Malaquite Campground

Camp here and leave the sand on the beach. No reservations, a good thing! Well maintained, quiet, settled w/o traffic coming and going. Great wildlife activity, birds, coyotes, man-o-war fish and the intermitant rattler!

Easy beach access, observation post, congenial C/G hosts and uncrowded beaches.

Low rates even lower with the geezer pass.

Inexpensive camping just steps away from the seashore. If you have a booster you can pickup a cell signal from Corpus Christi, but only just. Nevertheless, worth every penny. Don't forget to get out to the beach at sunsets, you will not forget it.

There is a guard station several miles before the CG but no gate.
Sites closest to the water (Gulf) are spacious, with asphalt pads surrounded by grass and a covered pavilion and staggered so you don't feel very close to your neighbor. The sites on the other side of the road are all asphalt and have a picnic table. Sign in is on your own at the board in the campground TAKE A PEN (there aren't any there) AND exact change. We have the Senior Pass so it was 50% off. If you arrive and there are no water sites check the board to see when people are leaving. You can talk to the camp host about changing your site-and it's allowed as long as you catch the site when it opens up. That said, the boardwalk to the beach is close enough from any site and, if you're not planning to go to Corpus or the Malaquite Visitors Center, that's where you'll want to be.
There are no hook ups so some people run generators but we were not bothered by noise and the quiet hours 10p-6a were enforced. There are COLD water showers and toilets-and with a number of tent sites they are used a lot but were relatively clean and neat. There is potable water at the dump station on the left just before the entrance to the CG AND there is an air hose. The water is not great for drinking but HEB sells 2 gallon containers of drinking water which is cheaper than spring water.
There are bird watching tours and a good selection of books and other materials at the Visitors Center. The concession that used to sell ice, etc. is no longer there as of April 16 so get your supplies in town. (H.E.B. Plus supermarket is right off the main route at Waldron)
There is very weak WiFi at the Visitor Center and a weak cell signal is possible at times -better on the boardwalk to the beach but don't depend on a good signal until well along he road back to town.
Dogs are allowed on the beach but not in the Visitor's Center.
Bikes may be ridden on the beach.
There is likely to be a lot of wind and sunsets and sunrises are spectacular.
Padre Island is also the primary nesting site for the Kemp Ridley sea turtle and watches are possible during nesting season and there is a number to call if you site a turtle. Lots of fishermen but when we were there they all said they were not catching too much. It was bird mgration season though and the birds were pretty busy catching them.

Wow, if you enjoy walking on an endless beach, playing in the surf and hearing the roar of the ocean at night - this place is great.

Ok, couple of downsides. No hook-ups but there is an onsite dump and fresh water. At night, or when the wind is not blowing, mosquitoes will come out. ATT and Verizon are not useable without a booster- even with a booster they seem to come and go.

TV - two major networks over the air and a couple of others.

Bathrooms and showers on site - free, clean and very useable.

Easy access to town about 25 minutes.

We'll definitely be back.

Two parts to this park, grass ocean view and parking lot semi-ocean view (actually not that bad). Looks like Sunday and Monday arrivals usually score a ocean view grass site.

The campground is really a long narrow parking area with the front row of sites facing the Gulf and the back row of sites facing the front row’s butt ends. Front row sites have a covered picnic table and grill, back row sites have only a picnic table. Malaquite is all first-come, first served. Since there are no hookups we were surprised to find all the RV sites taken on a Sunday afternoon. We squeezed the coach into a tent site and checked with the campground host to make sure that was ok for one night
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There is free camping right on the beach here, but we wanted to scope it out in the CRV before taking the RV off road. You can camp on North Beach which is about five miles long and was nearly deserted when we checked it out or on the very popular South Beach which extends 60 miles along the coast. Four-wheel drive is recommended after mile marker 5, but there were plenty of campers and lots of traffic right on the beach. North Beach got my vote and we planned on moving there Monday morning.

Then the very friendly and helpful campground host, Paul, came by around dinnertime on Sunday and offered us a front row space (#7) that had just opened up. We decided to just stay at Malaquite and enjoy our good fortune. It’s not quite as nice, nor as private, as a beachside spot but neither do we have to worry about getting stuck. We were told the going rate for a tow from the beach is about $3000. That seems absurd, but I’m not willing to be a test case. :) Both North and South beaches have an area of loose sand near the entrance/exit – but once you’re out on the beach the driving and camping areas were fine. We drove on both beaches in the CRV and would have felt comfortable taking the Class A on either too.

One advantage of Malaquite is that no vehicles are permitted on the beach in front of the campground. It was almost entirely deserted and we enjoyed long walks in total solitude. The campground host offers sturdy garbage bags if you are inclined to lend a hand with beach cleanup. A necessary and never ending task. The campground also has recycling for plastic and aluminum, a real plus since recycling does not seem widely available in east Texas.

Verizon service at Malaquite was very intermittent. Even with the booster we could not get a reliable connection. We would occasionally get a half hour or so of 3G but nothing that lasted for very long.

See our blog post for additional pictures.

We really like this place for a few beach days, and while it was more crowded than a lot of places we like to stay it was way better than some of the private RV parks on the beach. (and we were too chicken to park right on the sand with a storm predicted while we were going to be there) We pulled in around 1pm on Wednesday and there were plenty of sites available including 2 on the water side. We really liked being on the end towards the tent sites where it was a little more private, but I can see how this place would be less enjoyable on the parking lot side, so could be hit or miss. The two down sides were next to no cell or internet on verizon without our booster on, and even with it there would be a few glitch-y times. The other draw back to being on the water side was we were constantly being bombarded with sea spray, to the point where it would drip off our window screens. All a small price to pay to be on a huge awesome beach, but it definitely took a couple different washes to get all the salt off the airstream,

Without boosting we had 1x or no service on verizon. Boosted we had 2 bars LTE.

Upon visiting Padre Island NS, we decided to camp at Malaquite for our first night to get the lay of the land. Even mid week, all dune side spots were taken, so we were opposite, in parking lot accommodations.

However after experiencing the on beach camping at South Beach, I don't think I would camp at Malaquite! You could be ON the beach seeing and hearing the waves and beautiful sunsets while camping at South Beach for free, or paying $8/night to camp behind a dune (no views of the beach) or close to the dunes on asphalt.

All the sites are close together and in one long row. Half back up to the beach and half the other way. Nice sunrise across the dunes and the ocean. Bathrooms and showers were clean. The real drawback, for us, was the concert of generators that ran from late afternoon right up until quiet time at 10:00 p.m. Out neighbor's generator was right outside our bedroom window. If we hadn't had our windows closed, it would have been pretty unbearable - coming from both sides. We decided to join the band and fire our up as well.

Its a parking lot right by the beach, with showers and restrooms-- there's enough distance between you and the waves that you don't end up with sand in every bit of your stuff. It made going to the beach bearable for me-- I can't stand sand getting into my tent. The views were great, park host was very friendly. Its a short walk to the Visitor's Center. Couldn't swim since it was still too cold, but we had fun playing on the beach, getting to know our neighbors and playing cards by our campfire. Super windy, and if you camp directly on the actual beach in a tent (which I have done) the waves are SUPER LOUD, but from the campsites, they were fine. Texas State Aquarium is about 30 mins away, as is the USS Lexington, if you are interested in that. Put your food/shoes up at night-- coyotes came into camp on our second night and stole my husband's sandals! LOL.

This is an incredibly clean and nice beach for family. We visited on a Saturday in Spring; and there were not a lot of swimmers; but many people just out enjoying the area... like walking the dog. The campgrounds are quite a ways from the beach. We camped primitively directly on North Beach because the sand was too soft at South Beach, at the time, for the two-wheel drive sedan. Had a wonderful time for a windy spring day.

Don't get confused by signs in Corpus Christi about exiting the highway to "North Beach." The National Sea Shore Park is almost 25-miles remotely from the city. The native untouched dunes are beautiful as you drive away from Corpus to the island.

Enjoy :-)