Have you heard of Cinnamon Shore yet? As a born and raised Texan, I love finding fun and family-friendly vacation spots right here in the great state of Texas. Cinnamon Shore in Port Aransas, Texas definitely did not disappoint. This post will give you the details of our trip and everything you need to know before planning your own trip to Cinnamon Shore.  

This post is not sponsored and all opinions expressed are my own.

Call us crazy, but this spring we had the urge to take a beach trip with a two-year-old and a two-month-old. I know,  who wants to travel with a toddler and a baby? Apparently, us…

Our family, like many families in the south, loves to visit 30A in Florida. However, when we looked at the traveling logistics with two small kids it just didn’t really make sense for our family at this time. I knew there had to be some other option that would give our family the relaxing beach family vacation that we craved without the hassle of airplane travel. I started to do some research and found Cinnamon Shores in Port Aransas and we decided to go for it and book a trip!

Planning Your Trip to Cinnamon Shores

Before you plan your trip to Cinnamon Shores, here are a few things that are helpful to know!

Where is Cinnamon Shore?

Cinnamon Shore is on the Texas coast in Port Aransas, Texas. It is located in Nueces County. Cinnamon Shores is split into two sections, Cinnamon Shores North and Cinnamon Shores South. Cinnamon Shores North was developed first and currently has more amenities. Here is a map of Cinnamon Shores North.

Cinnamon Shores North and Cinnamon Shores South

It is important to know that there are two different sections of Cinnamon Shore. There is Cinnamon Shore North and Cinnamon Shore South. We stayed in Cinnamon Shore North and at the time of this post, most of the restaurants, pools, and things to do are within Cinnamon Shore North. Cinnamon Shore South is still in the beginning stages of development and will eventually have more amenities.

Are Cinnamon Shore North and South Connected?

Currently, Cinnamon Shore North and Cinnamon Shore South are not connected. They are not far apart, but you will need a car to travel between the two.

Where to stay in Cinnamon Shore?

There are a variety of different rental options in Cinnamon Shores to meet the needs of your family! The community has homes and condos of all sizes available to rent, and some of them are even big enough to accommodate multiple families! You can book any of them directly through the Cinnamon Shore website. Homes are owned by individual owners, so each one has its own style!

Our family decided on this condo right off the town center. It was on the first floor and just the right amount of space for our family plus just across the street from all of the action. Seriously, our baby monitor reached! We booked directly through the Cinnamon Shore website and the process was really simple. After booking, we received a series of emails that were really helpful and informative.

What do I need to bring to Cinnamon Shore?

Many of the houses will have the essential items that you need and there are a few grocery stores in Port Aransas, but here are helpful items to pack for your beach trip.

• The Original Bogg^® Bag: This beach bag is an absolute must have! It’s the only bag big enough to hold everything our family needs at the beach. plus it’s so easy to rinse off the sand after!
• Sunscreen
• Beach Towels: Some homes may have towels available for you to borrow, but I still prefer to bring our own! Sam’s Club makes my favorite beach towels, but they are only available seasonally.

Cinnamon Shore North

Our rental property was in Cinnamon Shores North. Inside of this community, there are three community pools, a few restaurants, green spaces, a playground, an outdoor area for live music, and so much more! 

Cinnamon Shore Pools

Our favorite pool to visit during our trip was Keira’s Pool because it had an attached restaurant (C-Bar) so you could order drinks and snacks while swimming. We thought the drinks were delicious and we enjoyed being waited on. It also had nice, shaded pavilion spaces right off of the pool that we could rest in and they were especially great for breastfeeding. The pool was large and the view was absolutely beautiful.

This pool was also was toddler-friendly and EK loved wading in and playing in the shallow part. There are also two other pools within the community that you can check out during your stay! Before you travel anywhere with water, I definitely recommend reading this post about aquatic safety.

Cinnamon Shore Restaurants

Also within the community are a few restaurants! Hands down, Dylan’s Coal Oven Pizzeria was our favorite! We had pizza a few times during our trip, but also enjoyed their pasta, salads, and sandwiches too.

The food was absolutely delicious and the picnic tables outside the restaurant made it super easy for dining with a family. It was also a great option to order to go too!

There is another restaurant close by called, Lisabella’s with a higher-end menu but still casual enough for kids. We ordered it to-go one night as well and it was tasty!

C-Treats was open one of the nights of our stay! It is a little food truck that has snacks like hot dogs and popcorn plus candy, drinks, and snow cones too! Perfect to order and enjoy on the lawn after an afternoon at the beach.

Also, the town of Port Aransas is just down the street and a short (car) drive away. We did head into Port Aransas for lunch two days during our trip and there are many local restaurants to choose from.

Before arriving at Cinnamon Shore, I highly recommend stopping at a grocery store for some basic groceries, drinks and beach snacks, etc. We love the H-E-B at Aransas Pass and loaded up on the things we would need during our stay. There is a small market on-site, but hours and selections were pretty limited and I definately would not depend on it for all of your grocery needs.

Getting Around Cinnamon Shore

One of the things we loved most about Cinnamon Shore was that we could drive to the beach and all around the CS North community in a golf cart.

Cinnamon Shore Golf Cart Rental

We rented a golf cart from Sage Beach Cart and it was parked and waiting for us in front of our rental when we arrived! Seriously, such a game changer. It was so nice to be able to load up the golf cart and drive it straight to our spot on the beach. They even have golf cart options with built-in Yeti coolers so you don’t have to bring your own! 

We loved cruising the beach at sunset and checking out all of the beautiful houses within the community!

Port Aransas Beach 

Speaking of the beach, there is a boardwalk straight from the community to the beach. Just drive your golf cart or walk! Here was our beach set up every day of our trip.

We took full advantage of the valet chair and umbrella service. After all, this is a vacation, and hauling our own beach gear with two small children would be pretty much impossible for us. This was money very well spent. Each day during our stay we just showed up and an umbrella and two chairs were set up for us next to a plaque with our name. Then, at the end of the day, it was cleaned up. It was so helpful and so nice that we could come and go all day without losing our spot at the beach. 

Final Thoughts on Cinnamon Shores 

Overall, we thought Cinnamon Shores was the perfect family vacation spot! We absolutely loved how the entire community was catered to families with children. We visited before the start of the busy summer season, so things were not crowded, which we loved. However, some of the things we probably would have enjoyed like live music and family movie nIghts weren’t happening during our stay. I  highly recommend checking out the hours of restaurants and things to do before booking your stay to ensure the activities your family wants to do will be happening.

Oh, and definitely rent the golf cart and pay for the beach chair and umbrella set up. Seriously, money well spent and a game-changer for families. Just show up and enjoy the Port Aransas beach! Also, I highly recommend grabbing groceries on your way into Cinnamon Shore! 

I hope this post has convinced you to check out our new favorite family beach spot.  I am already looking forward to our family’s next trip to Cinnamon Shore!