7:30Morning
Coffee, then the beach walk.
Winter is the quiet season on the coast. The beaches are calm, the air is mild, and a morning walk along the Gulf is something you do rather than something you plan.
Winter on the Texas Coast · Port Aransas & North Padre Island
Trade the snow shovel
for the shoreline.
Spend a few months each winter where January means a beach walk in the morning, a round of golf in the afternoon and dinner outside by the water. A home you enjoy while you are here, that earns while you are away, and that stays in the family long after.
Average daytime highs · Corpus Christi
70°December
68°January
72°February
NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Average snowfall: effectively none.
Your January, or Ours
Pick your hometown.
We will show you the difference.
Snowbirds have known about the Texas coast for generations. Here is what trading one January for the other actually looks like.
Chicago
33°F
Average January high
- January low
- Snow in a year
Corpus Christi
68°F
Average January high
- January low 48°F
- Snow in a year Almost never
January averages from NOAA 1991–2020 normals (Environment Canada for Toronto and Winnipeg). Snowfall figures are long-term annual averages.
A January Day Here
The same Tuesday,
1,300 miles south.
10:00Mid-morning
Birds, dolphins, or a tee time.
Walk the boardwalks at the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center, watch dolphins from the Port Aransas ferry, or play the Arnold Palmer-designed links at Palmilla Beach.
1:00Afternoon
Lunch, on the patio.
In January. Outdoors. Then perhaps an afternoon on the jetty, where sheepshead gather on the rocks from December to April.
6:30Evening
Sunset by the fire pit.
Evenings are cool enough for a sweater and a fire, and never cold enough to keep you in. Neighbours gather, and the days feel long in the best way.
The Winter Season
A full calendar,
none of it indoors.
November – March
Whooping crane tours
Boat tours from Port Aransas and Rockport visit the wintering grounds of the tallest bird in North America.
All winter
The birdiest city in America
Corpus Christi has long carried the title, and Port Aransas has six stops on the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail, including free naturalist walks on Wednesday mornings.
December – April
Winter fishing
Sheepshead on the Port Aransas jetty, redfish and black drum year-round, and the rebuilt 1,240-foot Bob Hall Pier, reopened in 2026.
Year-round
Golf on the coast
Palmilla Beach's Arnold Palmer-designed links in Port Aransas, the private Padre Isles Country Club on the island, and municipal courses in Corpus Christi.
Year-round
Padre Island National Seashore
Sixty-six miles of protected, undeveloped coastline on the edge of North Padre Island, with Malaquite Beach and its visitor centre.
Year-round
Aquarium & the Blue Ghost
The Texas State Aquarium and the USS Lexington, a Second World War aircraft carrier turned museum, sit side by side on North Beach.
540
Whooping cranes wintered here in 2025–26
Fellow Snowbirds
They fly south from Canada
every winter, too.
The only wild, migrating flock of whooping cranes in the world spends its summers in Wood Buffalo National Park in northern Canada, and flies about 2,500 miles to winter on the marshes around the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, a short drive from Port Aransas.
In 1967 there were about 50 of them. This past winter, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimated 540. Seeing them from a tour boat on a still January morning is one of the quiet wonders of wintering here.
2,500 miFrom Wood Buffalo National Park
Nov – MarTour season from Port Aransas & Rockport
9 yearsAbove 500 birds in a row
Winter Texans
You will not be
the only one.
Texans have a name for northerners who come south for the winter: Winter Texans. Many arrive from Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois and Canada, and many return every year for months at a time.
The coast makes a point of welcoming them. Visit Corpus Christi runs a Winter Texan programme, and Rockport and Fulton hold a Winter Texan Appreciation Day every January.
Families welcome, too
Wintering here is not only for retirees. Business owners who can work from anywhere, and families who want a warmer base for the holidays, find the same quiet season just as appealing.
Where to Winter
Five places,
five different winters.
Each part of this coast has its own pace. Mel can walk you through which one suits the way you want to spend the season.
01
Port Aransas
The island town, reached by ferry or causeway, with its own restaurants, birding trail and harbour.
Explore02
North Padre Island
Canal-front and beach neighbourhoods minutes from the National Seashore, and about 20 minutes from Corpus Christi.
Explore03
Cinnamon Shore
A walkable Gulf-front community in Port Aransas, with its own town centre, pools and dining.
Explore04
Palmilla Beach
A golf and beach community in Port Aransas, built around an Arnold Palmer-designed course.
Explore05
Whitecap
A new master-planned community on North Padre Island, with homes designed for the coast.
ExplorePeace of Mind
The practical questions,
answered.
Healthcare
Two Level II trauma centres nearby
Corpus Christi is the region's medical hub.
- CHRISTUS Spohn Shoreline. Level II trauma centre, downtown Corpus Christi.
- Corpus Christi Medical Center Bay Area. Level II trauma centre on South Padre Island Drive, the closest major hospital to the island.
Getting Here
A connection, then the coast
Corpus Christi International Airport has nonstop flights to three major hubs.
- Dallas/Fort Worth on American, and Houston (both airports) on United and Southwest.
- San Antonio is about two hours by road. Many owners drive down: Chicago and Minneapolis are both about 1,300 miles.
While You Are Away
Lock the door and go home
When you head north in spring, Mel's network of trusted partners looks after the house: property management, pest, pool and lawn care, and home warranty cover for systems and appliances.
For Canadian Snowbirds
Mind the day count
Mel is from London, Ontario, and knows the question well. The IRS counts your days in the United States across three years. A few winter months — even October to February, about 150 days — stays under the 182-day line, and many Canadians file IRS Form 8840 each year. Confirm your own position with a cross-border tax adviser.
While You Are Away
Head home in spring.
We will look after the rest.
Owning a home 1,300 miles from where you spend the summer only works with a trusted team on the ground. Mel’s preferred partners take care of the house, the guests and the grounds, so you can close the door in February and come back in November to a home that is ready for you.
Letting & Guest Care
Island Life Stays
Mel’s own vacation-stay brand on this coast, built for owners who want their home let to guests and looked after while they are back up north.
Visit Island Life StaysPest, Pool & Grounds
Meridian Home Service Pros
One team for pest control, pool service, lawn and tree care, seven days a week, so the house looks cared for every day you are not in it.
Meet MeridianSystems & Appliances
Fidelity National Home Warranty
If the air conditioning fails in July, it is one call and one service fee, handled by a local, licensed provider rather than a long-distance scramble.
Meet RachelRepairs & Remodels
Christensen Custom Homes
A trusted local builder for the bigger jobs — a new kitchen, a bath remodel or an outdoor space for the grandchildren — managed while you are away.
Meet the ChristensensFinancing
Jen Hobbs · Future First Mortgage
Financing for second homes and investment property from a lender who has worked the Texas Gulf Coast for over a decade.
Meet JenFinancing
Christina Luna · Neighborhood Loans
More than 25 years of lending and a Scotsman Guide Top 1% record, helping first-time buyers, self-employed clients and investors. Bilingual in English and Spanish.
Meet ChristinaEvery partner is someone Mel works with and sends her own clients to.
Meet All of Mel’s PartnersNot an Expense
Enjoy it now.
Leave it behind.
Renting a winter place is money spent every year, with nothing to show for it when the season ends. Owning is different. You enjoy the home for a few months each winter, it earns from visitors for the rest of the year, and it remains an asset for the people you love.
01
Enjoy
A few months a year in your own home on the coast, with your things in the closet and your chair on the deck. No packing up a rental, no hoping it is available next year.
02
Earn
The winter months are the quietest of the rental year. In Port Aransas, keeping November to February for yourself still leaves 77% of a year’s holiday-rental revenue to earn while you are back home, and that income goes a long way toward the running costs.
03
Leave
The money you put into the home is not spent. It becomes a place on the coast for your children and grandchildren, a family gathering spot, and an asset in your estate.
Expense or legacy?Run your own winters.
Months on the coast each winter
Assumes a cash purchase and typical rental performance for the rest of the year, using Port Aransas prices and rental data. Home value growth starts at 3% a year, close to the 20-year averages for Port Aransas (3.4%) and the North Padre Island area (2.7%, Zillow). Slide it to zero to see the result with no growth at all.
Renting your winters
Spent over
Left to your family$0
Owning your winter home
Left to your family
Owning figures are running costs (property tax, insurance, association dues, utilities and upkeep) less rental income after management and booking fees. The purchase price itself is not counted as spent, because it becomes the home; it does tie up money that could be invested elsewhere. Estimates for illustration only, not a forecast.
Meet Mel
She made this move
herself.
Melissa Hladyniuk and her husband left London, Ontario for Port Aransas in 2015. She knows the pull of a warmer winter, and everything that comes with making the coast a second home.
Today she is one of the top agents on this coast, in the top 1% of the Corpus Christi MLS by sales volume, and she helps buyers from across North America find the right place to spend the season.
“She doesn’t just sell island life. She lives it.”
Mel Sells Island Life
Winter onthe Coast
A guide to spending a few months each winter on the Texas coast, and making it a home to enjoy and leave behind.
Presented by
Melissa Hladyniuk
The Free Winter Guide
Everything you need
to plan the season.
- A month-by-month winter calendar on the coast
- Where to winter, and how each neighbourhood feels
- Healthcare, travel and the practical details
- Buying a winter home, and letting it earn in summer
This page is general information, not legal, tax, immigration, insurance or investment advice. Climate figures are long-term averages and actual weather varies. Short-term rental rules, association restrictions and tax obligations differ by property and personal situation; confirm them for each address and with qualified advisers before purchasing.
Sources: NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals; Environment and Climate Change Canada; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (whooping crane estimate, June 2026); Port Aransas Chamber of Commerce; Visit Corpus Christi; Texas Parks and Wildlife (Bob Hall Pier); National Park Service (Padre Island National Seashore); CHRISTUS Health; Corpus Christi Medical Center; Corpus Christi International Airport; IRS (substantial presence test, Form 8840); AirROI Port Aransas market data (Aug 2025 – Jul 2026); City of Corpus Christi short-term rental rules.