Best RV Parks & Resorts near South Padre Island, TX

KOA do a nice job catering to the RV and family camper community. This location is no exception and is loaded with amenities and a great location as a full service RV resort. This place is nearly full most of the year. So, reservations are a must here. The campground is located on the Laguna Madre side of the island near the bridge leading to South Padre Island. They have a variety of camping option for RVs, campers, tents, and cabins. The site has a great boat dock for those wanting to try their luck at fishing. The ocean is about 1/2 mile walk across a couple of busy roads. The sites have sewer, water, and power for even the largest RVs. They even have spaces to walk your dog and a pet playground. Like many RV resorts, you do not have any privacy and most of the sites are in the direct sun. Tenters and campers without AC will need to time their visit around the hot spring and summer temperatures. The night time temps average around 85 degrees and over 90 in the daytime in the summer. The Pier 19 restaurant is next door. Otherwise, you will need to bike or drive to restaurants.

Well-run RV Park. Excellent support team/staff, excellent utility hookups, located literally near/on the sound side, our site has plenty of room for our 43’ ClassA and tow/suv, site trash pickup, community center/bldg with a social calendar of things to do, great pool, satellite friendly, good WiFi, good cellular reception, pet walk with waste bags and trash container, small dog fenced pet park, overall clean and friendly place to park the rig for awhile. You're on South Padre Island here and it feels good!

Super clean friendly RV resort right on the Laguna Madre Bay. Close to restaurants and shopping.

The residents at this park/rv resort are friendly and come from all over the country, we spent the winter of 20/21 and 21/22 at Snow to Sun and enjoyed it, facilities I would rate 4-5 star, staff 3 star, sites 4 star, neighbors 5 star, activities 5 star.

If you're looking for a spot to be a Winter Texan, this should be in the top of your list. With over 300 RV spots. Near South Padre Island, but nestled in the town of Harlingen, you're able to immediately see the back life, but also be in "regular, non-touristy" towns.

This camp is filled with any amenities you're looking for in a camp site. It's worth your visit!

Andy Bowie County Park is one few public camping facilities on South Padre Island. If you love the beach and want some sunshine this may be a good option. The camp has good facilities and caters to camper trailers and RVs. They have bathrooms, showers, and picnic facilities. The park is across the street from a popular bird watching center and sea turtle rescue facility. The park has some beautifully restored sand dunes and the beach is mostly unoccupied during the weekdays. Of note, the camping sites are adjacent to each other with no privacy or shade. The sun on Padre Island can be brutal. So you will need to time you visit or have good AC and cover. The bay across the street is great for fishing and kayaking. On windy days the Laguna Madrid is a popular spot for kite and wild surfing. The campground is next to their large day use area which can get crowded on weekends. I would strongly recommend making a reservation at this site. The park rangers are based at the camp which can be good for safety. Holiday weekends tend to draw large crowds to the island from the Rio Grande Valley. The beach is the highlight here. You can drive your off-road vehicle on the shoreline north of the park. We have been cutoff by tides in the past. So, you should check the NOAA tide tables before going to the end of the shore drive. If you are into bird watching, Padre Island is a great place as well. You see birders visiting from all over the country to catch the seasonal migrations. Great site for the traveling camper or folks who love the beach. The price is high due to demand and location. So this could be an issue for those on a budget.

Our specific site was probably what influenced my five star review. This is a huge rv park where they cram rigs very close together, which is not my usual idea of a good time. But we decided to try it out anyways, and we chose our own site off the map on their website. It’s off-season in January, and still it’s packed. site S24 offered much privacy. We could see the water and were surrounded by cactus and agave instead of other RVs. It’s clean and quiet. Really a nice place. Dog friendly. Right on the beach and board walk. It’s a couple miles away from most of the restaurants and shopping, yet still walkable.

Great community, heated swimming pool, near South Padre Island

Huge pool, basketball/volleyball court, kids park, dog park, boat ramps, kayak launch, super close to South Padre Island and great restaurants. It has become our home base

This campground is on the South tip of South Padre Island. You are on the Gulf and also on the inter coastal waterway. You are just a short walk to a beach or fishing. We love it here and there is so much nearby to check out. There is not much shade here.

Boca Chica Beach is the end of the road for South Texas. The beach is about 15 miles outside of the Port of Brownsville Texas and very close to the Mexican Border. The beach is a wild and desolate place. It’s quite a contrast from the overly commercial and manicured beaches to the north on South Padre Island. The beach has a lot of debris from river run off and storms. The amount of trash and plastic waste can be overwhelming at times. The campsites are primitive and only include metal trash barrels. This is a good day trip for locals or a place for visitors who really want to get away. Of note, the beach is currently closed due to Covid 19. However, locals are exercising and walking their dogs despite the closure. When it’s open, you can drive on the beach but will need a 4x4. They don’t allow atvs or RVs on the beach. You will be able to see the Space X facility on the road near the beach.

Llano Grande was a nice park and we enjoyed our stay there, but it sounded lime there were some issues with pools being heated and communication on events. We dont really use ammenities, so didnt affect us, but could hear grumbling among guests. We had a nice pull thru site, level and plenty long and were close to the laundryroom/pool. Everyone had a golf cart and it was nice to see all the activity going on. There is a big canal behind the park with a levy you can walk on, a nice rec room, a shuffleboard area, horseshoe area, three pools, pickleball courts, a golf course and very nice people. I was bummed that it was so far from the beach. There is a bird viewing state park near, costco and walmart were fairly close and South Padre Island was about an hour away.

The trip we planned months was to relax at the KOA in South Padre Island, Texas. My wife and kids were looking forward to stating at the KOA with our new camper.

 Upon arrival, things seemed normal for the COVID-19 check-in.  Things went well until after renting a golf-cart. My children and I were going back to the camper when a KOA employee yelled at me to "Slow Down" and "Yes, I work here."  The woman followed to my campsite yelling and threatening to kick my family "to the curb".  When asking for management I was told "I am the manager".  When I notified that I will contact corporate I was told "they will just kick it back".  Indeed they did. To note this "manager" was the only person who felt they needed to treat me and my family this way. 

  With this said, I contacted our attorney who began working on escalating the issue. Our vacation went down from there. My wife and I were unhappy with the campground due to the mistreatment by management. 

 The campground itself is large but spots are very close to one another. The restrooms are clean, there is a decent-sized laundry, and there is an on-site store for your basic tv supplies. The pool was large at a maximum depth of (4) feet and had a hot tub onsite. The pool at the time of my visit was overtaken by mosquitos. 

 There is a restaurant in walking distance which is very good. They service breakfast also and can have a long wait at times. Even if you do not stay at the KOA stop by here. 

 The city/county campgrounds at Isla Blanca Park are just a mile further down and have better access to the beach. The prices are cheaper also. The KOA I felt was overrated and overpriced in this case. 

 In retrospect of the stay, I will not stay at this KOA nor can I honestly suggest anyone else to. Some may have a better experience but with the way management treated me I feel they deserved the one-star review.

Many of the campsites are right on the water, which is the Arroyo Colorado, a canal that runs east-west to the Laguna Madre, the bay between the south Texas shoreline and South Padre Island. I've visited the park many, many times over the years because of its proximity to the Laguna Madre. I fish from a kayak, and have tried fishing South Padre Island, Port Mansfield, and Boca Chica Beach with some success. But I always go back to Adolph Thomae County Park because I have better luck there. I don't have to worry about leaving my vehicle unattended, either.

What else? There is a website - http://www.cameroncountyparks.com/adolph-thomae-park - that has all the info you need if you plan to visit. There are even a few pictures. But if you want to get a much better look at the park, download and load Google Earth and type 'Adolph Thomae County Park' in the search bar. For some reason, the locator map on thedyrt is way off. The latitude for the park is  26°20'42.65"N and the longitude is  97°24'50.43"W. I've tried editing the location to no avail.

If you use Google Earth, you'll see that there are 2 lighted fishing piers that are free to park visitors. There are also 3 public restrooms - one at each of the piers and a third between the two large parking lots at the end of the road. There are also two boat ramps at the end of the park road.

It's 3 miles from the park to the Laguna Madre, so if you're bringing a kayak be prepared to paddle for about 45 minutes before getting to the bay. The park opens at 6:00 AM, and the fishermen with motorboats start lining up about 5:45 AM. If you want a parking spot near the water, get there early. I've found that the best parking lot to use is the next-to-last. The water is just a few steps from the parking lot, and the grade down to the water is not that steep. There are no streetlights in the next-to-last parking lot - at least not yet - , so bring a headlamp. It's a relatively new parking lot, so lights may be installed at some point.

If your looking for a spot to winter over this could be the spot for you. It is crowded, but as a solo nomad I find it refreshing to be in a community setting from time to time. Big clubhouse with a full kitchen and full size pool table plus all kinds of events like fish fries, chilli cook offs, live music, bingo, karaoke and more. I am not into public swimming pools but they have one that is very nice and well maintained. Individual mail boxes to transfer your mail service to and of course package delivery in the library. Located 20min. from the SpaceX launch pad on Boca Chica Beach which you can drive on and allows dogs. Also South Padre Island which is like Daytona Beach on steroids. Monthly rates are O.K. but with location and amenities a fairly good deal. Thinking of making this my winter home!

We stayed here a couple nights. Close proximity to the beach with full hookups and close to all the SPI has to offer. Restroom and showers were clean and in good repair. Sites are not too close together and an easy walk to the beach. Can’t beat the price for a county park. Check in could have been easier. Spent almost 30 minutes for the process. Overall though, very satisfied and will stay here again.

Overpriced for what they offer. Small concrete pad that's not even aligned with the RV door. The hook ups are on the right side when the electric cable and tanks' valve is on the left so the sewer hose ended up underneath the RV. $40/night... Stayed 3 nights... waste if money.

This campground is a very crowded KOA but we were still impressed.  While it was a challenge to get into our site because of the closeness of each rig, the staff guided us in safely.  We weren't sure how it would be being so crammed in but soon we discovered that this KOA is filled with seasonal folks who love to have a good time.  Every night there were happy hours, parties, and gatherings and the regulars were very welcoming. They also had a full agenda of activities from morning to night put on by the KOA.  From morning coffee to bingo to ice cream socials, you can stay busy here.  It's also in an easy to reach location, right near the entrance to SPI.  Overall a great stay!

Hosts are awesome. Very noisy and crowded. Very clean facilities and super clean swimming pool. The sewer hookup does not have a trap therfore no water to keep stench down. Smelled so bad I could not leave drain pipe connected while I stayed.