Let’s set one thing straight. Gulf Waters RV Resort was beautiful and was at no fault of the vomit or electrical fires! Camp Chaos made her third excursion of the season 4 hours south to the Texas Gulf Coast. Gulf Waters RV Resort is on the island close to Port Aransas. It is a good distance away from city amenities like restaurants, gift shops, and stores so make sure you have everything you need!

This was a Mother’s Day Trip, so my mom and brother came along! Gulf Waters RV Resort can be a pricey depending on the time of year and length of stay but its beauty, closeness to the beach, and the serene silence was worth it.

Check-in:

Check in was so smooth. They were clear about rules and ready to answer any questions we had. They escort you to your site and help you back in. Stewart was our host and did an amazing job getting us backed in! Shaune said Stewart was the best assistance he has ever had. I’m not offended at all…haha! Overall, ease of check-in was 5 out of 5 stars!

We stayed in spot 512. This is an executive site. Even though the website’s description defines Executive sites as having an outdoor kitchen area with a sink and water service, site 512 did not have an outdoor kitchen or a sink with water. We did however have a grill table, rocking chairs, a fire pit (propane not included), an outdoor umbrella covered table with 4 chairs, an additional umbrella covered small table with two chairs, and a beautiful palapa.

Summer 2022 Pricing

Deluxe Sites $83 per night: These sites have the basics you need at a campsite for convenience. Some of these sites can accommodate big rigs like ours but a lot are around 37 feet deep.

Premium Sites $91 per night: These sites have everything the deluxe sites have plus upgraded amenities. These sites are bordering a pond, have lush landscape, additional privacy, extended patios, shade, outdoor cooking areas, and some even have a pergola.

Executive Sites $98 per night: These sites have everything a premium and deluxe site have plus an outdoor kitchen area with a sink and water service. Some may include additional furnishings, décor, lighting, and fire pits.

Home – Gulf Waters Beach Front RV Resort in Port Aransas, TX. (gulfwatersrvresorttx.com)

Winter Pricing 2021

Deluxe Sites $62 per night or $372 weekly or $1,116 monthly

Premium Sites $69 per night or $411 weekly or $1,234 monthly

Executive Sites $75 per night or $447 weekly or $1,342 monthly

Pros:

• The entire resort is beautiful. The landscaping was impeccably kept and breath-taking. It almost had you wandering if you were in Texas still
• Friendly staff
• Everything was clean. ALWAYS. All the way down to the boardwalk. We saw park hosts using a leaf blower to blow the sand off it multiple times a day
• Right on the beach with private access via a boardwalk. The boardwalk is for pedestrians or golf carts. (Scroll down to find out more about golf cart rental on the property)
• The only sounds you hear are the ocean and the birds
• Outdoor shower and hose just off the beach to hose down yourself and your belongings before heading back to your camper
• No bright lights ruining the ambiance
• Pool. This was great to utilize when coming back from the beach. It was refreshing after being in the salty wind all day!

Cons:

• No trash pick-up. While this made our con list, we understand why they don’t offer this service. If they did, there would be a bird problem in the campground ruining your time. However, they make trash drop-off easy and their dumpster area is clean. I would classify this as a pro and a con.
• Narrow Roadways for big rigs. While Stewart made our entrance effortless, the narrow roadways make it impossible for two vehicles to pass let alone a rig.
• Pool and Spa closing time. The pool and deep hot spa opens at 10 am and closes at 10 pm. We found ourselves wanting to relax in the deep spa after cleaning up from the day but it was already 9:45ish and the closing time didn’t allow for us to go enjoy it.

What to Pack:

We were still six this weekend because two of our babies spent Mother’s Day with their biological mom and my brother and mom joined us. Our grocery list was a little long considering it was a special occasion and we have 4 adults and two kids. This is what I packed:

Saturday Breakfast:

• Bacon
• Pastry Platter
•  Coffee & Orange juice

Saturday Lunch:

• Hawaiian Roll-ups
• Pastrami Roll-ups
• Mangos
• Strawberries
• Grapes
• Chips

Saturday Dinner:

• While at the coast you must eat some local costal food. We ate at Docs Seafood simply because they were on the water. Our waitress and bartender were great and very friendly. The drinks were great and the food was yummy. While they do lack in variety, the food we did have was yummy. I recommend their Cajun Fries! They do have a large cocktail menu which included some of their very own signature cocktails.

Sunday Breakfast:

• Eggs
• Bacon
• Sausage
• Pastry Platter
• Watermelon
• Hashbrowns
• Gravy
• Coffee & Orange Juice

Sunday Lunch:

• I packed for us to have hot dogs with baked beans, coleslaw, macaroni salad, potato salad, and fruit but sometimes you just let the beach tell you when it is time to come back and we skipped lunch. We snacked on lunch meats and chips.

Sunday Dinner:

• Steak made by the Steak Master himself, Shaune
• Lobster
• Shrimp
• Fruit
• Corn
• Coleslaw
• Macaroni Salad
• Potato Salad

Best Spots for Big Rigs:

We loved spot 512 and the expertise of the park host made it an easy in and out. This site is close to the beach and across from a pond. When you think beach RV Resort, this is it. Check out the video below to see the site in its entirety.

Each site is individually owned, meaning every site has different amenities according to what the owner wants to add to their site. We picked sites according to our preference of having enough shaded seating area for us and our four children as well as enough room for our vehicle and rig.

Site 324 is also an executive site. It has a shaded bar area and two spots to park your vehicles if you are like us and have to bring two vehicles on your trips. It is also a corner lot so it would be the easiest spot to back in and pull out of. The Gulf Water Site is great at providing pictures of each site number.

Photos By Site – Gulf Waters Beach Front RV Resort (gulfwatersrvresorttx.com)

Site 419 is a executive site because go big or go home. This is another corner site that makes it easy to back in. It is equipped with a shaded bar area. This site is the farthest from the beach out of the three.

Lessons Learned

Unfortunately for campers, there have been major recalls on RV’s across America due to the low pressure gas lines being cracked causing the RV’s to burst into flames. Our 2021 Forest River Sandpiper was not a part of the recall. As many have had troubles with their 2021’s & 2022’s, we too have struggled. This one was by far our biggest surprise. Shaune, the girls, and I decided to roast marshmallows on our last night at Gulf Waters RV Resort. My mom and my brother decided to stay inside. After awhile my mom came running out telling me to go inside because something smelled like it was on fire. I assumed she was smelling our fire outside. Boy was I wrong for assuming. Once I got inside the RV, I quickly recognized the electrical burning smell and got Shaune. Being such a small space, it did not take long to narrow down the smell to the circuit breaker panel.

After Shaune unscrewed the panel, we could see the issue. The dryer connection was arching and touching another wire. The smell was the protective wrap around the wire burning away.

The lesson we learned on this trip: check your circuit breaker panel to make sure all your wires are properly connected and not touching each other. This could have turned out to be a whole different story if we had all decided to go to bed that night.

What is a Mother’s Day trip without a child getting ill. Early Sunday morning Macie woke up throwing up everywhere so the poor girl couldn’t really enjoy the beach on Sunday. She was a trooper, and it was just a friendly reminder that moms never rest. Not even on Mother’s Day.

Despite the vomit and almost losing our camper to an electrical fire. We had a beautiful trip and highly recommend Gulf Waters RV Resort. We will be back!