On my way across the country, I spent a month legally camped on the beach in Port Aransas, Texas. I stayed there from mid January to mid February so I wouldn't freeze to death my first winter on the street. Although it is extremely windy, it is fairly temperate year round. Even in January, the temperatures are generally mild.
You can legally camp for free three nights out of every three weeks on the beach in Port Aransas, Texas. The beach has public restrooms, including places to shower (for a $1, when I was there in 2012), and is in walking distance of a grocery store and eateries.
Some of the public restrooms are open 24/7. Public showers are only available during the day, unless you are camping for a fee with access to certain amenities via key card. Also, the cheap public showers are cold. You need to be paying for a campsite if you want access to a hot shower.
I cannot eat seafood, which is a high percentage of what gets served on the island. This seriously limited where I could eat, which was a factor in me leaving after a month.
Although the permanent population is something like 3000 people, thanks to Snow Birds (who stay for a few months a year, often in an RV) and substantial tourist traffic on weekends (up to 60k people on busy weekends, from what I gather), they do have a local grocery store and it is even open decent hours. Rotisserie chicken and sides from their deli was a mainstay for my diet in the time I was there.
I stayed at I.B. Magee State Park for a month. It cost me about $10/night by prepaying a week or two in advance. You can legally stay in a tent there, and they have people in RVs for a few months out of the year, but they don't really want a homeless person camped there endlessly in a tent on the beach. The last time I paid for my permit to put in my tent window, they added a notice that you could only tent for up to two weeks. I had already been there longer than that. I think they were aiming to move me out of there.
So, if you do, don't plan on just parking yourself on the beach permanently or semi-permanently in a tent. However, if you are homeless in that general part of Texas, traveling to Port Aransas once a week to sleep legally on the beach for one night might not be a bad idea, or once every three weeks to spend three nights in a row there. I don't know what part of the beach is the part where you can legally sleep 3 nights out of every three weeks for free, but, hey, ask around when you get there.
The ferry from the mainland to the island runs 24/7 and it is free. There is no fee at all. I have been on it more than once, both in a car and as a pedestrian.
The ferry goes to Arnasas Pass on the mainland. There is a Walmart Supercenter in Aransas Pass, though it is not open 24 hours.
If you have a car, Corpus Christi is about 30 minutes away by car. I spent a smidgen of time there years ago before I was ever homeless. It's the only big city in Texas that I ever thought about trying to make a go of living in, but that's not how things went.
Last Updated September 23, 2019
You can legally camp for free three nights out of every three weeks on the beach in Port Aransas, Texas. The beach has public restrooms, including places to shower (for a $1, when I was there in 2012), and is in walking distance of a grocery store and eateries.
Some of the public restrooms are open 24/7. Public showers are only available during the day, unless you are camping for a fee with access to certain amenities via key card. Also, the cheap public showers are cold. You need to be paying for a campsite if you want access to a hot shower.
I cannot eat seafood, which is a high percentage of what gets served on the island. This seriously limited where I could eat, which was a factor in me leaving after a month.
Although the permanent population is something like 3000 people, thanks to Snow Birds (who stay for a few months a year, often in an RV) and substantial tourist traffic on weekends (up to 60k people on busy weekends, from what I gather), they do have a local grocery store and it is even open decent hours. Rotisserie chicken and sides from their deli was a mainstay for my diet in the time I was there.
I stayed at I.B. Magee State Park for a month. It cost me about $10/night by prepaying a week or two in advance. You can legally stay in a tent there, and they have people in RVs for a few months out of the year, but they don't really want a homeless person camped there endlessly in a tent on the beach. The last time I paid for my permit to put in my tent window, they added a notice that you could only tent for up to two weeks. I had already been there longer than that. I think they were aiming to move me out of there.
So, if you do, don't plan on just parking yourself on the beach permanently or semi-permanently in a tent. However, if you are homeless in that general part of Texas, traveling to Port Aransas once a week to sleep legally on the beach for one night might not be a bad idea, or once every three weeks to spend three nights in a row there. I don't know what part of the beach is the part where you can legally sleep 3 nights out of every three weeks for free, but, hey, ask around when you get there.
The ferry from the mainland to the island runs 24/7 and it is free. There is no fee at all. I have been on it more than once, both in a car and as a pedestrian.
The ferry goes to Arnasas Pass on the mainland. There is a Walmart Supercenter in Aransas Pass, though it is not open 24 hours.
If you have a car, Corpus Christi is about 30 minutes away by car. I spent a smidgen of time there years ago before I was ever homeless. It's the only big city in Texas that I ever thought about trying to make a go of living in, but that's not how things went.
Last Updated September 23, 2019