Malaquite Beach, Mustang Island State Park, Whitecap Beach and South Beach earned spots in the 2026 USA TODAY 10BEST rankings.<\/p>\n
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas \u2014 Four Coastal Bend beaches have been recognized among the best beaches in Texas in the 2026 USA TODAY 10BEST Readers’ Choice Awards.<\/p>\n
Malaquite Beach earned the highest ranking among the local beaches, coming in at No. 3 statewide. Mustang Island State Park followed at No. 4, Whitecap Beach ranked No. 5, and South Beach secured the No. 7 spot.<\/p>\n
The annual USA TODAY 10BEST Readers’ Choice Awards begin with nominations selected by a panel of travel experts and USA TODAY 10BEST editors.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Final rankings are determined through a nationwide public voting process.<\/p>\n
The results gave the Coastal Bend four of the top seven spots on the list, highlighting the region’s beaches as among the most popular in Texas.<\/p>\n
“Corpus Christi is home to some of the most beautiful beaches in Texas, and we’re thrilled to see not just one but four of them recognized this year,” said Brook Kaufman, president and CEO of Visit Corpus Christi. “We’re grateful to everyone who voted and helped share what makes Corpus Christi such a special place.”<\/p>\n
Malaquite Beach, located within Padre Island National Seashore, is known for its natural shoreline and undeveloped coastal habitat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mustang Island State Park offers camping, fishing and miles of beachfront access, while Whitecap Beach remains a popular destination for surfing, swimming and beach recreation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
South Beach, located along Corpus Christi’s downtown waterfront, is one of the city’s most recognizable attractions.<\/p>\n
Visit Corpus Christi officials said the recognition helps showcase the Coastal Bend to travelers from across Texas and beyond, particularly as the summer tourism season gets underway.<\/p>\n
The rankings also reinforce the region’s reputation as a premier beach destination, drawing visitors for its coastal scenery, outdoor recreation and family-friendly attractions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Malaquite Beach, Mustang Island State Park, Whitecap Beach and South Beach earned spots in the 2026 USA TODAY…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":317854,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[155,157,156],"class_list":["post-317853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-corpus-christi","tag-corpus-christi","tag-corpus-christi-headlines","tag-corpus-christi-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=317853"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317853\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/317854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=317853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=317853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=317853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}