If you live in Austin, TX, where do you go to when you want to go to the beach? What are nearest quot;nicequot; beach? -

We live in Southern California and may be moving to Austin Texas. Where do people go when they want to drive to the beach and go to a nice beach city? I tried looking on google maps and couldn t find any nice looking beach areas, but probably just looking in the wrong area. So, where do people from Austin drive to when they go to the beach?

Well, you have a couple of options. If you truly want sand and surf, then Port Aransas on the Texas Gulf coast is where I would go. It s about a 4 hour drive from Austin - just north of Corpus Christi. Texas Gulf beaches are their own unique animal - they are not as pretty as either California or Florida beaches, but they are all we have so we make the best of them. You can drive right on the beach if you want and the waves, while small, are good for boogie boarding and body surfing. Unlike CA, you can actually swim in the Gulf - the water starts to warm up in late May. If you want pristine white sand beaches, Cancun is an easy plane ride away and there are also direct flights to Florida. If you just want to go swimming and soak up some sun, the Highland Lakes are right here in Austin s back yard. Pace Bend Park has some nice flat sandy areas and protected shallow swimming spots for the kids. It s a nice alternative to the beach.