Experience the best of South Padre Island

South Padre Island is a narrow barrier island at the southern tip of Texas, a short distance from the Mexican border, with the Gulf of Mexico on one side and the shallow Laguna Madre on the other. A causeway crosses the lagoon from Port Isabel, a small fishing town with a lighthouse of the 1850s that can be climbed, and the beach runs for miles of pale sand.

A sea turtle rescue centre cares for injured turtles, and the birding and nature centre has boardwalks over the lagoon. Dolphin-watching cruises leave from the bay side, and steady winds make the lagoon a place for kiteboarding. Anglers fish for redfish and speckled trout. Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, on the mainland, shelters birds and rare ocelots, and Brownsville lies to the west. In March the island fills with students on spring break.

Gulf shrimp from the Port Isabel boats, fish tacos, ceviche and Tex-Mex fajitas are the island's tastes, and ruby red grapefruit grows in the Rio Grande Valley behind. Mild winters bring retired visitors from the north, summers are hot and humid, and the risk of storms peaks in late summer and early autumn.