Corpus Christi: Texas's longest beach

Overlooking the Gulf of Mexico, Corpus Christi provides access to Padre Island, the world's longest barrier island still largely wild.

A car remains useful for reaching the longest beach in Texas.

The USS Lexington, an aircraft carrier from World War II moored as a floating museum, allows you to explore the decks and hangars of a real historic warship.

A short walk away, the Texas State Aquarium displays the marine fauna of the Gulf of Mexico, including dolphins and sharks in large tanks.

In the afternoon, it is worth reaching Padre Island, the longest barrier island in the world, largely protected as a nature reserve with almost deserted beaches.

Along the island, the nests of Kemp's sea turtles, the most endangered sea turtle species in the world, are monitored and protected by local conservation programs.

Padre Island extends for over one hundred twenty kilometers of almost uninterrupted coastline, making it the longest barrier island on the planet still largely undeveloped.

The Kemp's ridley, the rarest of sea turtle species, lays its eggs almost exclusively on this stretch of Texas coast and a few other beaches in the Gulf of Mexico.