Beach and Bay Access in Brazoria County

The main access road is State Highway 332 which comes into the beach at Surfside. There is a small West Marine store in Bridge Harbor on the mainland side of the bridge if you forgot any boat equipment. An $8 annual permit good from January to December is required to park or enter any of the beaches actually in the city of Surfside. The city extends from the jetties to a couple of miles down the road going northeast to Galveston. A left hand turn at the light just off the bridge gets you on the Bluewater Highway (County Road 227) which continues on to San Luis Pass and a bridge to Galveston. The restaurants in town along the Bluewater Highway include the Red Snapper Inn (seafood) and Kitty’s Purple Cow (open for breakfast, lunch and dinner). Once you get out of the city, you get to various access roads for the county beach. The beaches are posted at a 20 mph speed limit. You do not really need to go faster than that on the beach. The county beaches are one-way (toward Galveston) during the summer. You can get back to the Bluewater Highway to return in the opposite direction. Also, I believe glass bottles are prohibited on the beach for good reason.

Drum Bay can be reached from a small ramp accessible on County Road 257F, which is in the San Luis Beach subdivision. Drum Bay is the furthest west of the bays that make up the Galveston Bay system. Both Drum Bay and Christmas Bay are shallow. You can see a previous unused canal through Drum Bay that was dredged by slaves in the 1850s. The Intercoastal Canal now runs further inland. Christmas Bay can be reached from the Bluewater Highway by turning left on County Road 257S. Christmas Bay is usually considered the most scenic and natural of the bays that make up the Galveston Bay system. Christmas Point divides Christmas Bay from Bastrop Bay. There is often good fishing at Christmas Point because the current has to flow through a narrow pass, so the fish can wait just outside the current for smaller fish to pass by.

Almost to San Luis Pass, there is a county park on the left. There was a small entrance fee, but the park has a boat ramp, restrooms, campgrounds etc. Also, there are about 3 rooms for staying in which my sister has used it in the past for sea kayak courses.

Possible sea kayak trips from San Luis County Park are Titlum Tatlum Bayou (named from something in a 19th Century poem), Cold Pass (maybe should Coal Pass since it was probably named for a sunk boat carrying coal) and San Luis Pass. It is not recommended to swim in the beach close to San Luis Pass because there are often strong currents near the pass.

Back to Surfside, some Houston Canoe Club kayakers have gathered for surfing their whitewater kayaks in the surf. The meeting place has usually been the park at the jetties because the jetties has outdoor showers to rinse off once you are finished being in the surf. Other facilities available at the park include a small store and restrooms. The kayak surfing usually occurs when someone thinks there will be some good waves at the beach. Also, we do not usually have surfing at the jetty beach during the summers because of the crowds of swimmers. The kayaking is usually announced a day or two in advance on the Houston Canoe Club and Bayou City listservs. The beach by the jetties is not the only beach where it is possible to kayak surf, but we are used to meeting there.

I will be going to Surfside quite often on Sunday mornings during January and February, because I am on the planning committee for the Surfside St. Patrick’s Parade. The parade will actually be March 17 this year because that is a Saturday. The parade usually starts around 1pm at City Hall and will end near the corner of 332 and Bluewater Highway. Usually, it is best to get to City Hall a couple hours before to see the floats and the trophy presentations. I will be marching with the Confederates in the SCV in the parade. The gathering places are the bars in Surfside. My favorite is the Jetty Shack, which is on the way between the jetties and Surfside City Hall. There will also be an Irish Costume Contest at Stallman Park on Saturday night, March 10, 2007 which is a week before the parade.

Quintana and Bryan Beaches are reached by continuing through Freeport on FM 523 and FM 1495. A new fixed bridge has recently replaced the old swing bridge. Quintana County Park has the beach closest to the jetties. There is no vehicle access to the beach there and it is too far to take a boat from the parking lot. However, it is possible to drive on the beach further down. Also, no parking permits are required for Quintana and Bryan Beaches. It may be possible to drive down the beach all the way to the mouth of the Brazos. Another way to get to the mouth of the Brazos is by a way of a boat ramp off a levee road which can be reached off State 36. It is about one mile from the ramp past the Intercoastal Canal to the mouth of the Brazos. It is probably best to have a sea kayak to get to the mouth of the Brazos. There is no vehicle access between the mouth of the Brazos and the mouth of the San Bernard. I have heard that the mouth of the San Bernard has become silted up so you can no longer count on getting down it to the beach. The way to the San Bernard mouth was by a boat ramp at the end of FM 2918, but I would not use it again until someone gets the sand dredged out of the San Bernard.