Best Tent Camping near Padre Island National Seashore

Just outside of Corpus Christi in a slightly more remote stretch of Texas coast rests Padre Island National Seashore, a beachfront land preserve operated by the United States Park System that offered a variety of camping and recreation options.

Amongst those, Malaquite Beach Campground, a small but nice facility less than a quarter mile up the beach from the visitors center. This campground boasts around 50 campsites, many featuring a picnic table, BBQ and shade structure.

No reservations can be made so the facility is a first come first come Campground which uses a camping kiosk or account for availability. Campsites are $8 per night and do include handicap options.

While the individual sites do not offer amenities such as running water or electricity, there is a nice bathroom and shower facility located mid-camp. These showers are free and boast cold water showers, something you will more than crave in the humid Texas air.

Campsites are located amongst the grassy dunes about 200 yards from the coastal waters but upon paying you can park in your designated site and set up your tent anywhere within the area including beachside.

We arrived late in the evening just before sunset. Following sunset Campground is very dark, no security lights to disrupt the coastal star views so it can be a bit tricky to navigate. Do not forget a flashlight if you are camping here for sure!

The humidity of the coast was intense so it made for a bit of a hot evening camping though the breeze passing through the tent was very helpful. Make sure your have a fully venting tent when camping here to keep cooler at night and pack lightweight items for sleeping.

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All in all I would give Malaquite Campground 4 of 5 Bunnies. The facilities were clean, Campground host was helpful and location was ideal for beach combing away from some of the crowds. I do suggest this to be a weekday excursion however as they did mention because of the low cost it does fill up quickly on weekends.

The only downside, lighting is sparse at night which makes it a bit difficult to navigate the grounds. Again for safety remember to bring a flashlight! And this campsite is very windy, nothing you can do about this though because it is nature, but that can make for difficulty in setting up or using bbqs.

For a video of the campsite and a little more about Malaquite Beach check out this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFW9mi4iE2Y&t=8s

This is one of two established campgrounds on Padre Island, and definitely the more desirable one. After camping on the sand in the dispersed area along the coast, for over a week, a gale force warning inspired us to move into this paved campground, which offered a bit more protection. 

It’s not much more than a glorified parking lot, but it has direct beach access to the north end of the national seashore and some amenities. Some sites have grills, others don’t. All seemed to have picnic tables. Showers (only cold water) and bathrooms are relatively clean, but a little outdated. There are just 3 tent sites on the far north end and they are some of the nicest spots!

Glorious views of the ocean, lovely sunsets over the dunes, and some of the most amazing shells and sea creatures regularly wash up on the beach. Birds galore, too!  We spent a lot of time on beaches and near the ocean and have never seen this type of diversity.

On the downside, there is also a lot of storm surge trash, so bring a few bags and do your part to help clean up YOUR park.

There are no electrical hook-ups, so come prepared with your solar panel. There is ice available at the Visitor’s Center and water at the campground, but groceries/gas is about 10-12 miles away, so come prepared to chill the heck out at this beachside campground.

The state park offers two styles of camp sites. Primitive and ones with a little more pizzazz.

Primitive sights are right on the beach. Water is located along the beach and restrooms and rinse off showers are 50 yards away from the sites more towards the main headquarters. Full restrooms are closer to headquarters

Sites with power; Picnic tables Grills Water 50amp hookup Shade shelter Bathroom and showers closer by.

The sites with power are behind the sand dunes. Fires unless in the grill are NOT allowed. For a campfire, go down on the beach.

This is our 2nd time staying here.
This park is aka Shields. Park has 2 sections. Sect A has grass sites. Sect B has concrete pads and a separate area for tents. Each section has a laundry room and shower building. We stayed in B. Sites are wide and level and have full hookups with 30/50 amp. Good water pressure. Sites are all back ins, Big rig friendly and easy to set up. No matter where you park there is a nice view of the Bay.
I'd give it a 5 star rating but there are a few items that need to be fixed or prepared for. 1st the roads really need to be repaired. Potholes are horrible in some areas. 2nd the picnic tables are so rusted through that many are unusable. 3rd the goat heads or grass burrs are a nightmare especially if you step on one in the middle of the night. Ouch!! LOL If you have dogs (we do) they absolutely can't run in the grass. We bought our pups doggy boots which help some. And this time we brought our leaf blower to blow them off the concrete pad. 4th the winds here can reach 60 mph. Just prepare for it by never leaving awnings out and when bad bring slides in so awning toppers don't get ripped off. (It happened to our neighbors last year) Ants, there are tons of them. I use citronella spray around our leveling gear and tires to deter them from living with us. Lastly if you don't want salt on your rigs don't come here. There are times when its so thick you could use an ice scraper.
Even with those items we really like it here. You can't beat the location to Padre Island and Port Aransas. The sunsets are amazing and walking the private beach daily is never tiring.

Waking up to the ocean is a dream come true at Mustang island. The park has 4 designated areas. Close to the entrance and facilities there’s a camp ground with water and electric hookups those are reserve only so make sure if you want that you reserve in advance. Primitive camping is a bit down the way to the right this is where primitive campers can find a nice spot if the day users are crowding the area. There’s portal potties, picnic tables and trash bins day uses tend to navigate to the primitive camping area and take up the picnic tables. Then there’s day use that’s straight ahead from the entrance there’s a big portal potty at the parking lot and a path to the beach. Then there is fisherman pass this is a drive on beach with a few pavilions and tables and the jetty. The park is cleaned every morning and midday by the park staff and park rangers. The staff really does put in a lot of work to keep the beaches and facilities clean. Its $5 per head and $10 for primitive camping and $20 for the hook up campsites. The park usually keeps the beaches at a decent occupancy putting up signs when it’s getting full and won’t let you in. After 6 the non paying people start to flood in at the primitive side during the summer. Make sure to bring lots of sun block and baby powder.