surf's up

2 Texas beaches near Houston swim among 10 best in U.S. for 2026

Jamaica Beach earned a 9.20 "local secret" score.

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The Lone Star State has already preheated for the summer, and two coastal shores on Galveston Island have emerged atop a new list of the best beach destinations in the U.S.

HomeToGo's 2026 U.S. Beach Index ranked Galveston's Jamaica and Terramar beaches the third and sixth best destinations nationwide for a "beach break" in 2026.

To determine the rankings, HomeToGo created a shortlist of 100 U.S. beaches where vacation accommodations had a median price per person of less than $200 per night. The list was then ranked based on five metrics: a "hidden gem" score; the median nightly price for accommodations; average high temperatures from April to September; average visitor satisfaction based on Google, Tripadvisor, Yelp, and Facebook reviews; and a "local secret" score based on the average distance traveled by vacationers to reach the destination.

"While traditional hot spots remain popular, this year’s index shines light on some lesser-known beach destinations where travelers can make the most of their vacation without the stress of overcrowded shorelines or overburdened budgets,” said HomeToGo spokesperson Eleanor Moody.

Jamaica Beach, a tiny beach town located next to Galveston Island State Park, landed in third place nationwide after Florida's Saint Joe Beach (No. 1) and Bethune Beach (No. 2). Last year, Jamaica Beach ranked 17th on the list.

Other than sunbathing and getting your feet wet in the water, visitors are welcome to fish from the shore or in West Bay, go kayaking in dedicated areas, or enjoy a relaxing picnic in the sand. Visit Galveston recommends travelers visit during the middle of the week during spring and fall to avoid heavy crowds and the brutal summer sun.

Jamaica Beach is a vacation hotspot for 2026. visitgalveston.com/

According to the report's findings, many visitors who travel to Jamaica Beach aren't coming from too far away. The beach earned a 9.20 "local secret" score, where locations with the shortest average distance traveled by visitors are awarded a maximum score of 10.

Vacationers expect to spend about $93 per person per night on accommodations at Jamaica Beach, which also earned it high marks for its affordability.

"Covering just under a square mile, this small coastal community moves at an easy island pace, offering quieter sands than busier parts of Galveston and space for beachcombing, sunbathing, kayaking, and paddleboarding," the report said.

No. 6-ranking Terramar Beach is situated less than 10 miles west from Jamaica Beach down Galveston Island. This little seashore offers an even better "hidden gem" feel than Jamaica Beach, and is slightly more affordable. Accommodations cost about $86 per person per night at Terramar Beach, HomeToGo found.

The top 10 best beach destinations in the U.S. in 2026 are:

No. 1 – Saint Joe Beach, Florida
No. 2 – Bethune Beach, Florida
No. 3 – Jamaica Beach, Texas
No. 4 – Butler Beach, Florida
No. 5 – South Bethany Beach, Delaware
No. 6 – Terramar Beach, Texas
No. 7 – Satellite Beach, Florida
No. 8 – Shell Beach, California
No. 9 – Litchfield Beach, South Carolina
No. 10 – Indian Beach, North Carolina

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HISTORY CORRECTED

Houston documentary maker helps correct biased Texas historical marker

Photo by Virginia Diaz-Laughlin

Medrano stands in front of the Karankawa marker while filming 'Truly Texas Mexican.'

It's not often that a film has an impact past the box office, but one documentary has helped tell the truth about the Texas Gulf Coast's long-disparaged Karankawa people.

For years, the Indigenous Peoples of the Coastal Bend and the Karankawa Tribe of Texas have fought for a corrected Texas Historical Commission marker in Corpus Christi. Houstonian Adán Medrano’s 2021 film, Truly Texas Mexican, helped finalize a push that will lead to a long-due correction on July 25.

The old marker was plainly offensive. Not only did it say the Karankawa people had "gained a reputation for savagery," but it repeated the long-discredited claim that they practiced cannibalism — a contention born out of the colonial need to justify violence against the tribe.

Medrano, a San Antonio native who currently lives in Houston, became part of the fight when he stood in front of the marker and made a direct appeal to correct the sign.

"I call upon the historians who live in Texas to come up and stand up and say, 'Take this down. This is a lie,'" he said during a scene in Truly Texas Mexican.

Two of them heard the call. Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi history professor Dr. Peter Moore and historian Dr. Tim Seiter of the University of Texas at Tyler joined the years-long Indigenous effort following the film's release. Led by the Indigenous Peoples of the Coastal Bend and the Karankawa Tribe of Texas, the academics helped research and draft a replacement that honors them as one of Texas' first peoples.

The marker not only replaces racist mythmaking with scholarship and tribal knowledge, it presents the fact that Karankawa descendants aren't a historical footnote but a living community still present in South Texas today.

Medrano's advocacy here continues his work with the T exas Indigenous Food Project, a nonprofit dedicated to celebrating the Indigenous foodways of Texas and the Americas. But in many ways it is a continuation of a career devoted to amplifying voices rarely heard in popular culture. In 1976, he founded San Antonio's CineFestival, now the nation's longest-running Latine film festival.

At 10 am on July 25, representatives of the Indigenous Peoples of the Coastal Bend and the Karankawa Tribe of Texas will unveil the corrected marker, joined by Medrano. Visitors can find it at 6001 Ennis Joslin Rd.

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