Padre Balli County Park Campground

This is a county park located right off the beach on North Padre Island. It was a large asphalt paved camping tarmac with permanent wooden shaded tables. Sites are tight when crowded.

The asphalt has pretty much crumbled into gravel 3/2016 and the wooden shelters rather shabby but sericable. Management tells us they will begin a complete new rehab of facilities beginning April of this year.

Convenient to the Gulf beach with Bob Hall Pier and restaurant a very close walk. This is a busy place. Lots of local use, a place for large family gatherings on weekends and holidays.

If you need a reasonably priced place to stay and the National Seashore campgrounds are full, this is the nearest alternative place. You can stay here overnight and drive out to the NP in the morning to catch an early vacancy at Malaquite or Bird Island Basin. It is about a 20 mile drive into the Park.

Happy with this Park. Gave it 4 stars due to cost and location. Good value for the area and they are in the process of updating the park. An entire new section should be opening soon. Very short walk to pier and beach. The pier has a bar and grill that was pretty good. We had a view of dunes which helped protect from wind. Solid 4 bars of Verizon. Never checked out the restrooms/showers but there is a laundry. Enjoyed our stay.

Me and my family have been here several times we truly enjoy it you are literally a 34 minute walk from the beach there’s a restaurant there also that has live music at night and there is also a fishing pier I would highly recommend this as a stop over if you’re ever in Corpus Christi

We've stayed here a few times and plan on making return trips. The location is pretty great being almost right on the beach but still close enough to the city if you need to head that way. Have a larger RV with 50 AMP connection we had to stay in their upgraded camping area. All sites are concrete pads with full hookups and have 20/30/50 AMP connections. The campsites are not packed together either so you have a bit of room between you and your neighbors. The park also offers discounts for a weekly stay.

We've been coming to Padre Balli RV Park for nearly 20 years, and always enjoyed the proximity to the beach and the Texas Gulf of Mexico - we just like the ambience and the environment.

Many reviews of Padre Balli RV Park on the web describe the older section here, which is still available for $25/night, but is in disrepair, as most reviews note, and they describe low maintenance conditions, poor hookups, pot-holed parking, and cramped spaces.

In mid-2018, a major renovation was completed at Padre Balli RV Park which added an additional 50 very spacious back-in and pull-through full hookup sites featuring concrete pads, new bathroom facilities, and new asphalt roads. It's a very different camping experience now - It ain't 'cher grandpa's RV park anymore.

If you're going to camp at the beach, is there anything better than being nestled right behind the dunes, within a short stroll of the shore with the sounds of surf to lull you to sleep at night? The only thing that can make it better is nice facilities, and the 2018 expansion at Padre Balli checks that box as well. The original camping area is in pretty sad shape, but the new "premium" section with full hookups, including 50A, is outstanding. Our price reflects the weekly rate of $275 plus a $4 credit card convenience fee, and we found the price very fair for immediate ocean access, full hookups, and clean bath facilities with nice hot showers. The location at the south end of the Padre Island community means that it is easy to get into the national seashore (including by walking down the beach) but all the attractions and services of Corpus Christi are a short drive away. The beach here is wide and flat, and allows beach driving for those who wish to do so.

Since we have a rear panoramic window we preferred to be on the outside of the loop, and loved our site backing up to serene grasslands with great sunset views (ask for site numbers in the 40s to be in this area) which was also close to the bathhouse. There are also plenty of pull through sites but they are in the center of the camping loop. All sites are extremely long, can fit any size rig, and are flat pavement and concrete. There is no foliage between sites, but site separation is pretty normal for a state/county park so there is plenty of outdoor space for every one to enjoy. I would not choose to stay in the older (but cheaper) section since those are basically just adjacent parking spots with a few decrepit shade shelters but virtually no outdoor space. We liked that the park has a coded gate limiting access to the camping loops so random beach visitors don't drive through the camping areas. The restaurant at the pier had food that was average at best, but we liked having it within easy walking distance to enjoy beer and appetizers in the afternoon.

Cell service on AT&T was quite strong, consistent with a flat, populated area. Speeds on AT&T: Download 30.77 Mbps Upload 28.46 Mbps. Zippy!

Anyone with any sense would pony up the $50 a night and stay in the REALLY nice, paved, well-spaced, level, full-hookup sites on the smooth road with the lovely views over the pond, with the modern bathhouse and laundry I might add. We didn't and settled for the parking lot of broken asphalt, gravel and sand, dilapidated covered picnic tables, and water and electric (20/30 only) for $25 a night. These are sites numbered A1-10, C1-10, D1-12 and E1-12. But it was just fine. We had immediate access to the beach, the huge pier ($3 entry fee good until 5 AM) with the bar and grill. I'm posting several stunning photos of our stay. Sure, the pier area was busy but completely out of sight and sound of the camping area. From the parking area, you could drive right onto the beach which stretches down through the Padre Island National Seashore for dozens of miles. Padre Balli is essentially the last gasp of civilization on Park Road as you head towards and National Seashore so it is a great jumping-off point for visiting or camping there. Considering I just wrote a review for a campground in San Antonio justifying a bit over $50/night, it seems odd to balk at that price for such a unique setting on a barrier island. It was tempting of course and we were envious of our neighbors across the pond. $50 seems a bit high but I guess they couldn't make it too attractive or they would be overrun. There was plenty of room in our lettered area as there were fewer than a dozen other campers, some looking like they had been there for quite a while. It would not be very tolerable if this area was full as the sites are pretty tight. The weird thing is that there are some wonderful sites right on the pond with 30 amp power and water but we were told they are reserved for tenters only. Needless to say, we very much enjoyed our stay and would love to go back when the weather and our nasal passages are clearer. We were able to get reasonable cell coverage, better with a booster as well as 20 something OTA TV channels.

After a couple of days boondocking on the beach, we were ready for electricity and water and sewer connections and cell service! This campground is right there on the beach. Easy to run out and drive up and down the beach, let the dog play in the waves. The $50 fee is for the upgraded sites around the pond. Footpath winds around the pond. No shade but ample grassy buffer zones from neighbors. Quiet time is 10 pm to 9 am, but there is no onsite supervision overnight so noisy partying campers still carry on and have to be warned by a call to the Corpus Christi police.

When one is boondocking on the city/county or national seashore, it is imperative to find a close by dump and water fill station. This is the closest alternative station at a very low rate. The Malaquite Campground inside the Padre Island National Seashore was our preferred site in the past but it is closed off as of this submission.

Quiet and Clean. Concrete pads a huge. Little pricy for the amenities, but it is on the beach. Walking distance to the beach. The area is prone to winds; secure your stuff, or it may blow away. Looking forward to my next stay.