Seawall Parking in Galveston Is Pay-by-Plate, Every Day

The whole length of the Seawall is paid parking from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., seven days a week, and there's no booth or meter to feed. You pay through PayByPhone (the app, the website at paybyphone.com, or by calling 1-866-234-7275) and you punch in your plate number, location code 5004. The plate is the receipt; an enforcement car reads it as it rolls by, so there's nothing to stick in the window.

It runs $2 an hour with a two-hour minimum, capped at $16 for the day, so a long beach afternoon tops out fast. If you're down here a lot, fishing the Seawall at dawn or out of a standing weekend habit, the $45 annual pass pays for itself in a few visits and saves the per-trip app fee.

Two things catch people out. The payment is tied to your plate and isn't transferable, so a buddy's leftover session won't cover your car, and a downtown payment doesn't reach the Seawall, since they're billed as separate zones. Set the timer when you pay so you're not surprised by a citation at hour three.