Beach Park At Isla Blanca — Attraction in South Padre Island

My kids (13 and 16) rated this place an 8.5, honestly I did not have high hopes but I left really impressed! We went on a Thursday (June 2024). This review does not include any food or drinks (we packed a lunch and took a break in our cars AC), the little kid areas, or the cabana or palapa rentals. If I was in a group I would have rented something but it was just 4 of us and it’s very easy to get back to your locker for anything you might need. We weren’t interested in hanging out outside of the water but there were many tables and chairs and lounge chairs that we could have used if we’d liked for free. Personally I thought the price was a little high going into it but I really think we got our moneys worth and I was not upset we paid that much at the end of the day.

We parked for free and then walked straight to the ticket counter. They check bags but are just looking for glass I believe. We were able to easily purchase tickets at the kiosk, they gave us our wristbands and then went over to check in to a locker. They have 3 sizes, they are $15/20/25 depending on size and you can access them with a code as many times as you want throughout the day. Nice restrooms, showers, and changing areas. Then we headed to the main water entrance, picked up tubes, and were off. They have single and double tubes, everyone MUST have a tube but you don’t have to stay in it the entire time while on the lazy river (they tell you which parts you have to be in the tube for).

This water park is unlike any other I have seen or been to. In order to go on the rides you must enter the lazy river and enter the ride via the lazy river… think driving down a highway and exiting… the entrance to each ride is just off the main river, you could literally stay in the water all day if you wanted to.

There are 5-6 big rides (that I remember) and a couple other tube chutes. After the ride entrances section the river turns into a rapids area and let me tell you it took us by surprise at first but we ended up doing it about 20 times throughout the day it was great.

The waiting time varied… 5 minute wait for some and we waited up to 25 minutes for one ride. We are impatient and actually got out of line a couple times just due to the fact that we could go back out to the river and keep floating until we found a shorter ride or just went through the rapids.

I noticed there were so many lifeguards and people working, it almost seemed like overkill but was nice to know they were fully staffed. Also everyone was super friendly. You’re just going around and around this river and people naturally bump into everyone. Everyone apologized (as if it was their fault when it clearly was just the river and no big deal) which was just really nice. We didn’t encounter one rude person the entire day and all the lifeguards were really nice.

A lot of people wore water shoes. We went barefoot and didn’t have any issues. I also rode all day with a baseball cap and sunglasses and don’t have any issues!

I’d definitely recommend this place and if I ever find myself in SPI again I would definitely come back. One tip… there is one ride you have to exit the water for… it’s right before the rapids drop off on the right, there isn’t really a sign. It’s called Tempest and you climb like 1.5 flights of stairs to get to the top. It was my favorite ride and there was never a wait because no one knows about it. And it spits you out into the rapids which just makes it even more fun (most of the other rides end after the...

Believe the bad reviews do not learn the hard way like we did ! I added over 30 pics from our 6.5.21 visit. This place is beyond ran down! Not sure why the health dept is , city is allowing this place to stay open. Upon arriving we were greeted with debris and trash everywhere in the parking area. Walking inside you are then not greeted by employees that do not know what is going on. Check in area is confusing so good luck finding where to go or employees that are even happy to be working. We purchased the 200$ package which included 4 drinks and meals. Once we tried to use those bands we found out they were out of ice and shocker.. no one knew when or how to get more ice. Food was running low, the option was burger or chicken sandwich, they were out of strips (again another let down you paid for and didn’t receive). This is where I feel this park needs to be shut down, it is extremely overcrowded and there is not enough park staff/ life guards per guests. There was two rides closed while we were there. So floating the river is your only option unless you have little ones, there is a castle mini water park area for them to play. Floating the river you are literally A$$ holes to elbows, you will float past areas where lifeguards are supposed to be but aren’t . My favorite was when my son fell of his float and was yelled at repeatedly to “GET BACK IN THE TUBE” 4 times even though he was struggling and trying too. Lifeguard was probably 18/19 years old and you could tell she hated children and her job. There is a ramp that takes you up by tube, where there is one staff member that is forced to push thousands of people up all by himself with no help. I felt so bad for him as he was absolutely exhausted. He was politely asking people to take stairs as he couldn’t keep up with the demand alone. There is no employees removing empty tubes from the river. There has to be 100s, which caused the already over crowded river to be unbearable. As if that wasn’t bad enough there was lawn chairs in the lazy river !! What in the heck… how is staff not seeing this or giving a damn !? Another safety issue ignored! There was not one police or security in the park that we saw and we were there 5 hours. Luckily no fights were going on, had there been good luck ! Zero management walking around, only teen employees. Life jacket area was destroyed and rummaged through. Again no one was there to restock or manage that area. Half the park is open like stated in multiple reviews yet someone from the staff is commenting that all rides are up! Lies!! For the price you are paying , this is an absolute ripoff. If you are going to charge this much at-least hire and train proper staff, management and RENOVATE! Fix and re-open the rest of the park, mow the jungle y’all have aloud to run rampant though out the park. Remove falling down and dilapidated park structures that isn’t being used. You cannot continue to blame the “freeze “ for the lack of tropics planted. It’s a safety hazard and an eye sore. If you are seeing pictures that are pleasant just know they are old and from Schlitterbahn and not from this park. False advertisement at its finest ! My Pictures DO...

Upon arrival, we were informed 2 of the rides werent working. They offered us a refund, but we chose to go in anyway. I appreciate that we were warned, however, there were more than 2 rides shut down. The surf thing wasnt working, and neither was a half of the lazy river for a chunk of our time there. 3 other rides were shut down the entire time, though I forget the names. I guess we were warned, but not the full scope. The swim-up bar was also closed, which was a huge disappointment for sure.

The lines took forever, but on the bright side, all lines were off of the lazy river, meaning we got to laze in the shade, in the water, rather than waiting standing on hot pavement. In fact, everything was accessible via lazy river, which honestly is genius. Every Waterpark should take note. The beach access was kind of nice, but it was a lengthy, unshaded, frankly miserable walk there and back. We paid $220+tax for the family pack which was advertised as 4 wristbands, and 4 meals with drink passes. When we went to redeem the meal pass, they gave us 3 options for meals (even though they advertised more) and would only give us lemonade as a drink option. As I understand it, a water main on the island broke, so that explains that I guess, but when we asked about the bottled drinks (water, soda) sitting right next to the lemonade, we were told no. But to be fair, the family pack was only like $30~ more than 4 wristbands, so I guess we didn't lose out on money there.

The inner tubes are free, and lockers aren't too expensive. They blamed the shut down rides on lack of staff. Personally I think that's just an easy excuse for employers to use to take away from the fact that they don't want to pay their people enough to keep them interested or give them full time benefits, but that's neither here nor there.

Overall, we would probably give this place another chance if it was running at full capacity. If more things had been open, it would have definitely been worth it. The rides that were open were fun, and the employees that were there were nice. They looked like they were beginning some construction too, which is cool, I just hope they can run their current operation to its full capability first. I also made sure to be detailed because I noticed management...