As South Padre Island, Texas continues to be considered as a future port of call, TravelPulse had the opportunity to speak with Dennis Stahl, mayor of the destination, about specifics from his point of view.
TravelPulse: How would a South Padre Island cruise port benefit the cruise industry in the Caribbean?
Dennis Stahl: [We're] understanding that the number of cruise ships on order and everything's been growing at somewhere around eight percent annually, and we understand that the cruise lines were looking for new destinations. With some of the hurricane damage in the eastern Caribbean, we thought now would be as good a time as any to explore the opportunity.
TP: What effect would opening a cruise port have on South Padre Island locally?
DS: We've learned that cruising through peak season coincides with what's called our off-season. We're generally a summer beach destination, so it will have a tremendous economic impact during a slower season. I realize there are summer cruises as well, but just one ship would have a tremendous impact on our island.
TP: What do you think are the greatest regional attractions that would appeal most to cruise travelers?
DS: Number one is the pristine beaches. We've got over twenty miles of pristine beach. Right at the potential berthing site for the port of call is a beautiful beach within easy walking distance. That's number one.
Number two, there are a lot of water activities here on the island, things like snorkeling, windsurfing, jet skis, those type of things. But then we also have the tropical adventures, if you will, [like] deep sea fishing, gulf fishing.
Then one other big thing is ecotourism. We have a Sea Turtle Incorporated, which is basically a rescue center for stranded turtles, and we also have very near that the South Padre Island Birding [and Nature] Center. It's kind of a renowned bird watching center as migratory birds fly on the path over the island. We also have the dolphin watching tours. So, there are several things like that.
Then nearby in Port Isabel, we have the [port] lighthouse square with a lot of art galleries, things like that, surrounded [by] restaurants. Then in Brownsville-probably 24 miles away-we have the renowned Gladys Porter Zoo and a lot of great animals there. It's a great zoo.
TP: It all sounds very exciting.
DS: We're also excited about it. We've researched doing what we would call a homeport here, but with customs and all the newer regulations, we do not have the adequate parking facilities here on the island to support something like that. That's why we thought it through a little bit more and said perhaps the port of call would be a better option.
That had been done some years ago, and that would incur bringing ships further up the Brownsville Ship Channel, and it appears-and I'm not an expert on this, far from it-but it appears that the cruise lines want to come in very quickly, make a couple of turns and exit after they finish in a particular port. And the southern end of South Padre Island basically offers that for a port of call.
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