shore winners

3 Texas beaches surf into top 20 spring break destinations for 2025

Jamaica Beach ranked among the top 20 best spring break destinations nationwide.

visitgalveston.com/

It may still be February, but it's never too early to start thinking about spring break. Now, one beach in Texas has been singled out on a national list (and it's not Padre Island): Crystal Beach, located in the Galveston Bay southeast of Houston, has been named one of the top 10 destinations for a beachy spring break in 2025.

The 2025 Beach Index, cimpiled by vacation rental company HomeToGo, examined 35 beaches around the country based on metrics such as a "hidden gem" status, affordability for accommodations during the key spring break months of March and April, and a "local secret score" based on vacationers' average distance traveled to reach each destination.

Crystal Beach came in as the No. 7 best beach.

Located on the Bolivar Peninsula, about 70 miles southeast of Houston, Crystal Beach earned high praise for its affordability, clear skies score, and local secret score, earning 9.52 out of 10 possible points in all three categories.

It also earned 9.11 points for the report's "heat score" which measured the average temperatures in March and April (where higher temperatures received higher scores).

This is how Crystal Beach performed in the remaining three metrics:

7.33 – Food and drink score
7.19 – Hidden gem score
5 – Visitor satisfaction score

Facilities at Crystal Beach include Camp Margaritaville RV Resort which opened in 2022 with a beachside concert venue, pool with a swim-up bar, 50 private poolside cabanas, large turf playing field, RV accommodations — and access to 27 miles of beaches along the peninsula.

Get ready for a fun vacation at Crystal Beach. Bolivar Peninsula Tourism and Visitor Center

Five of the top 10 beaches on the list were in Florida, but No. 1 was Avila Beach in California, a sleepy beach town 200 miles south of San Francisco; followed by two beaches in the Carolinas: Kure Beach, North Carolina and Cherry Grove Beach, South Carolina.

Two other Texas beaches made the list: Surfside Beach, a tiny beach town about 30 miles south of Galveston that came in at No. 11; and Jamaica Beach, another tiny beach town located right next to Galveston Island State Park, which came in at No. 17.

Surfside Beach came in as the most affordable destination out of all 35 beaches, with visitors paying a median $66 nightly rate per person for accommodations.

According to HomeToGo, spring breakers can expect to pay a median nightly rate of $121 per person for accommodations across all of these coastal areas, but prices will likely fluctuate depending on peak travel periods.

"Spring Break continues to be a highly popular time for beach trips across the United States, and with so many destination options available, we are excited to share our annual Beach Index to help travelers navigate the vacation planning waters," said HomeToGo spokesperson Eleanor Moody. "Whether travelers are after blue-sky breaks, savvy stays, or under-the-radar retreats, we hope this report will help pinpoint ideal trips exactly according to personal preferences."

The top 10 best beaches in America for spring break vacation in 2025 are:

No. 1 – Avila Beach, California
No. 2 – Kure Beach, North Carolina and Cherry Grove Beach, South Carolina (tied)
No. 4 – Saint Joe Beach, Florida
No. 5 – Vilano Beach, Florida
No. 6 – Bethany Beach, Delaware
No. 7 – Crystal Beach, Texas
No. 8 – Pensacola Beach, Florida
No. 9 – Miramar Beach, Florida
No. 10 – Navarre Beach, Florida

beach texas vacations spring break spring break destinations rankings lists

Flower Picking

Tulipalooza flower fest in Waxahachie lucks out on weather in 2025

Texas Tulips/Instagram

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Spring in Dallas-Fort Worth is always an unpredictable time, but 2025 is a good year for tulips — just in time for the 7th Annual Tulipalooza in Waxahachie from February 28-March 16.

Tulipalooza is an annual tulip festival that has become a North Texas tradition, with over 300,000 tulips and daffodils from Holland blooming across Getzendaner Park at 400 S. Grand Ave. in Waxahachie.

Tulip bulbs and daffodils are imported from Holland and planted at Getzendaner Memorial Park in December. By March, they’re in bloom and ready for pictures and picking alike.

The weather is propitious, which helps pave the way for the festival's slightly early start; in prior years, it started in mid-March.

Tulipalooza was founded in 2018 by Waxahachie resident John Poston as an extension of his work with Daymark Living, a community for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Inspired by his son Michael, Poston launched the first tulip festival in 2019 with support from local and Dutch tulip experts.

“Tulipalooza brings a touch of Holland’s tulip magic to Texas,” says the festival’s tulip expert Bill Van Houten. “Each bulb is carefully chosen and prepared to bloom here, sharing a piece of Dutch heritage with the community.”

It hasn't always gone easy for the event. Like everything else, Tulipalooza was affected by the pandemic, shutting down in the middle of their 2020 season and nearly canceling 2021 because they couldn't afford to buy bulbs. But the community rallied around to help raise funds and prop it back up.

Half of the proceeds from online ticket sales support local charities. Visitors can choose to direct their ticket proceeds to one of eight selected charity partners that include Special Olympics of Texas, Lonestar Easterseals Texas, and Waxahachie Senior Activity Center.

In addition to the tulips, the event features food vendors, live entertainment, and photo-opps.

The festival is open daily from 10 am-7 p.m. General admission is $15 for adults, $5 for 12 and under; seniors get a special $10 ticket rate on Wednesday, March 5.

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