About an hour west of Galveston, you will find the small town of Surfside Beach, located on San Luis Island. I found this little town when looking for new beaches to visit in Texas.

Although there was not a lot to do in Surfside Beach, within a short driving distance were two national wildlife refuges as well as a couple of small nature preserves. Galveston Island is just a short drive east and Houston is about an hour’s drive north.

We were there in the off season and we did find that not everything is open. Some restaurants were not open or only open on certain days, and may close early.

We stayed at Ocean Village Hotel one of the two hotels I found in town. There were, however, numerous rentals available. It was clear to see that during peak season the beach may be packed.

The day we arrived hurricane Rafael was stirring up the waters and for several days the water was very high, with overcast skies and morning fog. There was light rain the day we arrived. Because they were still doing repairs on damage from hurricane Beryl that hit July 8th, there were workers in our building during the day that did make some noise. However, we were able to get the room I requested (they offered to move us) and we enjoyed a wonderful view. Apparently when they started the work they discovered much more damage than they expected. We were grateful for our room and so glad current hurricane Rafael had minimal affect on the Texas beaches.

One thing that is true, no matter the time of year, mosquitos love tourists who visit their grasses and water ways! Locals said there were no bugs, but someone forgot to tell the bugs that! We doused ourselves with bug repellant and still got several bites. Thankfully the beach walks were bug free.

We had a wonderful time visiting Surfside beach. There are a lot of nature opportunities a short drive away. The beach was beautiful, especially after the high waters subsided. The water was warm, perfect for splashing. We noticed numerous swimmers and surfers. And if you can handle the sand and humidity, it’s worth a visit. And might I say, the people we interacted with were friendly and cheery!

Our hotel is in the background on the left, with the word HOTEL on the roof:

Below is the building next to us that had smaller rooms. On the other side of the building is a nice restaurant that we ate at a couple of times.

Below is the restaurant, Seahorse Bar and Grill. It was clear they could accommodate huge crowds with all of the outdoor seating they had.

We saw a lot of dilapidated buildings along the beach. I don’t know if they were damaged from Beryl or if they have been falling apart over many years. It makes me wonder what life would be like living in a part of the country that has to deal with hurricanes and the stress that would create. It appears that many people think the joys of beach life is worth it.

This beach bird found a dragonfly. There were a lot of dragonflies around.

This view was from our balcony. That body of water attracted a lot of dragonflies. And mosquitoes. Sadly we didn’t enjoy being out on the balcony much, but I did enjoy the view often.

One of the key attractions in Surfside Beach is a huge jetty where people were fishing and birds abounded. This is looking east, back on the beach towards our hotel.

This bird had this fish that he tried over and over again to swallow and ended up spitting it back out. We don’t now if he ever actually ate it!

While waiting for the sun to set we watched the boats pass.

Off to the west we assume these areas were oil refineries. We saw huge areas of processing plants west of town when we were exploring. Amazing to see when just a few miles away were protected nature reserves. Maybe that is why they were created, to help protect the bird and animal lands.

This fellow didn’t seem to mind all of the people milling around!

Looking back at the beach. The jetty was amazingly long.

Sunset over the waters. I thought it was very beautiful and unique, even with all of the refineries in the background.

I saw this guy one morning at sunrise. Set up with his bonfire, boom box, coffee and bread for the birds. That’s a way to start the day!

This restaurant was just a short way down from our hotel. We did eat here one night and the food was good. We tried to sit outside on the deck, but the bugs forced us inside 🦟🦟

Again, it was easy to see how this place would be hopping during the summer time. The bottom area was all sandy and open for socializing. On the other side was another bar area and play area.

This was the local tourist shop 😊 With a friendly shop owner and some interesting items for purchase inside.

It was sad to leave with a beautiful sunny morning send off. This is a shared deck area looking out at the water.

Beautiful!