South Padre Island Spring Break Trip

Spring break is the best time of the year for any college student. While going to school at the University of Minnesota I did not want to miss out on ANYTHING. Living the college dream (so far in debt you would not know until you graduated) we decided to plan out first spring break trip to South Padre Island. Kelly and I have always been travel partners but this year we had paige along for our fun ride. Most decide to road trip down there, but we had decided to fly. Paige’s grandma was in her mid 80’s and wanted to go down to see her sister that stays there during Minnesota’s winter months. So we decided to make sure she got down there safely. We left on a Sunday Brownsville South Padre Island Airport mid morning and were met by Paige’s great aunt! She drove us to the local grocery store to get a few essentials all spring-breakers get before heading into their week. We were traveling on a budget so we stayed at the Ramada by Wyndham & Suites South Padre Island. The rate each night was very reasonable. Although it was an older hotel the staff took pride in customer experience. The rooms were very large and the pools were kept clean. The continental breakfast was amazing! This hotel was right on the beach and the bus line so it was easy to get around the island. One great thing about being in South Padre during spring break was there was fresh shrimp everywhere. One interesting thing to note is that if you are not traveling here during spring break the island basically shuts down. We were there from Sunday until Thursday.

Most of our days were spent on the beach but we did take a few fun adventures out. We walked down to the Sea Turtle Inc. This was such an eye opening experience. Learning about turtles, how our waste is affecting them, and the realities of turtles making it in the wild. We were informed about different ways we can help and were able to see a few turtles that were in need of help. These turtles were rescued by volunteers. Most were missing a limb due to garbage getting stuck on them and the limb falling off or being hit by propellers. Another fun adventure we went on was a shrimp boat tour by Osprey Tours. They taught us about the shrimp industry. We were able to have a shrimp boil right on the boat for lunch! One of the best parts about this tour is that a few dolphins followed our boat the whole time we were out in the water and were jumping in our boat waves!

A night club we found ourselves at almost every night was the Wanna Wanna Inn Beach Bar & Grill. The cover charges were a little aggressive (around $80 a night). They wanted you to buy a club pass for around $500, which would have been worth it if we were there on the weekend. The party was extremely fun and the dance floor was a huge deck that overlooked the ocean.

The food was amazing on the island. We mostly made ramen in our coffee pot and pizza rolls in our microwave but when we did go out we made sure to satisfy our seafood cravings. One awesome spot I would totally recommend is Daddy’s Seafood & Cajun Kitchen. The shrimp was amazing and the drinks were spot on. Another place we had to try out was BurgerFi. Still dreaming of this burger as we speak. Definitely worth the visit. The last place we visited was Whataburger. Obviously on the bucket list as we were told this is a southern thing! The food was great! Thursday we headed out in the afternoon and we were ready to get off the island and back home. It was one of those vacations where you were glad to be home.