Beach Accessibility

People come from all over the world to enjoy the beautiful beaches on South Padre Island. Therefore, making the beaches accessible is a top priority for the City.

To promote accessibility, the City has:

28 beach access points

19 accesses have parking

400+ parking spaces at accesses

30+ of those being handicap spaces

All accesses either have a walk-over or an access-mat making them wheelchair accessible (pictures below)

Current and future projects are helping create a more accessible beach for everyone!

In early 2010 the City received 6 accessibility chairs (pictured below). Accessibility chairs are amphibious wheelchairs that are beach and surf accessible. With the addition of these new accessibility chairs, the Texas Land Commission Jerry Patterson declared South Padre Island beaches the “most accessible in Texas”.

To check out an accessibility chair, please contact the South Padre Island's Fire Department at (956) 761-3040.

In addition, the City of South Padre Island has handicapped accessibility transportation. All of the Island Metro buses meet ADA requirements and are equipped with wheelchair lifts. They also offer Paratransit services, which permits the handicapped passenger to be picked up from anywhere along the designated route and transported to any of our beach accesses. The passenger requesting the Paratransit service must complete an application, which includes being evaluated by a doctor. To view and download the Paratransit application please click here. All applications need to be turned in at the Island Metro Administrative Offices at 321 Padre Boulevard.