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Ocean Front Paradise,
Header image: Interior of La Playa Santa Maria, copyright Frank Haecker, 1985.
Throughout the 80’s and and 90’s the strip was filled with beach themed venues. This included La Playa Santa Maria at 2702 N. St. Mary's from 1984-1993, Coco Beach at 2726 N. St. Mary's from 1988-1990, and a short-lived Bahama Mamas at 3000 N. St. Mary's in 1996. There was even a beach themed clothing store, Maui Waui, from 1986-1990. Like most places on the strip, Trinity students were included in this beach frenzy.
Let’s start with the clothing store first. Maui Waui was owned and operated by Joe Pugliese1, a prominent music promoter and booker in San Antonio.
I opened up a little T-shirt beachwear shop called Maui Waui, and I had that for about four years. And I was working at Tycoon Flats as the night manager [and music booker], but then I owned this little business beside it, so I could take care of my business when I was down there working. And those were the glory years of the strip, you know.
While Maui Waui had a different approach to making money on the strip; by selling t-shirts instead of beers, but it must have been frequented by Trinity students, due to its premium location and connection to Trinity hotspot, Tycoon Flats. Joe attracted his customers with Reggae music, staff in swimsuits, and sand around the building. Why the beach craze on the strip? He was unsure of how it came about when we asked him about it.
I don't know where it started at. [It] might have started with Maui Waui...I don't know, but it was cool, 'cause people would play volleyball in the backyard[s], on the strip, in the yard[s] of these clubs.
The earliest beach themed bar and restaurant we could trace was La Playa Santa Maria, opening in the fall of 1984. The Trinitonian2 noted that the theme helped differentiate them for the other places on the strip you could spend your weekends at. La Playa was also involved in the local strip community, helping host “Halloween on St. Mary’s” in 1986 hosted by KZEP3, San Antonio’s local rock and roll station. Trinity students themselves were also big fans of La Playa, with the Trinitonian featuring the bar in their “Guide to Dining on the Strip” in March of 1987, highlighting their sand patio4. La Playa even donated prizes to Trinity’s biannual fundraiser, the Phonathon.5
Ad for La Playa in the Trinitonian from September, 1990.
Top left - Life is a Beach sweatshirt from La Playa Santa Maria. Bottom left - La Playa Santa Maria visor.
Right - Publicity photo for Trinity featuring students at La Playa Santa Maria, c. 1991
Ad in the Trinitonian for Coco Beach, from April, 1989.
Coco Beach, another beach themed establishment, was a hotspot for live music. Though unlike La Playa, Coco Beach also had an edgier side to it, hosting Wacky’s nights6 after the bar temporarily closed, allowing a chance for more alternative bands to perform. Coco Beach also gave space to Trinity students who may have not fit in with the Greek life crowd.
Lastly, there was Bahama Mamas which also catered to Trinity Greek life students, promoting the hosting sorority or fraternity parties in their advertisements. They had Thursday college nights that had .99 cent drink specials.7 However, their college nights did not end there. They also had the Undi 500, which were underwear contests, where the winning sorority or fraternity could win 500 dollars8. If you made it to the Undi 500 finals you could win $1000 dollars or a free stay at the Marriott Riverwalk.
Ad in the Trinitonian for Bahama Mama's, from October, 1996.
So really, why the beach theme? Beach stuff was everywhere in popular culture, especially during the 1980s. The Beach Boys had made a comeback with there song "Kokomo," there were tons of beach related movies, and spring break on the coasts were just next level. It was nice that everyone got to enjoy a little slice of beach paradise on the strip, at least for awhile.
Notes:
Joe Pugliese and Joan Duckworth, interviewed by Abra Schnur, June 23, 2026, audio, St. Mary's Strip History Project, San Antonio, TX.
Dickinson, Deborah. “Recipe for a good bar.” Trinitonian, 29 April. 1988. Trinity University Digitized Publications.
Smith, Steve. “St. Mary’s spooks out tonight.” Trinitonian, 17 Oct. 1986. Trinity University Digitized Publications.
“A guide to Dining on the Strip.” Trinitonian, 5 March. 1987. Trinity University Digitized Publications.
Phonathon “Thank you.” Advertisement. Trinitonian, 2 Dec. 1988. Trinity University Digitized Publications.
Beal, Jim. “Night Lights.” San Antonio Express News, 12 Oct. 1990. NewsBank: Access World News – Historical and Current.
Bahama Mamas. Advertisement. Trinitonian, 20 Sept. 1996. Trinity University Digitized Publications.
Bahama Mamas. Advertisement. Trinitonian, 18 Oct. 1996. Trinity University Digitized Publications.
Bahama Mamas. Advertisement. Trinitonian, 11 Oct. 1996. Trinity University Digitized Publications.
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