Porretto Beach
Galveston, TX
Porretto Beach has run the same stretch of sand at 10th Street and Seawall Boulevard in Galveston for around 70 years, a family operated beach concession with on the sand parking and rental chairs and umbrellas set up before most visitors even find a spot to park elsewhere. It's less about scenery and more about convenience, a place where everything you need for the day is already there.
The rental setup and on sand parking make it an easy, no planning beach day, though the twenty dollar parking fee and the crowd it draws keep it from being a quiet local spot.
How we score beachesPay the parking fee and drive right onto the sand instead of hunting for a street spot first. The pass covers exit and re-entry, so leaving for lunch and coming back doesn't cost twice.
Parking is twenty dollars per car, nine in the morning to seven at night, with on the sand parking included in that fee.
Cars park directly on the sand next to the seawall, so there's no walk in from a lot.
Leashed dogs are allowed.
Summer weekends are the busiest, with Gulf water warming into the mid 80s by August. Hurricane season runs June through November.
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