Crystal Beach
Crystal Beach, TX
Crystal Beach stretches along the Bolivar Peninsula in Galveston County, a wide flat run of sand where trucks share the beach with beach chairs and the horizon rarely has another building in it. The peninsula runs 27 miles end to end, and this stretch near the town of Crystal Beach is the easiest to reach off the ferry from Galveston or the highway down from High Island.
Locals love the drive on access and the elbow room the full 27 miles provides, though the sticker system and occasional truck traffic on the sand take some getting used to.
How we score beachesYou'll want the Bolivar Beach Parking Sticker before you set up, ten dollars for the year and sold at shops along the highway. Skip it and you're gambling on a ticket, since patrols do check.
Beach driving and parking require the Bolivar Beach Parking Sticker, ten dollars annually, available at most convenience stores along Highway 87. The stretch east toward the Chambers County line stays free without a sticker.
Cars can drive right onto the packed sand at a 15 mph limit, so there's no walk in from a lot, just an easy roll from the pavement onto the beach.
Leashed dogs are welcome on the beach year round.
Gulf water warms into the low 80s by August, with hurricane season running June through November worth watching closely on this exposed stretch of coast. Winters stay mild but windy.
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