Traditional Sweet 16 parties, with their lavish chocolate fondue fountains and personality-plus disc jockeys, have turned some teenagers off, and they’re opting instead for a Sweet 16 holiday at a beautiful resort or cool place with a group of friends.
City getaways have received much interest for such occasions. Port Aransas is a fun and inviting tourist destination that offers various entertainment options and many other activities that will rejuvenate your spirit and help you create lasting memories for your 16th birthday.
Here are six ideas for a Port Aransas Sweet 16 birthday trip.
Go to the Beach
Port Aransas is excellent for those who want a beach getaway for their Sweet 16. Houston and Austin are about four hours away, and San Antonio is only 2.5 hours away. Port Aransas’ beaches are expansive, with silky-soft brown sand that’s ideal for biking and running.
The waves are gentle enough for children, the water temperature is pleasant for more than half of the year, and the overall beach is dog-friendly. You can even hire the “Port Aransas Sand Castle Guy” to instruct your group on constructing a massive sandcastle.
Port Aransas is highly accessible to anyone. It’s possible to drive straight up to the shore! Get a one-year beach pass from any store in town, load up your car with your belongings, and go straight up to your ideal location.
You can build sandcastles, take long walks on the beach, play sweet 16 party games, collect seashells, and dive into the water for your getaway. You and your family can park your cars for the week and rely on walking or golf carts to get about.
Travel Tip: There can be much seaweed on the beach and in the water at times. It’s usually little and controllable. However, it can be enough to damage the beach (making it smelly and uninviting!). Check forecasts before making arrangements, and don’t overlook the seaweed; if reports indicate that it’s worse than usual, pay attention and alter your plans and/or expectations.
Take a Pirate Cruise on the Red Dragon
Red Dragon Pirate Cruises offers swashbuckling interactive entertainment onboard a 70-foot model pirate ship with ten digitally generated cannons. Though the boat is built to look like a pirate ship from the 17th century, it has modern comforts, including restrooms and a full-service concession bar.
Cruises go over the waterways of Aransas Bay and include live entertainment such as dancing, sword fighting, and reenactments of naval battles. Adult gaming and beverage cruises are offered regularly for guests aged 21 and over, in addition to standard cruises for all ages. They also offer private boat rentals if you prefer a more private birthday celebration.
Take a Fishing Trip
Known as Texas’ “Fishing Capital,” Port Arkansas offers an excellent bay and shallow water fishing experience. Celebrate your Sweet 16 catching flounders, redfish, and shad trouts. You can also fish in one of the four fishing piers in the region or the jetties.
If you want to experience some deep-sea fishing, Port Aransas also has it! Fish including sailfish, tuna, and marlin are popular in the Gulf of Mexico.
Celebrate at Roberts Point Park
Roberts Point Park, a 50-acre peninsula park, is located on the Corpus Christi Ship Channel, serving as a regular berth for more than 250 boats, and is located along the Port Aransas waterfront. The park has a special event pavilion, which you can use for your birthday party. If you go within April and October, the Patsy Jones Amphitheater also holds talent competitions, regional festival performances, and the Sunset Sounds music series.
There are a lighted pier and granite jetties on the harbor for those who would like to go fishing, and a 1-mile bulkhead serves as a cycling trail if you brought your bicycles. You can also enjoy the educational xeriscape garden, observation tower, children’s playground, and soccer, volleyball, and basketball, soccer, and volleyball courts as the park’s other attractions.
Go Parasailing
Because of the air from the Gulf of Mexico and plenty of open ocean to soar above, parasailing is among the most popular activities in Port Aransas. Children as young as seven are welcome to fly over the sky, so someone celebrating their 16th birthday party can unquestionably go too!
Parents can sign up to merely be a rider if the teens and children want to parasail and adults want to observe from the boat’s safety. This is also a good alternative for family members who aren’t ready to go high in the sky yet.
Enjoy a Texan Warbird Adventure
Celebrate a unique and unforgettable birthday by going on a Texan Warbird Adventure. It provides travelers with the opportunity to fly over the Port Aransas Coastal Bend inside a vintage North American T-6 Texan Warbird, a well-known World War II-era combat trainer made famous by the US Navy. The ancient Warbird, withdrawn from military service in the 1980s, is among the 600 still in use across the world today.
All flights depart from Mustang Beach Airport or McCampbell-Porter Airport and are supervised by a licensed pilot. The city’s Intracoastal Waterway, along with several of the landmarks of adjacent Corpus Christi, such as the Whataburger Field, USS Lexington, and the Texas State Aquarium, are all visible on half-hour flights.
