Features
The shoreline of Corpus Christi Bay is included in the Texas Coastal Plain in South Texas. The surrounding land is semi-arid and is used for ranching and other agricultural purposes. The bay itself is considered subtropical, and was described by Gutzon Borglum as "the most beautiful bay on the Texas coast."
On average, the system is 3 meters (9.8 ft) deep, and covers approximately 497 square kilometers (192 sq mi). It is the fourth largest estuarine system in Texas behind Galveston Bay, Laguna Madre and Matagorda Bay. The two main extensions are: Nueces Bay, which extends west to the mouth of the Nueces River, and Oso Bay, which extends south to the mouth of Oso Creek. Every second, approximately 34 cubic meters (9,000 USgal) of water flows into the bay. The exchange with the Gulf of Mexico occurs at Aransas Pass. As a result of the seawater exchange, the bay's salinity is 22 parts per thousand (ppt), which is lower than the seawater average of 35 ppt.
Following the shoreline beginning at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi on the bay's southeastern peninsula, the features of the bay can be best described. Moving northwest from the air station, Oso Bay must be crossed at its confluence with Corpus Christi Bay. On the other side of the meeting is Ward Island (actually a peninsula), where Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi is found. Further northwest, the shore begins to curve and off in the distance across the bay, the skyline of Corpus Christi is visible. Following the shore, the land dips inward and forms Emerald Cove, where a seawall has been constructed. Out in the bay, the Alta Vista Reef can be spotted from this location. Moving north along the shore, the seawall continues into the main city, until it reaches Industrial Canal, which has been dredged south of Nueces Bay and extends into the main bay to Port Aransas. Another seawall, which starts in Emerald Cove with gaps at places such as a spoils island that can be viewed in the bay and the canal, is slightly out in the water. This seawall ends when it reaches land at the southern portion of Corpus Christi Beach. North of the canal, Corpus Christi Beach is found along the shore to Rincon Point, where Corpus Christi Bay opens to Nueces Bay and must be crossed using the Nueces Bay Causeway to Indian Point near Portland, from where Indian Reef juts from offshore. Past Portland, the shore curves to the southeast where the large La Quinta Island forms on the backdrop of industrial plants in Ingleside. The La Quinta Channel has been dredged between the island and the shore and meets the Jewell Fulton canal at the confluence of Kinney Bayou. Ingleside Cove is formed in this area between La Quinta Island and an island named Ingleside Point. The shore then curves to the southwest where Ingleside on the Bay is located on southern shore of the bay's northeastern peninsula. To the southeast, a series of islands form the boundary between Corpus Christi and Redfish Bays.
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