If you crave white beaches and warm Gulf of Mexico water, you can’t beat Isla Blanca, located on the southern tip of South Padre Island. As a whole, it is more crowded than some of the other beaches nearby on the island, but it does have quite a few amenities to make up for it.

The park boasts almost 600 RV spaces for those wishing to stay overnight in the park, or for a small fee you can rent a small cabana on the beach.

Renting a cabana is one of our favorite family vacations. The small rooms are like camping, but with some of the necessary amenities to make life a little more comfortable. The cabanas have air conditioning (a must in the summer), a bathroom with toilet and shower, a sink and a small fridge. They are literally located a short walk away from the beach and perfect for the family wanting to do a vacation on the cheap.

The beaches at Isla Blanca are usually filled with shells, offering hours of shell-collecting fun for the little ones. If your kids ever get sick of the beach, there is a playground right by it. My kid loves to run back and forth from the sand to the playground, definitely keeping her busy.

This part of the island offers both a jetty/rock side, which faces the bay, and a sandy beach side, facing the Gulf of Mexico. The rock side is usually dotted with fisherman trying their luck, which tends to be pretty good.

Admission to the park is priced by the car, so it is pretty affordable for entire families. If you have rented an RV space or cabana for the night, admission to the park is free.

This park is a lot more enjoyable in the offseason and the price of the cabanas is significantly less. It’s probably wise to avoid the month of March, as South Padre Island is one of the top locales for the college spring break crowds.

The park also features Cristo de los Pescadores, or Christ of the Fisherman, a monument depicting Christ blessing those who have been lost at sea in the area, and it is often decorated with flowers from their families.

There is a CVS located down the island a bit, or a Wal-mart located back over the causeway on the mainland if you have forgotten anything, such as sunscreen. There are lots of boutiques to shop at on the island. Most of the store chains are located over on the mainland but are still easily reachable.

And when it comes to food, you have your pick of a plethora of nearby unique restaurants offering everything from seafood to Mexican food to standard fast food fare.

While there is a lot to do on South Padre Island, few locations on the island offer as much convenient fun for a small price tag as Isla Blanca.

The Surf N' Swim offers a great family atmosphere with a huge pool that turns from a regular pool to a tidal pool a couple of times an hour. You can rent large tubes for riding the waves or just brave it. The facility also offers racquetball courts and a snack bar. The pool is outdoors during the summer and during the winter it is covered by a large bubble to keep in the heat!

Logan Canyon is one of the most beautiful places in Utah. It offers a little bit of everything. At the base of the canyon is First Dam which has a fabulous duck pond and picnic areas. There are often people canoeing and casting reels into the water. Further up the canyon is second dam which is filled with areas for camp fires. While second dam is mostly meant as a place to hang out for a few hours at night, there are many, many camp grounds all along the canyon. The whole canyon is truly beautiful, especially in the fall when it is in brilliant shades of red and orange!

Classic Fun Center is a skating rink/ laser tag arena about 20 minutes north of Salt Lake. You can rent skates or bring your own. It is a typical type skate arena where you skate around in circles on a large rink to music. The rink is large enough for skaters of all skill levels and this would be a fun activity to bring all of your children too. There is a small area for beginning skaters to practice and people to regain their skating legs. The laser tag arena is pretty fun, over all a fun place to go with the family.

These completely free fountains are located at one of the Gateway. It is basically a splash pad that kids can run through and dodge the streams of water. It is a great place to cool off on a hot day and the openness of the fountains make it a great place even for the youngest kids. We took my daughter when she was 18 months and she loved it. I have found even on the busiest days there is enough room for everybody to have a good time.