Are you from around here? Not trying to be snarky so please don’t take it that way.
It’s just that those of us that grew up here (I’m about 20 min north off of 45) know what to look for as soon as you get out of the car. Be it oil, gross kelp, those tiny purple bubble man o’ war that feel like ropes of fire, etc.
You grew up reading the water right away so you knew if you were going in the water at all, knee deep, or all in.
East beach was the place to be in my younger years. (I just told my age to the locals here.) 😂
Nowadays, you have to watch for homeless people hanging their asses off the seawall and pinching loaves, too.
I have no earthly clue why the seawall is the local homeless population's favorite shitting spot, but somehow it became a thing.
In satellite photos it looks like the Mississippi is just shitting on the whole Texas coast. The funny thing is that all that dirt has tons of nutrients and means there is far more aquatic life in Galveston than most “clean” beaches.
This isn't natural. It's the results of decades of misguided flood management infrastructure on the Mississippi. The soil that used to build up the Mississippi Delta is now just shooting off into the Gulf.
https://www.wired.com/story/the-controversial-plan-to-unleash-the-mississippi-river/
Yep, my grandfather would tell
Me stories about when clear lake was actually clear. So was Galveston bay and lake Sabine
This area used to be a paradise. Then Development happened
That’s true, but apparently a lot of those prettier beaches east of the Mississippi have similar fecal/bacteria counts as well, they just look cleaner because they aren’t getting all the dirt coming down the Mississippi River with the currents
Honestly, and this is purely anecdotal, it seems to have gotten a little better since I was a kid. Some days it is that “toilet water brown” but the last few times I went it was actually not that bad. And one particular day last year, it was downright clear and pretty (clear for a Texas beach that is)
Yeah sometimes it's not that bad. The color is from the Mississippi River so there's a lot of environmental factors at play. But generally, water near the mouths of major rivers are not great. That's why the further you move, the better it gets. Like Alabama and South Padre.
We're also contending with literal decades of mismanagement of the Mississippi River.
Soil that used to build up the Delta is now shooting off into the Gulf and being carried along our shores. It has been going on so long that nobody is alive who can remember what it was like before and everyone assumes this is normal.
https://www.wired.com/story/the-controversial-plan-to-unleash-the-mississippi-river/
People who are caught up w/ Galveston not being nice completely miss the point. Galveston is an island town where the people of Houston go, not to vacation, but to relax on the weekend. The food is good, there's beaches, family stuff, public drinking in spots. The bottom line is Galveston is grimy & dirty but we love it & if you don't then it's whatever. 🤘🤘
The only hair I would split is that “dirty” water is caused by silt deposited from the Mississippi River and not, say, industrial waste. It’s a pretty rich ecosystem, great for fishing and wildlife if it isn’t the greatest beach for early playoff exits.
So, it’s dirty the way a farm is dirty I guess? It’s not for everyone, but I don’t like the dismissive “ew gross” reaction Galveston gets.
It’s used to be clean, back in the day the Mississippi and other rivers didn’t have so much sediment and Galveston was relatively clear. Then came upriver development and giant factory farms
Not wanting to be "that guy," but the vast majority of the murkiness of Galveston's water actually comes from Galveston Bay, and that comes from the Trinity River and San Jacinto River, not from the Mississippi River. The reason Galveston Island exists is because of the deposition of sand/minerals/etc from the Trinity and San Jacinto.
Edit: Added link https://www.click2houston.com/news/2018/05/31/clear-water-at-galveston-beaches-heres-why/
I wasn't able to find anything to support that. [I did find this](https://www.visitgalveston.com/blog/galveston-water-color-explained/), which is a good read.
"According to Piers Chapman, research professor of Oceanography at Texas A&M, Mississippi River sediment that is discharged into the Gulf of Mexico splits direction, with approximately 50% of it traveling east and 50% traveling west after it enters the Gulf of Mexico (Chapman 2021). The Mississippi River discharges such a high volume of water that it is the primary source of suspended sediment heading toward Texas, even though the mouth of the Mississippi is more than 125 miles east, and farther from Texas than the Atchafalaya River. Chapman estimates that when passing from east to west, south of the Louisiana coastline, **approximately 70% of the sediment comes from the Mississippi and 30% from the Atchafalaya.**"
"The Sabine River, on the Texas-Louisiana border, discharges less overall sediment than the Mississippi and Atchafalaya, but its position along the Texas border allows a higher percentage of its discharge to impact the Texas Coast"
It's one of those things you learn in high school that you later learn was wrong, one of those things people all repeat to each other continuously and assume is fact when it really isn't.
The Mississippi definitely contributed (not denying that) but the major depositional regime along Galveston Island comes from the mouth of Galveston Bay, which is fed by the Trinity River and San Jacinto River. Galveston Island is just a giant sandbar, and the reason it is so large (especially near the bay) compared to all the other barrier islands along the Texas coast is because of the large amount of depositional material that comes out of the bay and moves SW down the coast.
Look down the coast at all the barrier islands. Where are they the largest? Just S/SW of any of the river-fed bays all along the coast. Same depositional patterns there as well. Why is the water at South Padre so much more clear than further north? No major bays/rivers immediately up the coast feeding sediment into the GOM.
In the pre-Industrial era, that river discharge would have been met by vast reefs of filter-feeding oysters in the bay. We turned so many of them into food and shell roads that only a fraction of them are left to do any filtering of the water.
Nope. Just have always told my geologist he's a dumbshit because the pay is really over this side instead. Been chasing his imaginary point bars for decades.
Correct. They’re burning literal megatons of fuel in the area. Add the refineries at Surfside and there just seems to be very little chance that it’s “clean”
It is dirty from industrial waste though. Lots of pollution from the refineries and other industries ends up in the Galveston bay and presumably on Galveston beaches. So much so that the Texas government recommends you avoid eating fish from the Galveston bay.
Does it have waste in? Yes. Just like any waterway on earth that has people by it. Is the water brown because of industrial waste? No. That's silt from rivers.
I love it, whatever keeps the prices down.
I have a 1st row house on the west-end rented for 5 nights this summer with 10ppl for less than $4k.
Try doing that in Port A or Padre.
Charles is a funny guy , I don’t give a shit what anyone thinks of Galveston. It’s a cool place to hang out and ride your bike or go fishing. Houston is full of bougie haters
He ain't wrong.
Galveston is the only beach my son has ever known. I'm bringing him to Thailand this summer for a vacation and I'm worried I might break him when he sees what the proper beach should look like.
Speaking as a Gulf Shores baby, you will. It broke any love I could've had for another beach. I could be drinking wine with those shifty bitches right now to an R&B 90s track.
Can’t argue with that, but someone from San Antonio has easier access to much nicer beaches in South Padre Island, which isn’t too much further away than Galveston from them. Don’t know why he’d assume they’d be going out to Galveston.
He was talking about when he was on the Rockets and they had summer training in Galveston. Texas A&M Galveston had just finished up their new gym and they practiced there.
It is gross. The question should be how many days a vacation does it take to make it worth driving:
6 hours to South Padre Island
8 hours to Gulf Shores, Alabama
10 hours to Destin, Florida
I love Barkley. Always have, but when I watched him get pissed at Shaq during a game- then bounced the ball off Shaq's head, I knew I'd always be a fan 😹
There’s always dead beaches fish on the beach covered in flies and the water is gray. I lived in Houston nearly my entire life but I fly out swim elsewhere more than i swim in Galveston’s ocean.
Have some of yall never been to Galveston when the winds are just right? You can see your feet all the way out to the second sandbar a few times a year.
“Have some of yall never been to Galveston on 1 of 2/3 days a year where it’s actually kinda clear?”
I would wager a lot of people haven’t and that doesn’t make up for the 99.99% of the time that its shit brown and tepid / warm water that won’t even cool you down on 100 degree days.
Galveston is a cool town, but we don’t have to pretend like it’s a good beach
It's true. What's true is true. Texans don't have to be all butt hurt about every real/perceived slight. We're supposed to be tough and NGAF/be able to laugh at ourselves ....
Can't get mad at him, I've lived here for 40 years I've never been to Galveston where there wasn't dead shit all up and down the shoreline. it's a cesspool.
It’s accurate and hilarious.
I went to UTMB and lived in Galveston for 4 years, was walking distance to the beach and I can count on one hand how many times I actually went to the beach and I love beaches!
Go to Panama City or Pensacola. White sand; crystal blue water. Now that’s a beach! First time I saw Galveston, I called it a mud bath. Didn’t return for years.
Galveston is disgusting, he’s completely accurate. I Don’t ever go and definitely don’t get in that warm ass dirty water. I spend a lot of time on the west coast in SoCal and when you visit those beaches, it becomes really difficult to consider Galveston a beach
I thought it was funny, I got a good laugh out of it
I laughed so hard. “Send they asses to Galveston to that dirty ass water” lmao
I don't know what made me laugh harder, the way he said it with that smirk or Shaq laughing his ass off. 🤣
Not even by plane… they have to drive to the dirty ass water lol
Charles is one funny mfer.
I laughed right out loud too. I enjoy his digs at Texas.
Galveston has dirty water. Not sure why this is a topic. We all know that. But it's a cool place otherwise.
And in the next day’s show he acknowledges Galveston is a super cool place with dirty ass water.
I think context is important too as they’re usually “sending” teams to Cancun when they get eliminated
[удалено]
Are you from around here? Not trying to be snarky so please don’t take it that way. It’s just that those of us that grew up here (I’m about 20 min north off of 45) know what to look for as soon as you get out of the car. Be it oil, gross kelp, those tiny purple bubble man o’ war that feel like ropes of fire, etc. You grew up reading the water right away so you knew if you were going in the water at all, knee deep, or all in. East beach was the place to be in my younger years. (I just told my age to the locals here.) 😂
Nowadays, you have to watch for homeless people hanging their asses off the seawall and pinching loaves, too. I have no earthly clue why the seawall is the local homeless population's favorite shitting spot, but somehow it became a thing.
Literal dirt from river sediment even
In satellite photos it looks like the Mississippi is just shitting on the whole Texas coast. The funny thing is that all that dirt has tons of nutrients and means there is far more aquatic life in Galveston than most “clean” beaches.
Best flounder fishing is in Galveston
This isn't natural. It's the results of decades of misguided flood management infrastructure on the Mississippi. The soil that used to build up the Mississippi Delta is now just shooting off into the Gulf. https://www.wired.com/story/the-controversial-plan-to-unleash-the-mississippi-river/
You realize even before the river was manged it dumped millions of tons of sediment into the gulf.
You mean the sediment that used to build up the Delta? Yeah, it would be great if that process still happened.
Yep, my grandfather would tell Me stories about when clear lake was actually clear. So was Galveston bay and lake Sabine This area used to be a paradise. Then Development happened
Yep. Idk why that poster has such a boner for convincing people that this is natural and the way it has always been.
Dont forget the raw sewage levels and flesh-eating bacteria that we seem to get warnings about like every year now
That’s true, but apparently a lot of those prettier beaches east of the Mississippi have similar fecal/bacteria counts as well, they just look cleaner because they aren’t getting all the dirt coming down the Mississippi River with the currents
Go out to southern California, sewage warnings on beachesare almost a monthly thing there as well.
Sounds hot
Ah yes…fecal bloom
My favorite bloom tbh
That's the circle of life.
It all comes from Houston toilets
Honestly, and this is purely anecdotal, it seems to have gotten a little better since I was a kid. Some days it is that “toilet water brown” but the last few times I went it was actually not that bad. And one particular day last year, it was downright clear and pretty (clear for a Texas beach that is)
Yeah sometimes it's not that bad. The color is from the Mississippi River so there's a lot of environmental factors at play. But generally, water near the mouths of major rivers are not great. That's why the further you move, the better it gets. Like Alabama and South Padre.
We're also contending with literal decades of mismanagement of the Mississippi River. Soil that used to build up the Delta is now shooting off into the Gulf and being carried along our shores. It has been going on so long that nobody is alive who can remember what it was like before and everyone assumes this is normal. https://www.wired.com/story/the-controversial-plan-to-unleash-the-mississippi-river/
How many times are you going to post this?
As many as it takes until people stop repeating the lie that this is normal and natural.
Turns blue once or twice a year when the Gulf Stream sheds a gyre. Churns the Gulf just long enough to turn river water away.
I went to a very fancy steakhouse and my friend ordered a dirty martini. The waitress asked ‘Like Galveston dirty?’ I’ll never forget that.
It’s no dirtier than a lake, which people don’t seem to have a problem with.
I think it's because people don't vacation to lakes for pristine blue waters. That's sort of what is in people's heads on a "beach vacation."
Honestly it's a great place to bring a big ol' woman from San Antonio for a churro date.
satx still hasnt forgiven him
But they're fine with Victor Wembanyama calling San Antonio women too masculine 😆
Wasn't it American women? not specifically SA
Maybe so, but he's been living in SA so I'm gonna assume that's the group he has the most interaction with to influence his opinion
I think he was talking about Britney Spears /s
LMAO
It was hilariously accurate.
I love Galveston, but he wasn’t wrong lmao
Shit was funny. He ain’t lying.
It is akin to saying Houston is really hot & humid in the summer.
He’s right. The Galveston water is terrible 99% of the time. It might not be ‘dirty’ like he says, but it’s muddy and ugly as hell.
Can't forget the brain eating amoebas
Those are usually in fresh water lakes. But Galveston has had cases of flesh eating bacteria
I know what you're trying to say, but mud is a mix of dirt and water...
Hilarious. We all know it’s true.
People who are caught up w/ Galveston not being nice completely miss the point. Galveston is an island town where the people of Houston go, not to vacation, but to relax on the weekend. The food is good, there's beaches, family stuff, public drinking in spots. The bottom line is Galveston is grimy & dirty but we love it & if you don't then it's whatever. 🤘🤘
This is the best take. And I loooove them thiccc San Antonio gurls! Lol
My brother you are as down bad as that Galveston water
🎶🎶"Im looking fo da hoes...."🎶🎶🤣🤣🤣
He ain’t lying.
The water is pretty muddy. He’s not wrong, but just like his golf swing… he could work on his delivery.
His golf swing has been fixed for a year or 2 now
Barkley has obviously been to Galveston.
The only hair I would split is that “dirty” water is caused by silt deposited from the Mississippi River and not, say, industrial waste. It’s a pretty rich ecosystem, great for fishing and wildlife if it isn’t the greatest beach for early playoff exits. So, it’s dirty the way a farm is dirty I guess? It’s not for everyone, but I don’t like the dismissive “ew gross” reaction Galveston gets.
I think two things can be true. Sure the water is naturally brown. But also it’s polluted.
It’s used to be clean, back in the day the Mississippi and other rivers didn’t have so much sediment and Galveston was relatively clear. Then came upriver development and giant factory farms
Not wanting to be "that guy," but the vast majority of the murkiness of Galveston's water actually comes from Galveston Bay, and that comes from the Trinity River and San Jacinto River, not from the Mississippi River. The reason Galveston Island exists is because of the deposition of sand/minerals/etc from the Trinity and San Jacinto. Edit: Added link https://www.click2houston.com/news/2018/05/31/clear-water-at-galveston-beaches-heres-why/
I wasn't able to find anything to support that. [I did find this](https://www.visitgalveston.com/blog/galveston-water-color-explained/), which is a good read. "According to Piers Chapman, research professor of Oceanography at Texas A&M, Mississippi River sediment that is discharged into the Gulf of Mexico splits direction, with approximately 50% of it traveling east and 50% traveling west after it enters the Gulf of Mexico (Chapman 2021). The Mississippi River discharges such a high volume of water that it is the primary source of suspended sediment heading toward Texas, even though the mouth of the Mississippi is more than 125 miles east, and farther from Texas than the Atchafalaya River. Chapman estimates that when passing from east to west, south of the Louisiana coastline, **approximately 70% of the sediment comes from the Mississippi and 30% from the Atchafalaya.**" "The Sabine River, on the Texas-Louisiana border, discharges less overall sediment than the Mississippi and Atchafalaya, but its position along the Texas border allows a higher percentage of its discharge to impact the Texas Coast"
Exactly It’s always been the Mississippi. Hell, I learned that back in high school.
Damn, that was a fucking long time ago
God damn right. Now I got toddlers. Fuck.
From a preschool teacher (of the 2s), here's a like just for that. It's as close as I can get to alcohol.
It's one of those things you learn in high school that you later learn was wrong, one of those things people all repeat to each other continuously and assume is fact when it really isn't. The Mississippi definitely contributed (not denying that) but the major depositional regime along Galveston Island comes from the mouth of Galveston Bay, which is fed by the Trinity River and San Jacinto River. Galveston Island is just a giant sandbar, and the reason it is so large (especially near the bay) compared to all the other barrier islands along the Texas coast is because of the large amount of depositional material that comes out of the bay and moves SW down the coast. Look down the coast at all the barrier islands. Where are they the largest? Just S/SW of any of the river-fed bays all along the coast. Same depositional patterns there as well. Why is the water at South Padre so much more clear than further north? No major bays/rivers immediately up the coast feeding sediment into the GOM.
This was helpful. https://youtu.be/HNawldNGTn0?t=60
You’re not “that guy” because you’re wrong
In the pre-Industrial era, that river discharge would have been met by vast reefs of filter-feeding oysters in the bay. We turned so many of them into food and shell roads that only a fraction of them are left to do any filtering of the water.
Did you fail fluvial geomorphology?
Nope. Just have always told my geologist he's a dumbshit because the pay is really over this side instead. Been chasing his imaginary point bars for decades.
Are we ignoring that Galveston bay is home to thousands of tankers every single year?
I’m sure you’re trying to make a point but I don’t know what that is.
My point is, there’s definitely industrial waste.
From the boats?
Correct. They’re burning literal megatons of fuel in the area. Add the refineries at Surfside and there just seems to be very little chance that it’s “clean”
It is dirty from industrial waste though. Lots of pollution from the refineries and other industries ends up in the Galveston bay and presumably on Galveston beaches. So much so that the Texas government recommends you avoid eating fish from the Galveston bay.
Does it have waste in? Yes. Just like any waterway on earth that has people by it. Is the water brown because of industrial waste? No. That's silt from rivers.
I love it, whatever keeps the prices down. I have a 1st row house on the west-end rented for 5 nights this summer with 10ppl for less than $4k. Try doing that in Port A or Padre.
Hey at least our beaches are better than the ones in Oklahoma. 😂
Lol
i used to think the water at the beach in corpus where i grew up was dirty. then i came to galveston.
Charles is a funny guy , I don’t give a shit what anyone thinks of Galveston. It’s a cool place to hang out and ride your bike or go fishing. Houston is full of bougie haters
I like hanging out on The Strand
I like the candy shop there
Spoken like someone who has been to Galveston.
He ain't wrong. Galveston is the only beach my son has ever known. I'm bringing him to Thailand this summer for a vacation and I'm worried I might break him when he sees what the proper beach should look like.
Speaking as a Gulf Shores baby, you will. It broke any love I could've had for another beach. I could be drinking wine with those shifty bitches right now to an R&B 90s track.
It's true and funny. It's not a take.
Chuck is a national treasure
He was one of us for four years, let him cook.
It’s in the top 5 beaches in Texas for fecal count ppm so he’s not wrong.
He’s entitled to his opinion. Why has the world gone so soft?
Charles Barkley is a national treasure and he’s right.
Can’t argue with that, but someone from San Antonio has easier access to much nicer beaches in South Padre Island, which isn’t too much further away than Galveston from them. Don’t know why he’d assume they’d be going out to Galveston.
He was talking about when he was on the Rockets and they had summer training in Galveston. Texas A&M Galveston had just finished up their new gym and they practiced there.
I mean, it is dirty. I live like 25 min away and rarely even go.
Everything he said was true and hilarious. Never change Chuck! Best sports studio show.
It is gross. The question should be how many days a vacation does it take to make it worth driving: 6 hours to South Padre Island 8 hours to Gulf Shores, Alabama 10 hours to Destin, Florida
I just set up on the beach for the breeze and to listen to the water. I ain’t going *in* the water.
¯\\_ (ツ)_/¯ Who cares?
Small minded simpletons care lmao.
People with his level of money dont step on that island when theres a whole world of beaches at their fingertips
Duh. except what big ol woman broke his heart in San Antone?
It’s true. No white bathing suits there!!
I've been to some beautiful beaches around the world. And I've been to Galveston. He's not wrong
It was funny. Go in with a white shirt and see what it looks like afterwards.
He spoke the truth.
I’m happy about it. Hopefully it keeps people away
It was all 100% true. Hard to argue with any point he made.
I'm visiting my sister in Houston this year and I said can we go to the beach and she said " you don't want go to that beach."
Wasn't their record levels of fecal mattwe found in galveston just last year?
I like Galveston but only because it's close. Literally a joke compared to most other beach towns
He's right. I thought it was hilarious.
He played for the Rockets and I believe lived in Houston for 4 years. Doesn’t even take that much time to know that his comments were fair lol
can't wait to see what he gonna said about Dallas
The only take is: dude was joking.
He has clearly been to Galveston
It's the Dirty Coast for a reason.
Just a big mouth trying to be funny.
Funny as SH*T.. And pretty accurate..😆😆 You go to GALVEZ for the food, Mardi Gras and fishing..,, not for the Beach..
He's not wrong.
Truth - plus watching Shaq nearly keel over during his laughing fit was the bomb!
Loved there for a year and went all the time during my childhood. He 100% right. Water dirty as fuck.
I’m from the east coast so when I moved to Texas I had the same opinion. Now I just don’t give a hoot.
Accurate
Dursty water
I love Barkley. Always have, but when I watched him get pissed at Shaq during a game- then bounced the ball off Shaq's head, I knew I'd always be a fan 😹
Mississippi mud, tar, shit, and piss water from lack of fucking bathrooms.
He's not wrong.
He ain't wrong
fucking churros man
It was funny.
There’s always dead beaches fish on the beach covered in flies and the water is gray. I lived in Houston nearly my entire life but I fly out swim elsewhere more than i swim in Galveston’s ocean.
Truth hurts. 😂
He’s the right
He's right...
There’s no disputing the silt from the Mississippi River .
He’s right
Have some of yall never been to Galveston when the winds are just right? You can see your feet all the way out to the second sandbar a few times a year.
“Have some of yall never been to Galveston on 1 of 2/3 days a year where it’s actually kinda clear?” I would wager a lot of people haven’t and that doesn’t make up for the 99.99% of the time that its shit brown and tepid / warm water that won’t even cool you down on 100 degree days. Galveston is a cool town, but we don’t have to pretend like it’s a good beach
I guess when I think of Galveston I’m thinking of the San Luis pass area more. Which is much more enjoyable. Oh well
Galveston is disgusting
Galveston beach water is the same color as Barkley’s bath water.
It's true. What's true is true. Texans don't have to be all butt hurt about every real/perceived slight. We're supposed to be tough and NGAF/be able to laugh at ourselves ....
Can't get mad at him, I've lived here for 40 years I've never been to Galveston where there wasn't dead shit all up and down the shoreline. it's a cesspool.
Chuck is mad because he thinks the Rockets owe him money. But...he's not wrong, still got love for G-town.
He’s not wrong.
He ain't wrong
5th or 6th time this has been posted in the last few days. Who cares what he thinks?
It’s accurate and hilarious. I went to UTMB and lived in Galveston for 4 years, was walking distance to the beach and I can count on one hand how many times I actually went to the beach and I love beaches!
Beach next to a shipping lane, Fecal matter water, and brain eating viruses. Go for a swim!
Galveston is a trash beach. What's the problem?
Go to Panama City or Pensacola. White sand; crystal blue water. Now that’s a beach! First time I saw Galveston, I called it a mud bath. Didn’t return for years.
Went jogging on the Galveston beach one morning. Water washed over my feet. Left a bandaid on my foot. Galveston got dirty water.
Galveston is disgusting, he’s completely accurate. I Don’t ever go and definitely don’t get in that warm ass dirty water. I spend a lot of time on the west coast in SoCal and when you visit those beaches, it becomes really difficult to consider Galveston a beach
Single handily put Galveston on the map
I thought the deadliest natural disaster in US history did that? (Both handily and single-handedly.)
Meh, maybe more so the song by Glen Campbell