THE COASTAL BEND MAGAZINE • Late Summer 2018 77 TheCoastalBend.com Port Aransas No vacation to the Coastal Bend is complete without getting your time on the water, and unique adventures are abound include pirates, dolphins, jet skis and even sailing yachts. Woody’s Sports Center, located on the Port Aransas Marina, is home to a variety of waterborne adventures in addition to fishing, the most popular of which are its Dolphin Watch Nature Tours. The waters of the Coastal Bend are home to thousands of bottlenose dolphins that seem to find great fun traveling in the wakes of boats and ships. Dolphin Watch takes you up close to these magnificent animals in their natural environment. 136 W. Cotter Ave. • (361) 749-5252 WoodysOnline.com Especially during the spring and summer months, dol- phin excursions have been known to come under (mock) attack by watergun-wielding pirates aboard a second boat. Luckily, these are traditional, theatrical pirates, and not those that have made so much news in recent years. This super-fun adventure is ideal for groups of all ages! BIG FUN ON THE WATER IN PORT ARANSAS Chute Em Up Parasailing One of the most popular saltwater adventure sports is available all spring and sum- mer, offering an all-ages adventure and breathtaking views of the islands, channels and inland bays. (361) 749-4600 • ChuteEmUpParasail.com Red Dragon Pirate Cruises offers an interactive, floating theater, pirate themed experience that is fun for the whole family. The newly constructed ship features a crew of “pirates”who lead eager guests on cruises in the channels and nearby bays. Snacks and full bar. (361) 749-2469 • RedDragonPirateCruises.com Fisherman’s Wharf Home to popular fishing party boats the Wharf Cat and the Scat Cat, as well as private offshore and bay fishing charters and the Jetty Boat to St. Joseph’s Island, located across the Port Aransas Shop Channel. (361) 749-5448 WORLD FOOD CHAMPS DEBUTS TEXAS COMPETITION IN PORT A ALL CREDIT AND ACCOLADES to Black Marlin Chef Gail Huesmann, a veter- an competitor at major culinary events, for bringing to Port Aransas the very first statewide, qualifying competition for the annual World Food Championships (WFC) in Orange Beach, Alabama. The very first Texas Super Chef Showdown Series will take place from Wednesday–Saturday October 3–6 at nine different establishments in Port A, and will feature 33 chefs who will compete to qualify for the WFC main event in November, where they will face some of the most accomplished culinary artists from around the world. WFC is televised on A&E Networks, and puts up over $300,000 to winning chefs. Texas Super Chefs is the first sanctioned, statewide qualifying competition for WFC, which is a launch point for many celebrity chefs who we see on cooking and food cable TV shows. The theme of Port A’s first competition is,“By Land (beef, pork, lamb or game), By Sea (fish or shellfish), By Air (poultry, even if it didn’t fly),”and will take place at three venues on each the event’s first three nights. On Wednesday, it will be Venetian Hotplate, Sea- food & Spaghetti Works and Trout Street Bar & Grill. Thursday venues will be The Phoenix, Lisabella’s, and The Black Marlin. On Friday, poultry night, competitions will be held at The Brewery, La Barataria and Roosevelt’s at The Tarpon Inn. The grand final competition will take place poolside at the beauti- ful Palmilla Beach Resort & Golf Community on Saturday night. Texas Super Chefs promises to be a welcomed boost to the island’s off-season economy, and awe- some eats and fun for eager food- ies from across the state. TexasSuperChefs.com