Surfside! It's 20 miles tops south of Galveston. Award winning beaches. The jetty can get a bit packed on weekends. Miles of inland lakes and surf though. It's just far enough from Angleton/Freeport to be a smaller community with a few decent fullservice restaurants , a liquor store, and a Bucky's. Check out Hookers bait shack, Jetty shack for damn good burger, make friends with them and they'll do you right.
As for crabbing, pick up a good net, a 5gal pail or extra cooler, some string, tie to a piece of pvc pipe or stick. Most people use chicken necks or legs, they're cheap and the crabs don't lose grip as easily because texture, squid is underrated too.
Hand toss your line into the water and reel back up. Theirs plenty of YT vids out there, no need for lessons.
Avoid the tourist crab piers unless you're just fishing for sport as most are too small (5in minimum last I checked) to keep (over-fished) and don't mind being interrupted or watched by strangers. Find a spot around the oyster bays or down from the kayak launch. High tides are best, you can check the reports on your phone, they'll go into feeding frenzy's on minnows and you can literally just scoop them up with a net. Not sure if that's legal, but of fucking course have your fishing license ready and keep an eye out for game wardens because they will be making rounds.
