When to visit Rockport and Fulton

Overview

Rockport is on State Highway 35, on Live Oak Peninsula between Copano Bay and Aransas Bay. Fulton is the town just north, on the same highway and on Aransas Bay.

This page covers only what differs here. For the whole Coastal Bend by month, including fishing seasons, hurricane season and what to pack, see When to visit the Coastal Bend.

Season by season

The sections below follow the whooping cranes in winter, the festivals in spring and summer, and the hummingbird migration in fall. Dates change every year, so check with the organizer before you plan a trip around an event.

At the Rockport station the warmest month is August (average high 93°F) and the coolest is January (average low 46°F). September is the wettest month, with 5.7 inches, and December is the driest, with 1.9.

These are the NOAA 1991 to 2020 climate normals for the Rockport station (USC00417704), from the National Centers for Environmental Information. Temperatures are rounded to the nearest degree Fahrenheit and rain to the nearest tenth of an inch.

Winter

The endangered whooping cranes winter at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) calls the refuge the wintering home of the last wild group of these birds. The cranes typically reach the refuge in late October and leave by mid-April.

Spring

Fulton Oysterfest is held in Fulton in March. The Rockport-Fulton Chamber of Commerce (the Chamber) describes it as a salute to the oyster industry. The festival's own site lists live music, shopping, beer, a carnival and an oyster eating contest, and says the festival supports the Fulton Fire Department. Spring is also one of the two times of year when, the USFWS says, millions of waterfowl, shorebirds and songbirds pass through the refuge.

Summer

The Rockport Art Festival is hosted by Rockport Center for the Arts in early July at the Festival Grounds at Rockport Harbor. The center calls it a beloved summer tradition that brings together more than 120 artists and over 10,000 collectors and visitors each year, and says its proceeds help provide free youth art education programs and support local and regional artists.

Fall

The HummerBird Celebration is held in September. The Chamber says it offers speaker programs, shopping, birding trips and hummer home bus tours, and that it is timed to the annual hummingbird migration through Rockport and Fulton.

SeaFair follows in early October, also run by the Chamber. It has a boat and outdoor show, cardboard boat races with a competition for all ages, and crab races on a wooden racetrack.

Beach conditions

Rockport Beach Park describes itself as Texas' first Blue Wave Beach. Its own site says a Blue Wave Beach is clean, managed responsibly and focused on the protection of human health and the environment, with swimmable waters. The site also says its shallow, clean waters can be enjoyed by swimmers of all ages.

It lists an 800-foot fishing pier, along with sailboating, sailboarding and jet skiing.

More about Rockport & Fulton

When to visit the Coastal BendRockport & Fulton area guideAll places in Rockport & Fulton

Where to stay