East Beach/Apffel Park #2

Galveston, Texas

Located at the eastern end of Galveston Island, Appfel Park is Texas's largest--and possibly most happening--beach. The beach and park are known for their beach parties, concerts, and events. And, unlike most beaches, alcohol is permitted on the beach here (no glass containers). For your convenience, there are restrooms, showers, and snacks available. Lifeguards are on duty from the end of May until early September. There is a per-vehicle entrance fee. Beach essentials are available for rent as are beach wheelchairs.

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COVID-19

Keep your distance from other people.

Practicing social distancing is essential right now. Follow the advice of the health experts. If your community has asked that you remain indoors and away from others, do so. Heading to the beach should only be considered an option if social distancing practices can be followed. Spending a day in any crowded place is the worst thing we can do for our most vulnerable right now and will counter the efforts to curb the virus’ spread.

For more information, please visit the World Health Organization public resource on COVID-19.

Water Quality

Meets water quality standards
Current Status
This status is based on the latest sample, taken on July 7th, 2020. The Swim Guide updates the status of this beach as soon as test results become available. These results were posted to Swim Guide on July 9th, 2020 at 10:06 AM.

For water quality icon legend, click:

Current Weather

29°C

Clear and sunny

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Monitoring Frequency

Source Information

The Texas General Land Office (GLO) administers the Texas Beach Watch Program.

Samples are collected weekly during the peak beach season from May through September and every other week from October through April. In March weekly samples are collected for Beach Watch stations on all gulf beaches to coincide with spring break.

There are three levels of advisories in Texas. The lowest level occurs when enterococcus densities are below 35 cfu (colony forming units)/100 ml. A medium-level advisory occurs when enterococcus densities are between 35 cfu/100 ml and 104 cfu/100 ml, and a high-level advisory is issued, with swimming not recommended, when the enterococcus density is greater than 104 cfu/100 ml.

The public is notified of all advisory levels on the Internet, but signs are posted on the beach and in Swim Guide for high-level advisories.

A beach is marked Green when single sample results contain fewer than 104 cfu/100 ml of water

A beach is marked Red when single sample results contain more than 104 cfu/100 ml of water

A beach is marked Grey when there is no current or reliable monitoring information available.

Water Quality Graph