Galveston Ocean Seawall Beaches

They don’t call it the Red Neck Riviera for nothin’.
Yikes.
If you don’t mind chocolate water, some Bull sharks close to shore, potential hazardous water, crazy finds in the water and on this day crazy drunks… come here.
The first time I saw the beach we were on the pier, so the view of the waves coming on the shore was nice.
The next time we came we decided to stop and maybe walk along the beach. Well, we pulled into one of these beaches along the seawall and a truck comes roaring down the beach and donuts around the sand. What? Hello? There are children here. We didn’t even make it out of our car. It just wasn’t safe. Don’t get me started on the fashion statements I saw here.
So we drove down a bit more and stopped at another rocky seawall beach. My kids were running around excited and enjoying the waves and the beach when my little one comes running up showing me some seaweed he found.
Ugh, it wasn’t seaweed, it was a hair extension! WTBLANK? Disgusting!
Maybe I went on Hillbilly Day?
I was warned not to come here.
Never again.

Just a beach. It’s alright. There’s plenty of street parking, and there’s plenty of water. The water is quite brown though, and there are big rock chunks that jut out into the water so you can walk over and take a look. Worth going to if you like the beach, and the sand is smooth!

My family and I took a family camping trip at Galveston beach. Well my first thought after my mother proposed the idea was, «ewe I don’t think so,» but I’m glad I went. We arrived right at sunset, quickly set up our tent and bond fire. We cooked soup and roasted hot-​dogs over the fire, listen to music and gazed at the stars. The next day we woke up to a beautiful sunset, the water was surprisingly warm so we all decided to take a swim. Even though it might sounds strange, Galveston is great place to campout!

Okay, so yeah… Galveston’s not California or Florida. Not the prettiest beaches you’ll visit in your life. But it’s an hour from Houston — and a great day or weekend trip! Rent chairs and an umbrella or bring your own blankets and chairs and enjoy a lazy day on the beach! There’s plenty of beach space — even on Labor Day weekend, there was more than enough beach for everyone!

West Beach is definitely less busy and you can park right up on the beach! Further East the water is cooler and the sand is actual sand :)

Galveston is fabulous and so are its beaches ! Beautiful soft sand and warm water what more could you ask for?! We adore it and try to play every day! Come visit!

The beach is okay, lots of trash though. Wish people would clean up after themselves.

From the Interner we learned about the high fecal readings in the Galveston waters. Apparently, one hird of Galveston’s beaches had potentially dangerous high readings. Nowhere were there any alerts posted on the beaches. Really?

This is our first time frequenting the beach by the seawall as we usually head to Stewart Beach for our day trips to the beach. However, we got a cute little beachhouse this past weekend and walking across the street to the beach is just so much nicer. It wasn’t crowded, even on the first big dummer weekend. The beach (sand) is very clean and the water (while still Galveston muddy) is awesome! I can always keep a good eye on the kids because there aren’t that many other swimmers, which makes it Much more relaxing for me. And when were done swimming, the carnival pier, papa johns, ben and jerrys and a bunch of local eateries are all within walking distance.

lived here since 2013… it’s NOT perfect… but, it’s ours

They have done a lot of work on the beach~ looks nice! Very clean and family atmosphere!

Came here for the Bike Festival and it was pretty cool. As I saw a lot of cool motocycles and bikers. Though, Galveston beach has classic memories for me. I don’t care whether if they have an overcrowded amount of seaweed, or if you have to pay for parking. The beach is nice and it makes me feel as if I am a child again and my parents are taking me here.
You can usually get out of paying for parking and plus the seaweed helps with the ecology of the ocean. It traps bad things from harming you. so actually its a good thing.
The beach may sometimes be dirty, but they have a program called adopt-​a-​beach where local volunteers go out and clean up the beaches. You can actually volunteer at

Its a great opportunity to help out your local beaches, instead of complain about how filthy the beaches are. They are like that because people do not know how to clean up after themselves.
I love this beach. it may not be the best beach in the South, but its not a bad beach either.

I am a Houstonian, and Galveston is not a fun place anymore. And now that they are charging money for everything, forget it! There is way too much seaweed. It doesn’t have to be as great as Florida or CA, but why should it be disgusting? They now charge $ 8 for parking ulness you want to hike a mile with your beach gear. If you don’t want to pay for parking, you either have to walk quite a long ways with all your stuff, or then you have to pay for chairs, drinks, food, etc. Ironically, the signs claim visitors are paying all that money for parking to «keep the beaches clean.» What a joke. I’ll save my money and go on vacation next time.

Hands down most disgusting beach in the world. Sea weeds everywhere. Clean up your beach people!!! City smells like sewage!!! Only reason I’ll step into Galveston again is to board a cruise ship. I’m from TX & Corpus & Port Aransas beaches are much nicer & cleaner.

I enjoyed my time spent here and the great pictures that I got! I am used to whiter sand beaches and it stormed the entire time that we were here!
Since it is the off season the beaches are deserted! I enjoyed being able to walk down the beach without seeing a sould but, it was cold with the wind coming in off the ocean!
There really isn’t much in the way of shelling on this beach either. I did enjoy the view of the oil rigs at night out on the water. This is a good place for a quick weekend getaway but, I wouldn’t spend a «beach vacation» for a week here! I was also disappointed that you can’t see the sunset from here!
It does give you a quick beach fix within the State of Texas though!

Galveston water is not very pretty. Nor is the sand. It’s a good day-​trip place from Houston, but if you really want better beaches head to Port Aransas or South Padre.
The actual public beach is on the north end, as the middle is just full of rocks. You can go towards the south end as well, as usually it’s pretty empty.
The Pleasure Pier was a nice addition, as you can also visit restaurants and bars along Seawall Drive.
I’ll come here to get away from Houston, but I won’t expect Cali sand.

I mean… Its not Maui Cali or Florida so don’t have expectations for it to be.
Be optimistic! Enjoy the nature and the experience! Yeah the water is salty and not the clearest but find a Beach Access where you are comfortable and enjoy the time.
Don’t let expectations of a clears beach ruin your trip.
Make the most of the area and enjoy :)

If you come to Galveston expecting glamour, you are out of your mind. This is not Hawaii, or anywhere people go on a vacation. There is a seaman’s attitude you can find only in SE Texas, starting in Seabrook and moving South. The restaurants are casual, cheap, and good, the hotels serve as a roof over your head, and the beach is as good as it gets on the Gulf.
People in general are beer drinkers who spend their days moving from the boat to a bar to eat dinner and rack it up for the night, a sunburn toasting their arms that are uncovered by their Jimmy Buffet shirts and shorts.
That said, I can’t believe how much the Seawall has improved since I would spend time there between 2000 – 2003. I was here in March and the air was fresh, the water was clear, and the sand on the beaches was smooth and clean, no rocks. The jetties have been reformed and are safe. No bottles, very little seaweed, and and lots of room to run and play. They have done a tremendous job cleaning up the place since Ike raised hell, and you wouldn’t even know what had hit them a mere 5 years ago.
I haven’t been out on the Bolivar Peninsula since the storm, but from what I experienced last week, I was really impressed with how nice Stewart and other Seawall beaches were cleaned up.
I still don’t see where you «pay» to go to the beach. I always park along the seawall? Shrug.

The first visit to Galveston.
It was cold and very windy. But, we had fun regardless of the weather.
The beaches looked great. We will be back in warmer weather for sure.

Growing up in Kansas, I always said I wanted to live near the water when I got older.
I did live near Cape Cod in college but those waters are too cold. I visited the Pacific Northwest when I was younger and those beaches are too rocky. Then I moved to the Clear Lake area, about 20 minutes from Galveston and these beaches are just right!
Yes, there can be a lot of seaweed, that’s to prevent beach erosion. It plays a very vital part in actually keeping sand on our beaches down here.
You can usually find a nice secluded spot, even in summer, if you drive further west. Or if you want the bathrooms and amenities, pay your money and stay at Stewart Beach. But they do have neat little porta potties set up now on the seawall which is nice, as peeing in the water is just gross. Seriously, don’t do it.
These beaches soothe me, and make me realize how lucky I am to live so close to such a beautiful place. All the people that say it isn’t this place, or it isn’t that place are completely right. It isn’t. It’s Galveston; with all it’s quirky, crazy charm, and I love it here.