SALTWATER HAVEN

The community of Aransas Pass, named for a coastal channel between Mustang and St. Joseph Islands, serves as a gateway to water sports, fishing, bird watching, kayaking and sea shelling along the bays and beaches of the Texas Gulf coast. Passed over as a location for a deepwater port by the Corps of Engineers in the 1920s (Corpus Christi was chosen instead), Aransas Pass continued to develop as a shrimping and fishing fleet port, eventually harboring the largest shrimping fleet on the Gulf. Today, Aransas Pass is a favored destination for kayakers and sports anglers who ply the shallow bays for redfish and access the rolling surf off Mustang Island.

Aransas Pass history is comprised of dredged channels, railway and jetty construction, cargo shipments, and, of course, hurricanes, a combination of industrial progress and the natural forces that deter its movement forward. It’s a history that takes place over the course of a century and reflects the challenges inherent along the state’s monumental coastline. Aransas Pass is also the home of the largest shrimp festival in Texas, a weekend-long celebration of all things shrimp known as the “Shrimporee”. The festival features live entertainment, carnival rides, a parade and, of course, lots of shrimp.