South Padre Island offers fins, flippers and feathers for nature enthusiasts

Subtropic island gives visitors close encounters with dolphins, sea turtles and birds

News provided by

South Padre Island Convention and Visitors Bureau

May 11, 2016, 10:17 ET

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas, May 11, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- For nature and wildlife enthusiasts, South Padre Island provides an alluring blend of land and sea habitats to explore. This 34-mile long barrier reef island along Texas' Gulf Coast is home to sandy beaches, miles of protected wetlands and nutrient-rich waters that all provide ample opportunity to view wildlife in its natural setting.

South Padre Island gives visitors close encounters with dolphins

Dolphin watching year round

The waters surrounding South Padre Island are a year-round, native habitat to bottlenose dolphins. Known for their intelligence and friendly appearance, these dolphins travel in social groups and feed on bottom-dwelling fish, shrimp and squid. Several dolphin viewing tours are available on the Island, including Breakaway Cruises, Osprey Cruises and The Original Dolphin Watch. All three tours boast a success rate of nearly 100 percent due to the sheer number of dolphins residing off the Island's shores.

Sea turtle adventures

The Island's natural, white sands provide a nesting ground to the world's most endangered sea turtle, the Kemp's Ridley, along with other threatened sea turtle species. The females come ashore each spring to nest in the Island's beaches. Sea Turtle Inc., a non-profit organization that has been rescuing and protecting marine turtles on the Island for more than 30 years, provides medical and rehabilitative care for injured turtles for their eventual return to the wild. Visitors to the Island can view turtles up-close at the Sea Turtle Inc. facility, which offers tours, presentations and other educational programs.

A bird-watcher's paradise

More than 300 species of birds call the Island home for part or most of the year. Vast expanses of saltwater flats, lagoons and marshes on the Island's eastern side provide a home for shorebirds and waterfowl. Spring and fall migrations bring many more species – and birdwatchers – to the Island. The South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center, situated along the wetlands of the Laguna Madre Bay, features exhibits on the Island's birds and other natural features, along with a five-story viewing tower, viewing blinds and boardwalk nature trails.

About South Padre Island

With a tropical feel, white sandy beaches and blue waters, South Padre Island is a world-class, year-round beach destination on the Gulf of Mexico. For information on South Padre Island, visit www.sopadre.com.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160511/366399

SOURCE South Padre Island Convention and Visitors Bureau