Thanks Jeff sanders for this well detailed video. It will certainly be helpful for those who want go to South Padre Island to watch these launches. We were also there at South Padre Island for 10 days waiting for SN8 to fly. After the third day of waiting, we switched from a hotel to an Airbnb where we could cook our own meals and do our own laundry. We also purchased our groceries at the Walmart you mentioned. It was cheaper for us doing it this way. I was even working from home and getting into an Airbnb guaranteed me stable and fast internet connection speeds. Thanks for pointing out the Road Closures website. I would extend my Airbnb booking based on the TFR/Notams and the road closures. When we learned that there was TFR available for the 9 and the 10th of December, we booked our stay up to the 10th and fortunately the rocket flew on the 9th. We drove to Texas , so we had no hassle of constantly changing our flight schedules. And for these launches, if you are not driving into Texas, I would suggest booking a one way flight into Brownsville and then tentatively book your return flight based on the launch date because a lot of things can change. TFR's would be cancelled as soon there were published and it was a cat and mouse game. The last minute abort on the 8th was a heartbreaker for many. But the waiting paid off. It was a once in a life time experience. And one last thing. Have some cash with when you go into the Isla Blanca Park. The card machine was not working at the entrance the day I drove into the park and had to drive back to look for an ATM so that I could pay the $12.00 entrance fee.
Thanks Abide! Those are some great tips. Glad you got to see it in person, a truly amazing experience. We were fortunate on our plane tickets, maybe it's SouthWest but I think it is due to Covid, they are allowing last minute, no cost ticket changes and we were able to change our flight quickly and easily just using the SW app. The round trip tickets were cheaper than 2 one-ways, which is why we did it this way. Great idea on the airbnb and cooking your own food, in just 4 days days we got really tired of restaurant and fast food for every meal. Thanks again!
@@JeffTSanders When we fly to or from SPI we always use the Valley Airport in Harlingen simply because that's where Southwest flies in to and we like Southwest for many reasons including easy no fee flight changes and luggage included.
Your video is surprisingly accurate for someone who came to see SpaceX for the first time and had limited knowledge. I have wintered in Isla Blanca RV Park for the last seven years and my current RV site is near the statute. I have watched SpaceX grow from nothing more than a tent to what it is now. I will make a trip from South Padre Island to the build and launch site every few weeks just to see what is going on. I am very lucky to have this opportunity. The launch and landing of SN8 was the most amazing thing I have ever seen. I sure you would agree. There is only one change I would make to your suggestions. And this change is only if you didn't want to spend eight to twelve hours sitting in the park before the launch. By watching the live streams on RUclips you can see when the launch is getting close, so it is not necessary to spend all day at the park. LabPadre has several live feeds that have a checklist displayed showing launch progress. The first activity is "Road Closed". This can happen way before the launch and is no real indicator of possible launch time. The second and more important activity is "Pad Clear". This means everyone has left the pad so that fueling could start. This would be the soonest you would need to start for the park. At the earliest, it would be at least an hour before launch, probably much longer. The third and most important activity would be "Farm Venting". This means they have started fueling the rocket and if everything went perfect you could expect a launch in about an hour. Isla Blanca has tons of parking and lots of viewing area so neither should be a problem. One last comment is that the $30 pass you mentioned is a monthly pass and veterans get a considerable discount on both the daily pass and the monthly pass. Thank you for a very accurate and informative video.
Wow Bob, thanks for the kind words and the fantastic tips and corrections. It must be great being right there to see all the launches and activity over at SpaceX in person. Plus it's just a beautiful area in general. On our last day we drove up to the dunes at the north end and walked out on the beach, had the whole place to ourselves and it was really nice. You're absolutely right that we could have waited to go down until the launch prep process was further along but on the first day we met a nice group of people and we agreed to go early and get the same spots for each other, plus we were told that they were limiting capacity at the park to 50% (not sure exactly how they would do that) but we were worried it might get real busy and they might stop letting cars in at some point. BTW, the folks in your RV park were great. One day we convinced the Pizza Hut in Port Isabel to deliver pizza to the front gate of the park for a group of us and me and another guy walked up to meet them, on the way back a nice couple in an RV saw us walking with pizzas and 2 liter drinks and came out and gave us napkins and plastic cups to use. Such nice people all the way around during that trip. Anyways, thanks again. Maybe we'll get to meet on a future launch trip. I would enjoy talking with you.
and you're 100% correct, watching the launch, bellyflop, flip and (almost) landing of SN8 was the most incredible thing I have witnessed first hand. Like something out of a movie. 🤯
@@JeffTSanders Send me a PM if you come back down the see SpaceX activities and I'll send you my lot number. We are on the row of RV's beside the statute. Like you, we like what we call the sand road. At times the sand collects on the road so that there is only one lane open. I'm sure you can't come for every launch but you will always be able to say you saw the first one.
Bob, not sure how to send a PM (fairly new to RUclips creating) but I wanted to let you know that if the static fire goes off well today we plan to fly in on Thursday for a hopeful launch on Friday. Maybe i'll see you down at the park or if you can, PM me your lot number and I'll swing by to say Hi. Happy Launches!
Cool, we are planning to go back.for SN9 just waiting to get a better feel.for when that will be. Already changed our flight 3 times in the last week. What are your thoughts on a possible launch day?
Glad you liked it. My wife and I were at the Falcon Heavy (Roadster) launch also...amazing! The first full Super Heavy Starship launch is gonna be incredible, I hope we can be there to see it.
Jeff you might want to check out Long Island village in Port Isabel. They have daily and weekly rentals. I’m a winter Texan from Michigan and have a home there. Enjoyed a great view of sn8 and launch from the park. We have all the amenities including a 18 hole golf course.
How can i learn schedule or launches? Also is it common to cancel launches? I will go with my son and i dont want to drive half day and come back without seeing it
At this point these are all still experimental/test launches so any schedule can change or cancel frequently depending on a variety of factors. Your best bet is to follow @SpaceX on X (Twitter) and maybe a few of the full-coverage folks on RUclips like Everyday Astronaut and NASA Space Flight (NSF). Unfortunately you very well may have to spend a couple of days if you really want to make sure you see a launch at this point.
Good presentation, but one key item left out. If I spend 10 - 12 hrs at the South tip of SPI , I will need to use the facilities at some point. Are they available , or do you have to bring a porta potty?
Very good point. Last time we were there they had 2 options. Porta-potties were the closest, located at the end of the same parking lot, but the better option are nice, clean public bathrooms at the beach parking lot about 200 to 300 yards away. Thanks for the heads up on that oversight.
@@JeffTSanders Did some checking, and 5 min drive from Amphitheater to Visitor Center. Will be in Brownsville 1st week in August and will check out Space X and SPI. Plan to take the BiPlane tour and get a bird's eye view.
thanks for the video and great information! Is it possible to freely access the beach with a bicycle or do I have to pay the fee anyways? And do you know by any chance if it's allowed to cross the causeway to port isabel by bicycle? thank you!
I know you can access the beach by bike, lots of e-bikes during a recent visit. However I'm not sure you can ride a bike across the causeway. I suspect that you can't.
@@JeffTSanders thanks for getting back to me. I roamed around in street view and theres a sign at the bridge "slow traffic keep to the right". I'm from Europe and not too familiar with US traffic laws, will ask tourist bureau. If Orbital Launch really is around 20th of April I might be able to spontaneously come down. Are you planing to go there and what launch date is your closest assumption?
@@SimonPodolak We are planning to go over for the orbital launch if at all possible. Rumors of a launch around 4/20 are pretty popular now and that date would work great for us but who knows. I think it's all going to come down to when they get FAA approval. If you go, look for me and introduce yourself. 👍🚀
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Thanks Jeff sanders for this well detailed video. It will certainly be helpful for those who want go to South Padre Island to watch these launches. We were also there at South Padre Island for 10 days waiting for SN8 to fly. After the third day of waiting, we switched from a hotel to an Airbnb where we could cook our own meals and do our own laundry. We also purchased our groceries at the Walmart you mentioned. It was cheaper for us doing it this way. I was even working from home and getting into an Airbnb guaranteed me stable and fast internet connection speeds. Thanks for pointing out the Road Closures website. I would extend my Airbnb booking based on the TFR/Notams and the road closures. When we learned that there was TFR available for the 9 and the 10th of December, we booked our stay up to the 10th and fortunately the rocket flew on the 9th.
We drove to Texas , so we had no hassle of constantly changing our flight schedules. And for these launches, if you are not driving into Texas, I would suggest booking a one way flight into Brownsville and then tentatively book your return flight based on the launch date because a lot of things can change. TFR's would be cancelled as soon there were published and it was a cat and mouse game. The last minute abort on the 8th was a heartbreaker for many. But the waiting paid off. It was a once in a life time experience.
And one last thing. Have some cash with when you go into the Isla Blanca Park. The card machine was not working at the entrance the day I drove into the park and had to drive back to look for an ATM so that I could pay the $12.00 entrance fee.
Thanks Abide! Those are some great tips. Glad you got to see it in person, a truly amazing experience. We were fortunate on our plane tickets, maybe it's SouthWest but I think it is due to Covid, they are allowing last minute, no cost ticket changes and we were able to change our flight quickly and easily just using the SW app. The round trip tickets were cheaper than 2 one-ways, which is why we did it this way. Great idea on the airbnb and cooking your own food, in just 4 days days we got really tired of restaurant and fast food for every meal. Thanks again!
@@JeffTSanders When we fly to or from SPI we always use the Valley Airport in Harlingen simply because that's where Southwest flies in to and we like Southwest for many reasons including easy no fee flight changes and luggage included.
Your video is surprisingly accurate for someone who came to see SpaceX for the first time and had limited knowledge. I have wintered in Isla Blanca RV Park for the last seven years and my current RV site is near the statute. I have watched SpaceX grow from nothing more than a tent to what it is now. I will make a trip from South Padre Island to the build and launch site every few weeks just to see what is going on. I am very lucky to have this opportunity. The launch and landing of SN8 was the most amazing thing I have ever seen. I sure you would agree. There is only one change I would make to your suggestions. And this change is only if you didn't want to spend eight to twelve hours sitting in the park before the launch. By watching the live streams on RUclips you can see when the launch is getting close, so it is not necessary to spend all day at the park. LabPadre has several live feeds that have a checklist displayed showing launch progress. The first activity is "Road Closed". This can happen way before the launch and is no real indicator of possible launch time. The second and more important activity is "Pad Clear". This means everyone has left the pad so that fueling could start. This would be the soonest you would need to start for the park. At the earliest, it would be at least an hour before launch, probably much longer. The third and most important activity would be "Farm Venting". This means they have started fueling the rocket and if everything went perfect you could expect a launch in about an hour. Isla Blanca has tons of parking and lots of viewing area so neither should be a problem. One last comment is that the $30 pass you mentioned is a monthly pass and veterans get a considerable discount on both the daily pass and the monthly pass. Thank you for a very accurate and informative video.
Wow Bob, thanks for the kind words and the fantastic tips and corrections. It must be great being right there to see all the launches and activity over at SpaceX in person. Plus it's just a beautiful area in general. On our last day we drove up to the dunes at the north end and walked out on the beach, had the whole place to ourselves and it was really nice.
You're absolutely right that we could have waited to go down until the launch prep process was further along but on the first day we met a nice group of people and we agreed to go early and get the same spots for each other, plus we were told that they were limiting capacity at the park to 50% (not sure exactly how they would do that) but we were worried it might get real busy and they might stop letting cars in at some point.
BTW, the folks in your RV park were great. One day we convinced the Pizza Hut in Port Isabel to deliver pizza to the front gate of the park for a group of us and me and another guy walked up to meet them, on the way back a nice couple in an RV saw us walking with pizzas and 2 liter drinks and came out and gave us napkins and plastic cups to use. Such nice people all the way around during that trip.
Anyways, thanks again. Maybe we'll get to meet on a future launch trip. I would enjoy talking with you.
and you're 100% correct, watching the launch, bellyflop, flip and (almost) landing of SN8 was the most incredible thing I have witnessed first hand. Like something out of a movie. 🤯
@@JeffTSanders Send me a PM if you come back down the see SpaceX activities and I'll send you my lot number. We are on the row of RV's beside the statute. Like you, we like what we call the sand road. At times the sand collects on the road so that there is only one lane open. I'm sure you can't come for every launch but you will always be able to say you saw the first one.
Bob, not sure how to send a PM (fairly new to RUclips creating) but I wanted to let you know that if the static fire goes off well today we plan to fly in on Thursday for a hopeful launch on Friday. Maybe i'll see you down at the park or if you can, PM me your lot number and I'll swing by to say Hi. Happy Launches!
@@JeffTSanders S17. Columbus 5th Wheel. Dog fence. Across from statute. 3rd from end.
good information :) I live in Brownsville & been going to Boca Chica long before SpaceX was here and keep going now 👍🏼
Thanks so much.
You bet!
Great video, thx. We will be traveling down for SN10 hopefully.
What a great video! This is what I was looking for to let me know where to watch.
Thank you!
Awesome video. Very detailed and thorough. Thank you for this.
Glad you liked it. Thursday is gonna be a big day!
Hey, thanks for the upload, we traveled to watch Sn9
Great tips
Cool, we are planning to go back.for SN9 just waiting to get a better feel.for when that will be. Already changed our flight 3 times in the last week. What are your thoughts on a possible launch day?
Thanks for the video Jeff!! Very helpful! I was at the Falcon Heavy Launch and I plan to be there for Starship Launch!!
Glad you liked it. My wife and I were at the Falcon Heavy (Roadster) launch also...amazing! The first full Super Heavy Starship launch is gonna be incredible, I hope we can be there to see it.
Thanks for a very informative video. We will be heading down from STL and now with better preparation. Your work is much appreciated!
Glad you found it useful. Are you hoping to see the Super Heavy launch? When do you plan to head down?
Thank you so much. We are going tomorrow morning . Great information.❤
So glad you liked it. I think you're in for an amazing experience. Those 33 Raptors are going to be awesome when they fire up! Enjoy!
Jeff you might want to check out Long Island village in Port Isabel. They have daily and weekly rentals.
I’m a winter Texan from Michigan and have a home there. Enjoyed a great view of sn8 and launch from the park. We have all the amenities including a 18 hole golf course.
Will do, thanks Michael 👍
The rental list was 12 pages long when last I tried!
Awesome video! Super informative. Can't wait for my first launch in person.
Thanks, you are going to LOVE IT!
How can i learn schedule or launches? Also is it common to cancel launches? I will go with my son and i dont want to drive half day and come back without seeing it
At this point these are all still experimental/test launches so any schedule can change or cancel frequently depending on a variety of factors. Your best bet is to follow @SpaceX on X (Twitter) and maybe a few of the full-coverage folks on RUclips like Everyday Astronaut and NASA Space Flight (NSF).
Unfortunately you very well may have to spend a couple of days if you really want to make sure you see a launch at this point.
Good presentation, but one key item left out. If I spend 10 - 12 hrs at the South tip of SPI , I will need to use the facilities at some point. Are they available , or do you have to bring a porta potty?
Very good point. Last time we were there they had 2 options. Porta-potties were the closest, located at the end of the same parking lot, but the better option are nice, clean public bathrooms at the beach parking lot about 200 to 300 yards away. Thanks for the heads up on that oversight.
@@JeffTSanders Did some checking, and 5 min drive from Amphitheater to Visitor Center. Will be in Brownsville 1st week in August and will check out Space X and SPI. Plan to take the BiPlane tour and get a bird's eye view.
@@WG-tt6hk Sounds like fun, would love to hear how you like it.
@@JeffTSanders I'll be sue to post my experience here when I get back.
thanks for the video and great information! Is it possible to freely access the beach with a bicycle or do I have to pay the fee anyways? And do you know by any chance if it's allowed to cross the causeway to port isabel by bicycle? thank you!
I know you can access the beach by bike, lots of e-bikes during a recent visit. However I'm not sure you can ride a bike across the causeway. I suspect that you can't.
@@JeffTSanders thanks for getting back to me. I roamed around in street view and theres a sign at the bridge "slow traffic keep to the right". I'm from Europe and not too familiar with US traffic laws, will ask tourist bureau. If Orbital Launch really is around 20th of April I might be able to spontaneously come down. Are you planing to go there and what launch date is your closest assumption?
@@SimonPodolak We are planning to go over for the orbital launch if at all possible. Rumors of a launch around 4/20 are pretty popular now and that date would work great for us but who knows. I think it's all going to come down to when they get FAA approval. If you go, look for me and introduce yourself. 👍🚀
@@JeffTSanders will sure do! got the visa ready, hopefully FAA comes out soon.
@@JeffTSanders Hi Jeff, I've actually been at the launch:) didn't see you, place was packed! Best decision ever:D
This video is getting relevant again now lol
For sure. We went again in early March to see ship 24 and booster 7 up close and definitely plan to go when the orbital launch happens if we can.