From salt to fresh water venues, the area offers a variety of sport fishing venues from charter boats to pier to surf and offshore fishing. The sunflower fields, beginning in September, are popular with hunters wanting to bag the white-winged and mourning doves.

Fishing
Speckled trout, snook, redfish, and others can be found in the Brownsville Ship Channel (fishing allowed in two areas located on the south side). Our fresh water "resacas" (natural reservoirs that remained following meandering of the Rio Grande as it changed course over the years), found throughout the city, hold bass, trout and the ever-challenging catfish and gar all year round. Other places to fish around Brownsville's surrounding areas include Falcon Lake, irrigation canals, the Arroyo Colorado, Laguna Madre and, of course the Gulf of Mexico.

If surf fishing is what you prefer, you are only a 20-mile drive from beaches that provide a variety of fish, including whiting and flounder. Or, if you like a calm fishing atmosphere, the bay at Port Isabel and South Padre Island are very relaxing. Deep sea fishing in the Gulf of Mexico is available for those boating enthusiasts. Fully equipped fishing charters, complete with everything necessary, including a guide, are available. Your very own bay or deep sea fishing expedition can reward you with a trophy catch of king mackerel, tarpon or tuna among many other species.

Golf
The climate and tropical environment make Brownsville a perfect golfing location all year. The seven challenging courses along with many more within a short drive provide lots of variety of play. Some of the links are about the resacas and lakes, which test golfers’ skills and abilities. What’s more is that golfing in Brownsville is affordable with rates for 18 holes starting at as little as $10.

The seven golf courses are:
• The Brownsville Golf Center
• Fort Brown Memorial Golf Course
• Valley International Country Club
• River Bend Golf Course
• Rancho Viejo Resort (two 18-hole courses)
• South Padre Island Golf Club

Pro shops, cart rentals, and clubhouses are available at all the courses to make your experience a quality one. Additionally, Brownsville has a lighted driving range for those wanting to practice drives and swings. Whatever your golfing interests, the public and private facilities in Brownsville are certain to meet your needs.

Tennis
The Brownsville Tennis Center boasts 15 fully lighted all-weather courts; professional instruction, competitions, both amateur and sanctioned; tennis ball cannon, and pro-shop. These complement the center’s comprehensive offerings.

Parks and Athletic Facilities
Brownsville Parks and Recreation Department operates a park system with athletic fields, pools, playground, picnic, and recreation facilities.

Dean Porter Park, a city-owned park named after the husband of Gladys Porter, is a 24-acre park which lies in the heart of a residential section of Brownsville. It lies on a beautifully landscaped area along the Town Resaca. The park has two enclosed, air-conditioned pavilions, each pavilion with a seating capacity of 500 people. An outdoor pavilion with a complete barbecue facilities that can accommodate a gathering of more than 800 persons. Sam's Memorial Swimming Pool is a 50-meter pool that is located within the park and has a depth range from three to 12 feet. Children's playground equipment and individual barbecue pit areas are available for family outings. The Parks & Recreation Department of the City of Brownsville operates 24 city parks located throughout the city.

Additionally, the city’s Parks & Recreation department maintains 34 athletics fields: four softball fields, nine baseball fields, twelve kickball fields, two adult and nine youth soccer fields; 2 gymnasiums (Oliveira and Gonzalez Parks); and 3 pools (Dean Porter, Gonzalez, and Oliveira Parks).

Construction of the Brownsville Sports Park is underway and will almost double the amount of athletic fields in the parks system.

Over the past two years, all existing athletics facilities have been renovated and are in prime condition to host league play, as well as hosting local and state tournaments. After recent renovations, state and national level softball tournaments have taken place at Morningside Park, which is considered as the best public softball facility in South Texas.

Brownsville ‘Birding’
During the fall and spring migrations, the hundreds of species of birds viewable here make Brownsville a well renowned birding destination. Brownsville is the southern beginning of the Texas Coastal Birding Trail. Each year Brownsville is part of the Great Texas Birding Classic. In 1999 the Texas Legislature and Texas Department of Fish and Wildlife finalized and funded plans to establish the World Birding Center with one of its main sites in Brownsville.

Among the popular birding sites is Brownsville’s Tamaulipas Crow Park, otherwise known as the City’s landfill and a great location to add this bird and others to your list. The Sabal Palm Audubon Sanctuary, the Boca Chica dunes and wetlands, the city’s resacas along with numerous places all about town provide great bird habitat and viewing venues. In and around Brownsville, the bird varieties include land, shore, and marine species. Even a number of wild birds nests on the grounds of the Gladys Porter Zoo. Some of the Rio Grande Valley’s best birding occurs during the winter months.

The Brownsville International Birding festival showcases the south Texas and Northeast Mexico birding resources each February with a program of organized activities for birding enthusiasts. The local map at the end of this guide indicates some of the popular birding locations in Brownsville.

Gladys Porter Zoo
Gladys Porter Zoo, 500 Ringgold Street, was presented to the City of Brownsville by the Earl C. Sam’s Foundation and has become a favorite attraction for Valley residents and a "must see" for visitors. It is a 31-acre zoological preserve built on an old channel of the Rio Grande River. The landscape is adorned with more than 250 species and sub-species of tropical and neo-tropical plants along the zoo's meandering paths. The Gladys Porter Zoo offers a unique zoo experience with virtually all animals living in open exhibits surrounded by natural flowing waterways.

More than 1,600 animal specimens represent 464 species, 47 of which are listed as endangered. The collection includes Jentink's duikers, Galapagos tortoises, Philippine crocodiles, spectacled bears, Przewalski's horses, orangutans, chimpanzees, gorillas, African elephants, tamarins and hippos.

The zoo is laid out in four major geographical areas - Tropical America, Indo-Australia, Asia and Africa - allowing visitors to view animals native to that particular part of the world. The zoo also includes a children's nursery, herpetarium, an aquatic wing, the free-flight aviary, the bear grottos and the California sea lion exhibit.

Visitors are offered much more than educational exhibits. The zoo hosts a variety of family events throughout the year such as Zoofari and Boo at the Zoo. The zoo is open 365 days a year.

Beaches

South Padre Island
Just 25 miles from Brownsville is the modern beach resort of South Padre Island. This barrier reef isle offers all the contemporary conveniences including gourmet restaurants, seaside attractions, and high-rise hotels.

Along with tanning, beach combing, and playing in surf, the endless white sand beaches on both the Gulf of Mexico and Laguna Madre offer plenty of outdoor activities.

Boca Chica Beach
Boca Chica is a pristine beach bordered by the Brazos Santiago Pass jetties to the north, and the Rio Grande River mouth to the south. No paved streets, no hotels, no amenities, just beautiful white sand where you can spend the day or camp overnight.

Wildlife Refuges

Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge
Along the banks of the Laguna Madre, Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge is one of the largest remaining protected wild areas in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Loma and coastal brush lands are accompanied by freshwater lakes and ponds, mudflats and beaches. Here, the elusive ocelot, a small cat whose numbers are estimated to be less than 100 in the United States, quietly prowls the brush lands; Aplomado falcons soar above coastal prairies; Kemp’s ridley sea turtles nest on the Gulf beaches; and the incredible diversity of bird species brings wildlife watchers from around the world. The refuge is located 20 miles northeast of Brownsville. Tour roads, including Lakeside Drive and the 15-mile Bayside Drive loop, hiking trails, bicycle trails, and a visitor center are open to the public year round. For more information, call the refuge at 956-748-3607.

Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge
Considered one of the most biologically diverse refuges in the nation, the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge’s amazing diversity spans over 100 tracts to include tidal flats and beaches, subtropical forests, thick semi-arid brush lands, and grassy savannas along the last 275 river miles of the Rio Grande. This refuge provides habitat for thousands of plant and animal species, including birds and butterflies found no where else in the United States! Historical sites include La Sal del Rey, natural salt lakes where Native Americans, Spanish explorers, and area settlers came to mine salt; and the Palmito Ranch Battlefield, the site of the last battle of the Civil War. For more information, call the refuge at 956-784-7500.

Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge
With over 400 bird species documented on just 2,088 acres of prime habitat, Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge is the “jewel” of the National Wildlife Refuge System. Located where the subtropical climate, gulf coast, great plains, and Chihuahuan desert meet, millions of birds and over half of all U.S. butterfly species funnel through this area on their way to and from Central and South America. With over 95 percent of the original lower Rio Grande delta habitat cleared or altered, Santa Ana is a piece of living history, a reminder of the semitropical thorn forest that once dominated the area. For more information, call the refuge at 956-784-7500.