PORT ARANSAS

Population 2,274

Altitude 20

General

On Mustang Island, reached by causeway and free, 24 hour ferry service; one of the most popular tourist destinations on the Gulf Coast. An English settler built a ranch house on the site in 1855; later developed as a fishing village. Summer visitors swell the population by thousands. Hotels, motels, resorts, bait and tackle shops, superb beaches, shrimp boat port, U.S. Coast Guard Station.

FISHING

HISTORIC INN: TARPON INN

MUSTANG ISLAND STATE PARK

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS MARINE SCIENCE INSTITUTE

Attractions

• FISHING - Advertised as the place "where they bite every day," each season offers variety of species to tempt anglers. Free fishing available from beaches, south jetty, and Station Street Pier; catches may include redfish, speckled and sand trout, sheepshead, flounder, croaker, skipjack, and drum. Group boats provide bay and deep-sea fishing; charter cruises are available for offshore sport seeking tarpon, sailfish, marlin, kingfish, mackerel, ling, pompano, bonito, red snapper, warsaw, and others. For boat owners there are docking facilities and several free launching ramps. Series of fishing tournaments span the calendar from June to September including tarpon, billfish, and surf fishing tournaments.
• HISTORIC INN: TARPON INN - Vintage wooden structure dates from 1886; still popular and now 80 percent restored. Famous guest have included Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Duncan Hines who spent his honeymoon here. Seafood restaurant; 26 rooms with baths. Call 512-749-5555.
• MUSTANG ISLAND STATE PARK- 3,474 acres of sand dunes, sea oats, and beach morning glory with five miles of Gulf beach frontage offering the best of seaside camping, surfing, fishing, swimming, and shell collecting! Multiuse campsites with hookups plus a large beach area for primitive camping. Other facilities include picnic arbors, rest rooms, showers, dump station, nature trail, and fish-cleaning station. Rewarding bird-watching for abundant shore and migratory birds. Fourteen miles south of Port Aransas on Texas 361. An admission is charged.
• UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS MARINE SCIENCE INSTITUTE - Laboratory and research facility. Displays include Gulf marine life, plants, and fascinating introduction to oceanography. Along the ship channel between Mustang and San Jose Islands. Open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.. Call 512-749-6729.

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