Best Glamping near Port Aransas, TX

Very clean and scenic campground. Plenty of space between sites if you park away from the seafront. I personally wouldn’t want to be right by the ocean as it’s just a 5 min walk from the more peaceful sheltered sites. We had campsite 115 and were very happy with it. Close to bathrooms and easy access in and out. Lots to see in the area, and if you want the beach we’d recommend Port Aransas which is only about 30 mins away. That beach is dog friendly and nicer than the closer Rockport. The short ferry ride across is also fun and free. Dolphins alongside the ferry. The only negatives would be mosquitos and humidity. Both were manageable given when we went, but only just. I’d aim for early spring or late fall to try to minimize these.

The park itself doesn’t have much to do as they are still recovering and renovating from Hurricane Harvey a couple of years ago(this was my rationale for a lower rating). Having said this,it’s a great park and I highly recommend it and we would surely return. The bathrooms are above average, clean with nice showers. Our campsite was nice and shady with a picnic table and water. We saw deer and one snake (too quick to identify it). We hiked the trail in the park which was nice and well maintained. The next town over is Rockport which has million dollar mansions on the water. We rented a kayak for half day and kayaked in and out of the canals gawking at the boats and houses. There is a bird sanctuary on the island in little bay where we kayaked and in addition to all the birds we saw two dolphins swimming around. We were close enough to port Aransas to drive over and took the ferry (had to stay in the vehicle due to corona virus). We ate seafood at our favorite seafood restaurant “Snoopys”.

Goose Island SP is a great little hidden gem of a park on the Texas Gulf Coast.  The camping area is small, but they've arranged the spots very well, with good vegetation between each spot that hides your spot from your neighbor.  They offer both 30 amp and 50 amp service, water, fire ring, table on cement pad and nice flat spots.  Good day use spots and excellent boat ramp with a fish cleaning table.  Yes there are bugs, but this is in the middle of reclaimed wetlands, so be prepared!  This is their world and we must adapt.  The bay-side camping area is the island part of the park and is still being renovated (as of Aug 2020), but according to park staff, they should be open by Nov 2020.  There is also a brand new, huge pier with boat access and fishing that will be open soon.  Near-by there is "The Big Tree", purported the oldest tree in Texas (1000-2000 years old!) and Rockport beach and all the other Texas coast attractions.   Highly recommend and we will be returning soon.

I visit a lot of the state parks in Texas. Goose Island is a good one. It's a great area for fishing because it's really close to rockport. While most of the state parks do not have WI-FI, they say they do. It's very poor. I have T-Mobile, and the cell service at Goose Island was great. 5G was great. Also, the digital TV signal was excellent. The park staff was very friendly and helpful. Goose Island is close to Walmart. HEB and many other stores in restaurants. The park all around is great. I will definitely return.

The wooded area camping loops wind through lovely groves of Texas Live Oak, and Loblolly Pine, which make great habitat for winter warblers. The sites are spacious and set reasonably apart from each other to offer some privacy. Most campsites offer water and electricity. These sites are MUCH quieter than the Bayfront sites, which are plagued by loud boat engine traffic.  This area is much for secluded, thus not alot of walk/drive by traffic going through.

The bathroom building with internal hot-water shower stalls was relatively clean and updated. The area is great for all kinds of low-key activities like fishing, biking, walking, paddling etc. I wouldn’t go here if I had my heart set on swimming, though. The water is relatively shallow and in the middle of a massive oyster colony, pretty sharp edges on those bi-valves, so be careful. 

One of the best activities, especially during the winter months, is birding. The area is the winter home to the endangered Whooping Cranes, Sandhill Cranes, Spoonbills and many, many more. Grab your binoculars and your birding guide!

Make sure to fill up on gas, water and ice before heading out on the 63 miles of available beach! You can drive for hours along sparkling waves with shell laden sand, passing isolated camps and groups fishing. If you want privacy, this is it! You must take all you need The cell reception is spotty, around mile 25.5 if you walk towards the bayside you’ll get a signal best with Verizon, and at Mansfield Cut. Any Texas beach camping is not for the inexperienced... BEACHES ARE WINDY, CAMP LIKE YOU’RE IN A TORNADO! METAL POLE TENTS WITH SAND RATED STAKES, & SECURE EVERYTHING!! Solar yard lights are great to set perimeters to late night drivers. There are jellyfish, wear long pants or bring meat tenderizer for the stings!! The Turtle Patrol passes several times a day. Yes there is strewn garbage, it’s deposited every high tide from all around the world, bring a rake, garbage bag and a reality check. People do speed, pay attention. Showers, dumpsters and toilets are only at the entrance to the beach/Malaquite Visitors Center. This is our favorite place to go because of the privacy, beauty and the fishing. Nights are gorgeous with starry skies, waves, and a fire. Make the time to check this place out, sit and pretend you’re the only person on your private island, you will be hooked!

Awesome

Been trying for two months to get my deposit refunded. When I call they just give me the run a round. Campground was ok. Hot tub only worked two weeks of the two months I was there.

I will visit again but not to stay. Just to get my deposit back. I paid it on time but they aren't responding in kind. There are many other places in this area. I suggest you stay at one that takes credit cards and fies business in this century.

The previous reviewer is correct about the airport noise.

Pros:

• Our RV site was a back-in with plenty of room on a concrete pad with a picnic table. We were in the back row.

• Our site did not have trees hanging over like a lot of sites (we have solar panels).

Cons:

• The campground wifi sucked. We relied more on our own Verizon wifi hotspot (we never assume park wifi is good).

• Next to airport.

• RV park, especially on eastern half, has seriously poor drainage. We were trapped in our RV lot, unable to leave, because the water was too deep for our Class A to go through without damage/mess of some sort.

We stayed 14 nights in one of the Bay sites. Really enjoyed the view and sunsets. We watched Dolphins right in front of us every day. Pros: Bayfront site's view, easy in and out, easy set up, fishing, close to stores and restaurants, nice pavillion with picnic table at each site, Nice dock to fish off of and can fish right at your site. Clean restrooms. Pet friendly with 6ft leash rule. Cons: TTs and 5th wheels are supposed to back in. This causes the pavillion to be on the wrong side. You open your door to your neighbors pavillion. Motorhomes, Cs & Bs can pull in so the pavillion is on the correct side however the W&E hookups are then on the wrong side. (They are working to fix this issue) Wooded section is not big rig friendly. Low hanging branches and many sites difficult to back in to. (We didn't stay in this section, we drove through without 5th wheel) The air boats. There are 3-5 different ones that come in and out ALL day every day starting around 6:30am. They are so loud they vibrate the campers.

We hit some big wind 3/21/22. We were in the beach front with waves crashing over so we got luck and moved to the wooded area. While there are some low branches- I was able to carefully maneuver into #125 with my tall fifth wheel. But it was close. Lots of birds, deer, and fishing. I see attraction of the beach front, but the wooded area is really nice with private sites, camp for grills, tables and….trees for shade.

We really enjoyed staying in the wooded area of the park. Most spaces are very private because of the thick plant life. The beach spots looked cool but we didn’t want the noise from the boats as mentioned in other posts. Has a great pier and trails through the woods too.

I camped here 25 years ago and it was just as lovely as I remembered. Lots of walking trails, some bird feeders and a great place to stay to go out to Aransas Reserve with Rockport Adventures boat tour. Captain Tommy knew his birds, not just Whooping Cranes.

The tent site is a "walk-in" but it was only a few feet to the site. The bathrooms and showers were clean.

This State Park is really well maintained. The fishing pier is large and easily accessible. You can rent kayaks. Fish cleaning station. Boat ramp. The views are great! Fish right from your campsite.

Nice private spot in wooded area. Great fishing!

The waterfront sites are superb. Great view of Copano Bay and love being right on the water. They are very level, have electric and water. The dump site is also great - level, paved, water hookup, easy to get to and easy to use. I have decent cell service on the waterfront sites (T Mobile) and no service in the wooded areas.