sand is very compacted and easily drivable. We saw all types of vehicles from golf carts to massive class A rigs. 

When we were there is was not busy and there are only a few other campers. People come and go to use the beach to fish or play and cars will occasionally pass by your camp but it it not bad because you are literally yards from the water! 

There are garbage cans set up up and down the beach which is miles long. 

Bring water and pack out as much as you can and try not to fill up the garbage can you may be next to because there is quite a bit of litter on the beach. We picked up liter daily when we stayed. Mostly old garbage that has washed up from the ocean. Very peaceful and relaxing place to stay and will definitely be coming back here. 

There are no bathrooms so you’ll need to be self contained. Good cell reception with ATT and Verizon

Hard packed sand. Tide is safely far from the rig. Boondocking and waking up to the ocean sound is amazing. Take a walk with a garbage bag and help pick up liter left by others

The Flatts-Bolivar Peninsula or Crystal Beach is all sort of the same thing. There are 27 miles of sand facing the Gulf of Mexico that you are able to drive on and to camp. Make sure you park high enough that you are above the tide line. You will find all sizes and types of rigs. If you are going to camp you will need to obtain a Bolivar Beach Parking Sticker. The sticker is only $10.00. You can purchase by mail with a self addressed envelope with a check or money order to Bolivar Beach Parking Sticker, PO Box 1679, Crystal Beach, TX 71650 or purchase in person at most stores, real estate agencies on Bolivar or Chamber of Commerce. If you have ATV's or golf cart you will need stickers for those. Stickers are good for one calendar year. There are trash cans and some port a pots. You may have a fire. 

Please do not leave trash, take care of the beach and the privilege of free camping on the beach. 

LNT 

BTYFI 

Travel safe

There were approximately 8 boondocks here, there is adequate space to accommodate more. The weekends are loud and busy, during the week it calms down and gets quiet. There are also paramotors that fly over head, they are fun to watch.

Turn on to Rettilon road going towards the Gulf to get here.

Bolivar Beech: A nice experience during the week. However, there is lots of activity on the sunny weekends. I have heard that it is very crowded with campers during spring break and in the summer. Also, there is a gated community being built behind the section of beach near Retilion Rd. I spoke with two city officials with Nuisance Abatement. There is talk of instituting a 2 week limit.
(Scale 1- bad, 5-Very good

(70 yr olds in 17’ trailer.)

Overall Rating: 4 - would be a 5 but for heavy usage of day users during sunny weekends. Many are great. Few are not. One child came behind our camper and helped herself to our collection of shells while her mom watched. Careful of your belongings.

Price 2023: $10 to the right of Rettilon Rd. Free to the left of Rettilon Rd. Security: None Usage during visit: Campers: Light this time of year Site Privacy: None Site Spacing: Plenty of room to spread out and most campers do. ‘Pad’ surface: Sand Reservations: No Campground Noise: Noisy on weekends. Quiet, for the most part at night, but for the occasional party persons.
Road Noise: None Through Traffic in campground: Lots of folks driving the beach on the sunny weekends. Minimal during the week. Dispersed Camping . Potable Water Available: Bring what you need. Generators: Allowed. Bathroom: One pit toilet in our area, at the beach end of Rettilon Rd . It is very full after the weekend. Bring your own TP. It runs out.
Showers: No Cell Service (AT&T): 2 to 3 bars Setting: Beach, dispersed Recent Weather: S50s at night and 60s during the day.
Solar: Great Host: No Rig Size: Largest.

Great place to stay in the beach in Texas.

So honestly I didn't choose a good weekend to do my first camping trip here (memorial weekend) but that didn't impact the trip at all. It also helped that we've stayed here a few times and knew the area well enough. There were a lot of people but they were all polite and there were accessible bathrooms (port-o-pottys). The police patrolled often and the ice cream trucks did too which helped on such a hot weekend but the nice breeze off the water was amazing. The dogs had a fantastic time as well. Sunrise on the beach made the whole experience.

We camp overnight and it wasn’t much people probably because is been raining every day but the 2 days we stay didn’t rain at all, so it was nice weather and wasn’t hot.

When I started on my journey, I knew I wanted to spend some considerable time on the beach and Crystal Beach didn't disappoint.

I picked up the $10 beach parking pass and spent about two weeks there the first time.

You do want to make sure you set up on the north side of the beach although that does mean you will deal with the traffic from people driving on the beach and others setting up and blocking your view.

I have seen the tide come almost to the front of my fence. (That I set up for my pups)

You can get propane at Parkers Lumber and almost everything else at the Big Store.

Great time fishing here

The wide open Beach is of theirs have said 27 miles long and the water is cold right now but it's still pretty nice, one local person pointed out that you should know the number of the garbage barrel you are near each one has a different number so people can get to you in an emergency or she said they also deliver but you have to know your garbage barrel number. There's lots of space so no reason to park on top of each other so to speak but it's good to hang with other people just remember not everybody wants company haha overall I think with 27 miles you should be able to find something that works for you very chill good place

Let the ocean put you to sleep. We stayed in November, the temps were perfect to a little cool. We're about 17k pounds and had no issues driving and setting up on the sand. It is pretty, there are shells everywhere, and, not many others camped here at this time.

Check the weather! I was there the night of a tornado watch. 70 mile an hour winds and heavy rain. Got alerts on my phone but I had about 6 drinks and did not want to risk those problems, so I braved the storm. Very humbling experience. To be fair, the weather was clear when I started the 500 mile journey to this spot.Weather the other days was great during sunlight. Bring a shovel if you want to start a fire and please be cautious about the winds blowing in. I could very easily see an unsupervised fire causing a devastating event. Nothing better than waking up to the ocean sounds or hearing them with a fire. Bring firewood if you enjoy fires. It's 10 dollars a bundle in town. Unless you wanna drive 50 miles. Great place, a bit of trash but, if you're able. Do your part with some gloves and fill a bag. I filled a bag in about 20 minutes. Would recommend to anyone, and I will be staying there anytime I can get a week to stay. Tide didn't come up closer than 15 yards to the the dunes,, even during a crazy storm.. Safe travels!

We spent 2 weeks here during the winter. It’s a really quiet spot with a few other RV’s here and there in the beach. We have AT&T and cell service was excellent. Weather was good while we were here although it got pretty windy a few nights. Tents may be difficult. We were in a 26’ travel trailer so it didn’t bother us much. Sand is easy to drive on. Note that the location that this app links you to isn’t correct. If you take 87 almost to the tip of the peninsula (towards the ferry) and turn onto rettilion rd. you’ll arrive at the beach.

We love this beach. It’s our third time staying here, and each time it’s been quiet, peaceful, and hardly any other campers. We worried a little about the tide this time, but we kept an eye on it and it didn’t come near us. We stayed here in early December without a permit, and it was fine. The permits you buy are valid from January to December and we had heard that they don’t really enforce the permit rule this late in the year. The sheriff drove by a few times, as well as some beach workers and others who looked to be in an official capacity, and nobody stopped to check our permit. Nice sunrise and an amazing sunset behind the houses. Good cell reception. Beach isn’t really flat, it slopes down towards the water, but it’s close enough.

Me and my fiancé went to Bolivar Flats to camp out with our friends and had a really awesome time!