Day Trips: Port Lavaca
A fisherman’s paradise worth exploring
By Gerald E. McLeod, Fri., Dec. 9, 2022
Port Lavaca doesn't have access to sandy beaches like other Texas coastal towns that face the Gulf of Mexico. When the weather is too chilly to get into the water, it is the perfect time to explore the sparsely populated shoreline.
The area's system of bays and estuaries has long attracted anglers. That nearly came to an end in 2016 when it was found that the Formosa Plastics plant at Point Comfort was dumping toxic pellets (nurdles) into the bay. A $50 million settlement and "zero discharge" agreement in 2019 helped clean up the environment. (Learn more at nomorenurdles.org.)
There are numerous short-term rental houses and fish camps on the Calhoun County peninsula. A surprising find was the Port Lavaca/Matagorda Bay KOA about 30 minutes from Port Lavaca on a secluded arm of Vaes Bay near Point Comfort. This is more than an RV campground. The 3-year-old park has waterfront campsites as well as cabins, and even a "glamping" tent.
The town supports a number of restaurants, but locals say that Bayside Seafood "is the best in town, hands down." And it was. In the old downtown, most of the businesses have moved out to State Highway 35, but Texas Traditions Grill & Bar on Main Street offers steaks, seafood, and casseroles, with house-made pies to top it off.
Port Lavaca is midway between Houston and Corpus Christi, 30 miles from Victoria, and three hours from Austin. The seat of Calhoun County was built by survivors of the Linnville Raid after that town was destroyed by a Comanche raiding party in 1840. Indianola, once the busiest Texas port, was 21 miles south of town. It was obliterated by back-to-back hurricanes in the late 1800s. The new Powderhorn Wildlife Management Area covers 15,069 acres of the peninsula.
1,630th in a series. Follow “Day Trips & Beyond,” a travel blog, at austinchronicle.com/daily/travel.
