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South Padre Island: blending the best of many worlds on the southern tip of Texas.

Article Excerpt
Until the early 1950s, the only way to reach the southern end of Padre Island from the mainland without getting wet was by boat or ferry. For thousands of years, this slender barrier island (at 130 miles the longest stretch of sand beach in the United States) was a lonely place, separated from the Texas coastal plain by the Laguna Madre and inhabited mainly by nomadic Indians, kangaroo rats, and shorebirds.

Today, ever-evolving dune fields and wind-tidal basins still form the dominant topography of the island, most of which is preserved as the Padre Island National Seashore. The southern end, though, is now anchored by one of the most alluring resort communities on the Gulf Coast, a haven for vacationers who prefer a combination of unspoiled beauty, comfortable accommodations, and plenty of action.

Since completion of the first causeway across the bay in 1954, connecting Port Isabel with South Padre Island (now the Queen Isabella State Fishing Pier), this part of the island has become a focal point for international investment and real estate development. Many of the businesses and homes here are foreign-owned, and the architectural ambience of South Padre Island seems closer to Honolulu than to Port Aransas, the laidback resort community on the northern end of the island.

At South Padre Island you will find, in addition to blue waters and white beaches, a skyline of resort hotels and condominiums, 18-hole golf courses, a bayfront convention center, even a Schlitterbahn water park. Colorful parasails sweep high above the beachfront while banana boats and Waverunners course through the surf. There are no land vehicles on the beaches in town, only umbrellas and sunscreened beachcombers taking it all in.

"South Padre combines the best of many worlds on the southern tip of Texas," says Dan Quandt, executive director of the South Padre Island Convention and Visitors Bureau. Many factors contribute to this,...

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