South Padre Island Police Regulations

The South Padre Island Police are vigilant in ensuring the rules and regulations are enforced on South Padre Island. This means to you that it pays to know what they are to avoid any fines or encounters.

Drinking. The police are strict on drunk driving and public drunkenness. Do yourself a favor and get a designated driver or hail a cab. Also, glass bottles and containers are not allowed on the beach. Be sure to leave these at your room.

Driving off-road. Although there are some places you can go off-road north of the beach where the pavement ends. You can get into trouble if you run over the sand dunes as they is nice for this. One other thing to consider is to be sure to make sure your vehicle has four-wheel-drive. The sands can deceive some people as they are not as easy to drive on as dirt and mud.

Driving The Speed Limit. The Police are notorious for pulling over speeders going one mile over the speed limit. It is best to keep this in mind when driving about town.

Feeding The Sea Gulls. Although you are welcome to feed the seagulls down at the beach, you are not allowed to feed the birds from your balcony. In addition, you may want to have a talk with your kids about what to feed the birds. When I was growing up, there was trend where kids would feed birds alka-seltzers. Unfortunately, these would cause the birds’ stomachs to explode. For this reason, have a talk with your kids to make sure they will not do such things.

Interacting With The Dolphins . You are not allowed to touch the Dolphins. If you are really interested in the dolphins, go join a watching tour or see the Dolphin Research and Sea Life Nature Center.
Camping on the Beach. You are unable to camp on the beach except at the three camping parks. In addition, you cannot make a campfire. The only exception would be a barbecue pit.
Barbecue Pits. You are allowed to have a barbecue pit. However, you are required to make sure it is self-contained and must watch it. In addition, you cannot burn any trash in the pit.

Parking. As the police are strict on other standards, they have no qualms about towing cars parked in no parking areas. It is wiser to plan ahead and either come a little earlier to the beach or to use a cab or the free bus service.

Fireworks. The sale of and the firing of fireworks is prohibited. However, there really is no need to shoot off your own anyway as you can see a fireworks show every Friday evening during the summer on the bay side.

Dogs at the Beach. They must be kept on a leash, but you can bring them on down.

Smoking. It is strictly prohibited in public buildings and all buildings that have no smoking signs posted.

Canopies. These are perfectly fine to be used at the beach; however, you must take them down each evening.

Bathrooms. Public restrooms can be found at almost all the beach access points. South Padre Island has 13 beach access points.

Naturally, nothing on this list should be construed as legal advice of any kind. It is instead provided as guide to help keep you in accordance with the laws and regulations of South Padre Island.

*To get some ideas on what to do when it rains, check out Rainy Day Activities.