San Luis Pass is a strait of water at the south-western end of

Galveston Island Galveston Island ( ) is a barrier island on the Texas Gulf Coast in the United States, about southeast of Houston. The entire island, with the exception of Jamaica Beach, is within the city limits of the City of Galveston in Galveston County. T ...

off the

Texas Gulf Coast Texas Gulf Coast is an intertidal zone which borders the coastal region of South Texas, Southeast Texas, and the Texas Coastal Bend. The Texas coastal geography boundaries the Gulf of Mexico encompassing a geographical distance relative bear ...

of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. It connects the sheltered waters of West Bay to the open

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

. Fishermen and swimmers have been killed in the Pass' treacherous waters, largely due to the aggressive oceanic currents of Gulf Stream, fluctuating tides in marginal sea, marine sediment, and uncertainties of

continental margin A continental margin is the outer edge of continental crust abutting oceanic crust under coastal waters. It is one of the three major zones of the ocean floor, the other two being deep-ocean basins and mid-ocean ridges. The continental margi ...

. The San Luis Pass-Vacek Toll Bridge spans San Luis Pass from Galveston County to Brazoria County.

Characteristics

Tide levels can vary by almost 2 feet in height, although the tidal effects seem more pronounced along straits than other

barrier island Barrier islands are coastal landforms and a type of dune system that are exceptionally flat or lumpy areas of sand that form by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from ...

zones. Water current dangers are prominent up to about one mile away from the pass along either island. A high amount of drownings occur in the vicinity of the San Luis Pass compared to other areas off of nearby beaches. Until June 2013, about 10 people drowned near San Luis pass on the Galveston side since 2001, and of those about 6 drowned there since 2007. The depth of the pass varies in depths to 40 feet deep. Tides cause daily variations in topography, and occasionally, storms more drastically change the topography of the pass.

Fishing and recreation

As of August 2017, swimming and fishing are now illegal at San Luis Beach due to the high number of drownings. Pier fishing on the San Luis Pass Pier was a favorite for visitors and locals alike for many years, however the beach and pier were wiped out during Hurricane Ike in 2008, and it was not rebuilt. The pass is also home to bank fishermen who often travel many miles to take advantage of the excellent redfish population from June thru October. Overnight camping, while once allowed, is prohibited on the Galveston side of the pass. The San Luis Pass Camp Ground and county park, on the Brazoria County side, is the only accessible place now. At least from the Galveston Island side, entering the water is prohibited, because of safety hazards. Hurricane Ike in September 2008, forever changed the topography of the beach. What was once a driveway and public beach access is now part of the Gulf of Mexico. The land where the bait house of the pier once stood is now permanently submerged. San Luis Pass on the Galveston side is a place for bird watching.

San Luis Pass-Vacek Toll Bridge

The "San Luis Pass-Vacek Toll Bridge" or ''San Luis Pass Bridge'' was built shortly before 1970. It is operated by Galveston County, Road District 1. This bridge has 2 lanes, is 1.3 miles, and has a toll fee of $2. Surfside Beach is the closest city on the other side of Galveston along Brazoria County Road 257. As of 2018, it is the only toll bridge in the Houston Metro area which does not have electronic toll collection and cash only. San Luis Pass Bridge Texas 3037x1160 BW

Station San Luis and U.S. Life Saving Service

In 1878, the United States Life Saving Service Act authorized the creation of a coastal life saving station near the strait of San Luis Pass. The Station San Luis endured seventy years of coastal service at the west coastline of

. The

1949 Texas hurricane The 1949 Texas hurricane was a tropical cyclone of the 1949 Atlantic hurricane season. Forming in the Pacific Ocean on September 27, the storm crossed into the Gulf of Mexico—one of only a handful of known storms to do so—and began to inten ...

delivered a

tropical cyclone A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depen ...

with an assailable

gale A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface winds moving at a speed of between 34 and 47 knots (, or ).storm surge fatally damaging the San Luis shoreline station. The

United States Life-Saving Service The United States Life-Saving ServiceDespite the lack of hyphen in its insignia, the agency itself is hyphenated in government documents including: and was a Federal government of the United States, United States government agency that grew out ...

discontinued the waterborne search and rescue service by 1950.

San Luis

Across the strait from Galveston, San Luis was an island until 1885, when the strait Little Pass closed. It is now a part of Follet's Island that was once called the Velasco Peninsula. San Luis, Texas was an abandoned establishment that once had a population of 2,000 after 1836. As of 1989, about 20 people inhabited this area. The San Luis Pass County Park is on this location.

References

External links

* *
A Sedimentologic Description of a Microtidal, Flood-Tidal Delta, San Luis Pass, Texas
* * {{Portal bar, Geography, Geophysics, Islands, Oceans, Texas, Tropical cyclones Landforms of Brazoria County, Texas Galveston, Texas Bodies of water of Texas Straits of the United States Straits of the Caribbean