In Nueces County, Port Aransas is located on Mustang Island in the Gulf of Mexico, in the Corpus Christi, Texas metro area.

In 1855 an English settler built a ranch house on the site. Later it developed into a resort and fishing village.

The town had a population of 824 in 1960, 1,300 in 1970, and 2,218 in 1982. The number of people on the island, however, frequently swells to over 20,000 during peak tourism periods, straining facilities and congesting the roads. In addition to the regular summer tourists, Port Aransas is crowded with college students at Easter, at Christmas, and between semesters.

It is reached by ferry from Aransas Pass on the line of Hwy 361.