This beach is utterly disgusting. Literally trash everywhere you walk. The sea life is growing on the trash it's been there so long. The community of homes is so beautiful, you'd think they'd put some money into keeping their beaches clean. We went for the sole purpose of sea shells, luckily. There were LOADS of man 'o wars, everywhere. We were watching them get washed up. I don't know how anyone would let their children swim somewhere that they could get stung by something so incredibly painful. Even when they are dead. Wouldn't recommend this beach. read more

Kid friendly and appeared very clean. People were very nice when our truck got stuck they helped push us out.

I love driving out here! Not many beaches you can do this! Definitely worth a trip to go visit! read more

Crystal Beach - Beaches Near Me - Bolivar Peninsula, Texas

This is the place I call home for now and I can say I LOVE THIS BEACH!! From being able to drive on the beach, the fishing, the atmosphere doesn't have too much riff raft, and just a great place to make memories on your vacation, weekend trip, or to better yet call your HOME! Come check out my beach and let me know how you like it too by leaving me a comment, like, compliment if you are feeling really frisky and sweet!! Much love, peace, and chicken grease my beautiful yelp peeps read more

Crystal Beach - Hubby caught a catfish, not too good of eating though is what my dad has always said about saltwater catfish! - Beaches Near Me - Bolivar Peninsula, Texas

Great beach!!! My favorite beach in Texas. Very clean and great people hanging out. https://www.airbnb.com/h/flipflop1 read more

Crystal Beach - Beaches Near Me - Bolivar Peninsula, Texas

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I haven't been to crystal Beach since maybe my teens or early 20s. I remember it being too much fun. Maybe because I was so young and had the party mentality. I mean that's what you're going to get there. It is NON STOP ACTION. 1) Make sure you have a vehicle that is going to get you through deep and fluffy sand. I wouldn't suggest a car. 2) If you want to listen to your own music, it's probably not going to happen. With the booming music of passerbys and possibly the vehicle next you, your probably going to have to settle for Kid Rock, country or the laughable white folks listening to music you shake your booty to at the club. 3) Do bring lawn chairs and lots of snack. A huge pro is that you have your vehicle pulled up to the shore line. It's pretty awesome having everything (but a toilet) at your fingertips. 4) I can't stress enough how wonderful this place is for people watching. I could have written a comedic show if I had my laptop. 5) The folks seem to be happy and friendly. I mean everyone is drinking. 6) I was told if you want to find a quieter spot (and there are some) to drive a bit further down on each end of the peninsula. 7) You must purchase a beach parking permit for $10 . It lasts all season. 8 ) The beach was fairly clean. I had heard otherwise. I didn't see much (if any) trash on the beach. Patrons seemed to be respectful in that aspect. 9) Be expected to enter the world of MAGMA supporters. A minute doesn't go by that you don't see a Trump 2020 flag flickering in the wind. It's something else I tell you. Flags are a "thing" here. 10) I'd definitely go back for the adventure. Maybe find a quieter spot. Maybe I'll be in the mood for the circus. Just depending on the day I want to have. Seems like you can have it all here! read more

Crystal Beach - Driving and parking on the beach. Must purchase a permit. Good through the entire season. - Beaches Near Me - Bolivar Peninsula, Texas

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Crystal Beach is located on Bolivar Island which is accessible by a free ferry from Galveston. This is the first beach that I have seen where cars are welcome to drive. Permits are required and can be purchased for $10 at most local establishments. The beach is patrolled regularly. Access to the beach is through side roads and something the locals se to know. On our off season visit, numerous cars drove down the beach and many golf carts. People were friendly. The beach is a popular place to collect sharks teeth. We found one after looking for over an hour amid crushed shells. There are no public bathroom facilities that we found. This is a nice place to visit if you are looking for a beach without commercialism. Bring a cooler and pack a lunch. read more

Crystal Beach - Beaches Near Me - Bolivar Peninsula, Texas

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We love Crystal Beach! Golf carting on the beach was the most fun. We rented a great Air b&b and went intnhe off season. Be prepared for mosquitoes.. they are not so bad as you get to the second and third story. Watch the kids with all the cars on the beach. read more

Crystal Beach is on the Boliver Peninsula. From Houston, it requires you to go across the ferry from Galveston Island. During peak season, this can be a absolute nightmare due to traffic. It is not uncommon to wait in a ferry line (going and coming) that is 90 minutes or longer. The other route is to take I-10 East out of Houston to Winnie and then travel south to the peninsula. The distance is further but the time is about the same. As far as the beach goes, Crystal Beach is one of the few beaches in Galveston County where you can still drive on the beach. This makes it a popular beach. It can get rowdy during certain weekends. The "Go Topless" event is a Jeep weekend that can get very crowded and rowdy. Unfortunately, the people that attend this event will also leave the beach decimated in their wake. Crystal Beach is not protected by the seawall that protects Galveston. Many hurricanes and tropical storms have destroyed houses and businesses in Crystal Beach. As most things Texas, this town and beach are resilient and always manage to recover. On my last visit to Crystal Beach, I was amazed on how quickly they have seemed to recover from the last natural disaster. Depending upon the tides, seaweed can be a real problem. When it is bad, it is bad. Beach crews cannot keep up and so it simply accrues. It can damper your beach event. During warmer months, the jellyfish can be brutal. Just because you see a 'dead' jellyfish on the beach, don't mess with it. The poison can still sting you even after it is dead. After reading this review, you may wonder why I give it 4-stars. It's simply one of the better beaches in Galveston County. I like it because I can drive on it. I like it because it can get crowded but seems to still be less crowded than the beaches on the Island. If you are comparing it to the clean beaches and white sands of Destin, Florida, you'll be bitterly disappointed. However, when comparing it to other Texas beaches, it deserves the four stars. Enjoy. And remember, wear your sunscreen. read more

Super clean and reserved. A lot of political flags but they didn't bother me to much. read more

Crystal Beach - Ocean view - Beaches Near Me - Bolivar Peninsula, Texas

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So hard to tell if the beach and the waters were nice due to the many patrons zooming through on/in a variety of vehicle. Very cult like atmosphere with numerous vehicles parading at least a few hateful flags. What appeared to be an employee hauling trashcans had a truck with a dozen. I noticed several lots for sale. Perhaps this group are running off the tourists. I know we were convinced not to return. read more

Really did not care for this beach. We went on a Saturday in June with our 2 children under 10. We found it to be extremely dirty with litter in water and on sand. My son pulled a beer can out of the water and there were cigarette butts all over the patch of sand we were set up on. Cars and loud speakers line all up and down on top of each other so you can't even hear your own music or distinguish between each person's speaker. There is a constant parade of trucks, cars, golf carts, buggies that drive up and down all day- would not recommend allowing children to play in the "soft sand" because it's not safe with so much beach traffic. Lots of political flags - just added to the noise and chaos in my opinion. No bathrooms or facilities even though you have to pay for a parking sticker. They did have ice cream trucks which the kids liked. We took very long showers after we returned home. We as a family had fun and just made the most of it but there are plenty of Texas beaches to go to if you're looking for a day trip and I would never recommend this one or go back. read more

Ok let's get the yucky part out of the way 3 stars for the debris and garbage everywhere - that's being generous. There are garbage cans, but overflowing and the curious birds have clearly gone dumpster diving. Broken travel gazebos are at nearly all cans - we counted 20!! I would think a pretty community like this would have garbage service more often. The beach is narrow, but goes for miles! Whats cool is it's dog/family friendly. The surf was a little rough but the wind had picked up. Still could play/swim in water.It's a decent beach for shell hunting, hanging out, having a BBQ with friends and people watching. . It was very diverse yet had a community feel to it. People were very friendly, most everyone waved when we drove by! I forgot to Mention you CAN drive and park on this beach! A permit is required and can be purchased at a local store. We stopped, walked the beach, struck up A conversation with some awesome Texans who were dog lovers. Someone had created some dunes to ride on and There were a few people with ATV's having a blast! This beach gets 5 stars for people watching and friendliness. Also almost everyone had some sort of flag on their vehicle - whether ATV/ROV or a car ( which I find it really weird someone takes their BMW to the beach, but hey whatever). It was much nicer than west end Galveston beach and not insanely packed like east end Galveston. TIP: there are two routes to access beach. 1. The Galveston Ferry - which can take up to 2 hours waiting in lines - but only a 15 min ride to peninsula 2. You can drive around to access on east end - after waiting 2 solid hours to access ferry - we realized we could have gone the 'long way' and been there quicker, plus had sites to see en-route. read more

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Holy Hell you can drive on the beach! When most Louisiana residents think of a beach vacation, they think of heading east. This year I eschewed tradition and headed west to Crystal Beach. Crystal Beach reminds me of Grand Isle. Instead of massive condos, blocking the view, the community of made of up various developments containing beach houses. The houses range from pretty standard camps to multi-million dollar mansions. All are raised, and most are relatively new thanks to the devastation by Hurricane Ike in 2008. The Beach The actual beach area is not particularly clean. When we first arrived the beach and several feet of the water was coated in Sargassum Weed. This super thick seaweed was ugly and difficult to walk through. After a few days the county launched a massive cleanup effort with front end loaders to clean the beach. Once that was done, we still had to navigate the seaweed in the water, but the beach itself was clear. The most interesting feature of this beach, at least for me, was that you could drive and park on the beach. The beach was basically a sand highway where you could drive back and forth from your beach house or just cruise and enjoy the sun. Cruising the beach was pretty easy in a four wheel drive vehicle, but I saw everything from Corvettes to Honda Accords out there. If you stick to the heavily traveled areas you will be fine, but I did see a few stuck vehicles that had tried to venture out into the loose sand. While cruising was free, parking required a $10 beach parking permit that could be purchased at the local grocery store. There was a woman who patrolled the beach checking for permits, but she would sell scofflaws a permit on the spot rather than issue any violation. Since driving on the beach was a relatively new concept for me, I did it a lot. So much in fact that I burned three entire tanks of fuel cruising back and forth. The People Families - If you have kids, find a spot near other families. Party Animals - You will see lots of massive trucks and hard partying youngsters. I feel old even typing that. The later it gets the more of a party atmosphere you will find. Weirdos - There were a few very strange people camping out on the beach over the weekend. I passed one guy who was passed out face down in the sand. I was about to call the cops thinking he was dead, but he moved a little so I just kept on driving. Fishermen - At night especially this beach becomes a fisherman's paradise. Guys with serious shore fishing set ups come out and fish all night. In summary, I've been to better beaches, but Crystal Beach is A-OK. read more

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I absolutely loved this beach. The beach houses here are absolutely amazing and beautiful. What a peaceful and calm place to come and visit to get away from the city. Definitely a small party area when visiting but you also have your own space and peaceful beachy ambience. I cannot wait to come back in come fishing! read more

Crystal Beach - Beaches Near Me - Bolivar Peninsula, Texas

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Disgusting beach. Seaweed everywhere. Worst part is that it's so busy with cars. I felt like my kids were playing in a street!! The beach is so narrow that with the cars driving on the beach there's no way to not be by them. Trash everywhere. read more

Crystal Beach - Beaches Near Me - Bolivar Peninsula, Texas

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Sheriff are really disappointment they would arrest you For any excuse we went camping in this amazing resort which they took very good care of use they Were awesome. But wanted to the beach the kids dog family and we're there having a good time and we wanted to go to the bathroom in as soon as we went there there was a sheriff right there pulling over people and instead giving tickets they were just taking people to jail for any reason so we were stuck there they took the truck and we had to go all the way to Galveston bail somebody out I really don't recommend crystal beach do to the cops really racist read more

Parking at Capacity as usual. I don't understand why the don't let us in if I can see from far that parking is empty read more

Love this beach. My family and i camp and fish on it almost every weekend. You can even make a camp fire. The only thing i wish they had more of is people that cleaned it up more and more patrols during the late nights. Lots of drunks like to go crazy and im always nervous they'll hit our tent. Other than that love this place. read more

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Quiet, away from hustle n bustle. That's the main reason to come here. It says permit required to have a car parked on beach but just to stop and hang by waves a bit they don't seem to mind... read more

Crystal Beach - Always a nice day out here - Beaches Near Me - Bolivar Peninsula, Texas

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Well i am so surprised that no one has mentioned the social aspect of crystal beach. At first it seems like a fun beach, lots of people and music. You are free to have a bon fire which is great when it starts getting late. But that is if you feel safe to stay there late. It's seems like an alt-right, trump rally. On your way across the ferry you see a few confederate flags and it's a bit shocking especially if you live in a metropolitan such as Houston, diversity is what drives the city. But it's a few so you just roll with the punches. But then you get on the beach and it's like every 5 cars has flags, but they also have vendors selling flags. I know my family and I won't be visiting again. We did have fun in our circle and no one bothers you but it is very disheartening to see. And i prefer not to subject myself nor my family to such environments. read more

Spent several days on Crystal Beach with my sister and her family and absolutely loved every minute of it! The beach was beautiful and my girls wanted to stay indefinitely. The sand was clean and the water was fairly clear. We swam and crabbed and soaked up the sun! They loved finding shells and sea glass to bring back home with us. We will be back! The community is small but extremely friendly. Just another great reason to love this AMAZING state of ours! read more

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"Does Nature supplement what man advanced? Or does she complete what he began?" Virginia Woolf, To The Lighthouse. This is a unique peninsula and beach. That is a natural bird habitat, but also turned into mans play thing. You can get a permit to drive, park, and camp on the beach. Or, like my family, get a house close to the beach and walk back and forth. My Dad describes the beach as a part Carnival with ice cream trucks and souvenir stands. Part Mad Max with pick ups, ATV's, and any other vehicle you can imagine driving up and down. At night there were people with airport landing lights attached to their ATV. Weekends can be crazy, but during the week really low key. All fine and good. Personally, I think they are trying to hard. All I need is a beach chair, bocci ball set, book, a cooler of beer, and my dog. Though, that is the beauty of the beach. Everyone can do their own thing. The one big knock I have here is that the beach is just dirty. I can't believe people don't take better care here. At times it seemed everywhere you step is a beer can, kids juice box, even a week old bag of spoiled chicken that someone never got around to use, I assume for crab hunting. Come on people, ever heard of pack in, pack out? This is a unique beach, and an experience. One that I really enjoyed. Clean up the garbage and this is an easy 4 star. Still, a place I am looking forward to visiting again. read more

Crystal Beach - My Dad says it the beach is Part carnival, part Mad Max movie, part Burning Man Festival! It is an experience. - Beaches Near Me - Bolivar Peninsula, Texas

I wish I could give this place 3.5 stars! I enjoyed it better than Seawall Beach on mainland Galveston! The beach was pretty crowded for a Good Friday! You can drive on the beach with a permit. There was plenty of people enjoying the beach and the water on this beautiful day. There was a truck driving up and down with flags on it and music going selling stuff. Not sure what because we just drove down this part of the beach and opted for the more secluded areas to hang out farther down the beach! This looks like it would be an area that is popular with teenagers and the young single college crowd in the summer but, I did see families out there this weekend! I think I will stick to the more secluded areas down a ways! The beach itself is beautiful!!!! read more

Crystal Beach - Beaches Near Me - Bolivar Peninsula, Texas

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By far, my fav TX beach & best rental property options. HOWEVER this weekend is the weekend of the GD mosquito & it's BAD!!!!!!!!! (7/20/2012) Bring Off no matter what time of year you come, just to be safe. Bring Citronella too. Besides that tho, CB is a great place for the family. Its not rowdy and crazy like some of the other beaches. Be ready to wait at the Ferry too. Bring your tents, and coolers, and have a blast! read more

Crystal Beach - The way to play!! - Beaches Near Me - Bolivar Peninsula, Texas

Redneck ghetto is the best way that I can describe Crystal Beach. Don't let the name fool you, there's nothing crystal about this beach. Do not expect relaxing. Do not expect quiet. Do not expect anything other than jacked up golf carts and vehicles driving up and down the beach, day and night. Going way too fast for an area with people laying down and trying to walk on the beach. Seriously, this place is a nightmare. Oh, and camping (including campers) is apparently permitted on the beach as well. If you had any inclination in your mind that parts of Galveston are rough, just wait til you see Crystal Beach! read more

Always lots of fun visiting Crystal Beach! Tomorrow will be a great beach day...here you can go fishing, swimming, golf cart riding, have bonfires, set off fireworks...quite nice & fun always read more

I love this beach. For $10 you can get a permit to park there all year. Well as many times as you want through December 31st. You can park right on the beach and set up your chairs, grills etc. I prefer it to Galveston because 1) the ferry ride is pretty cool and great for dolphin watching. 2) It doesn't get as crowded (if it's a holiday weekend it's packed though. 3) there's more shallow area so it's better for my 4 year old and 2 year old. 4) they do a good job keeping it clean and the other day the sheriff was patrolling the beach and giving out trash bags. My 4 year old can swim but when we come here he wears a little life vest as the waves can be choppy and the current strong. It's also a great place for flying a kite. The negative is the lack of facilities. They have a few portaloos (not sure what you call them) but DO NOT open that door. Once it was so bad I just threw up right there outside after opening the door. I was 6 months pregnant but still..... Entry into there will ruin your day and possibly blind you. I recommend using the restrooms at the port when you disembark the ferry as they are always very clean. We bring a folding travel potty for the kids. All in all this is a fantastic beach and makes for a great and inexpensive day out. read more

Crystal Beach - Beaches Near Me - Bolivar Peninsula, Texas

This Beach came highly recommended by several friends. The short four hour drive from Dallas or 45 minutes from Galveston via the ferry. The sand and water were absolutely gorgeous and you need a $10 permit to stay for 24 hours. read more

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I went to the beach last Friday came home woke up to my right leg and foot swollen went to emergency room they found out I have a infection from the ocean water crystal beach is not safe and clean. one bit read more

This beach is so nice and at night it's so pretty I recommend it but a fish got in my hair and I lost my hat but other than it it was amazing read more

My brother in law wanted to try camping on the beach. We read that Crystal Beach is the place for that, however, Crystal Beach itself was very crowded. We just drove down the beach until we found a better spot and LOVED it! The ocean breeze was blowing, which meant hardly any mosquitos, the moon was full. We were all surprised at how perfect it was! We'll definitely be doing this again. We did camp next to another set of campers so we wouldn't be all alone on the beach and we created a parameter around our campsite with our cars for protections from crazy drivers, although I don't think anyone came down that way after dark except a few golf carts from the beach houses. Porta Potties are more scarce when you get further from Crystal Beach, but the gas stations on the 87 are fine with people using their restrooms and have porta potties outside. There are port a potties on some of the roads headed out to the beach. P.S. Definitely take the ferry out to Bolivar Peninsula. There are dolphins having a blast out there right now. Also, DO bring insect repellent. If the breeze stops, they come out in swarms. read more

Loved the area of crystal beach, the beach and people so much that we ended up buying a home right on the beach, hope to help keep it clean and let all enjoy read more

We had a great day at Crystal Beach! Swimming, beach combing, sunbathing, people watching, floating on the waves, birdwatching and just chilling. You can drive and park right on the beach if you get a $10 Bolivar beaches pass and the ferry ride to and from the peninsula is great - Pelicans, Dolphins, seagulls, huge tanker ship, cruise ship, kayaked and more. Definitely recommend this day trip! read more

Crystal Beach - Beaches Near Me - Bolivar Peninsula, Texas

The beach was packed and there was trash everywhere. At one time I'm sure this beach earned the name Crystal but it wasn't apparent on the day of our visit. It was so dirty that we didn't want to get out of the car. Bottles, food and trash littered the entire area. It was very disappointing. read more

Decent beach in Galveston. It is across the main island so is pretty secluded which is awesome if you are not wanting to be around large crowds. Aside from that.. Typical Galveston beach with mediocre sand and water quality read more

my family and i love! great atmosphere and kind people i would 10/10 recommend a vacation here!!

Beach: The beach itself was ok. If you want crystal clear, blue waters - this is not for you. If you like beaches like those near Galveston - brown water, not very rough, then this is exactly what you expect. I liked that the beach was not crowded, it was sort of family friendly, and there are plenty of shells to collect. The sand is pretty compact and not hot, so you can easily walk around the beach. And you can definitely drive on it. This is a great place to hand out for the day, make a little beach fire, set up a tent. The permit is only $10 for the year. Personally, I don't think I'd care to come back here. I'll likely stick closer to Port A, or SPI where the water and beaches are nicer. The mornings tend to be crowded, and the afternoons are a little more quiet as people with young kids go home for naps and such. The evening is nice - worth hanging out through darkness especially with a full moon. People: If you fit the confederate, Trump 2020, Don't Tread On Me, Come and Take It flag-flying kind, this is your place. It was obnoxious to see politization of an area that I was hoping would be a break from what's going on around the world, but those obnoxious people will always be around anywhere you go, no matter what your affiliation is. If you have kids, heads up that you'll see "Trump 2020 F*ck your feelings" and middle fingers flying up in the air on flags. Find a place on the beach close to other families if you can. The people are a bit trashy, but they'll leave you alone as long as you leave them alone too. The local business owners were nice and easy to get along with. Food: We tried two restaurants - the rest of the time we ate at our beach house. Steve's Landing was top notch - try that place out. There were a couple of meth head hanging out behind the restaurant that kept signaling to me to head over to their spot, but otherwise no issues. The wait staff was great, and the food was phenomenal. Try the Tiki drink - it'll sneak up on you. We also went to Stingaree. That place was ok - the food is almost entirely fried, and it was good but not great. We had the fried sampler for an appetizer that was huge but ok. The gumbo was not impressive. The salad was ok. The grilled blue crab was really good. Servings were large. We didn't have drinks there. Definitely more crammed in than Steve's Landing was, but the waitstaff were great. Groceries: Don't bother buying them on the mainland at an HEB or anything. We went to the local grocery store, and it had everything we needed there. Our beachhouse: We Airbnb'd a place just two streets away from the beach. The beachhouses are not crowded - we could see the ocean from our front patio. The neighbors kept to themselves, and the neighborhood was quiet even at night when folks were on the beach. read more

I took my nephews here and we LOVED it!!! I will NEVER go back to Galveston's beaches. The only downside is it took about 2 hours each way on the ferry during rush hour. I loved that you can drive and park and camp on the beach. We even had a little fire! read more

We had the beach almost to ourselves for the first 2 hours we were there. The kids thought it was so cool to be able to drive and park on the beach (get your parking permits at the gas station or grocery store). We enjoyed swimming, searching for shells, and digging in the sand. The ferry ride was great as well. We would definitely go back again in the future! The only thing that was less-than-desirable was the restrooms in the area. The beach had port-a-potties, as did several of the businesses, and the one we did find with real bathrooms was gross. read more