It is one of seven major estuaries along the Gulf Coast of Texas and supports a diverse collection of wildlife, attracting many tourists.

The bay's abundance of petroleum and natural gas has attracted industry, and its strategic location on the Texas coast is ideal for military establishment.

The shores of Corpus Christi (or Body of Christ) Bay are thought to have been inhabited by the Karankawa Indians before the European colonization.

[2] Archeological evidence suggests that pre-Karankawa peoples used the area near Oso Bay as a burial ground between 500 BC and 500 AD.

[3] It is believed to have first been spotted by Europeans on Corpus Christi Day which fell on June 23, 1519, when Spanish explorer Alonso Álvarez de Pineda navigated its waters.

Explorer Blas María de la Garza Falcón is believed to have been the first man to purchase land on the bay in 1746.

[2] A bayfront that included a 32-foot overlooking statue of Jesus Christ was designed by Mount Rushmore sculptor Gutzon Borglum in 1928, but was turned down by the city in 1930.

White settlers discovered the road in the 1860s, and it became a common way to pass from Portland to Corpus Christi via buggy, although its jagged course had to be marked with posts and horses would sometimes fall off the beds and drown.

[12] Notably, during a March 1960 practice run from the base, future Senator John McCain lost track of his altitude and speed, and his single-seat, single-pistoned-engine AD-6 Skyraider crashed into Corpus Christi Bay and sank to the bottom.

He squeezed out of the cockpit, swam ten feet to the surface, and was carried to safety by a rescue helicopter, therefore escaping without major injuries.

Another seawall, which starts in Emerald Cove with gaps at places such as a spoils island that can be viewed in the bay and the canal, is slightly out in the water.

[16] Past Portland, the shore curves to the southeast where the large La Quinta Island forms on the backdrop of industrial plants in Ingleside.

The La Quinta Channel has been dredged between the island and the shore and meets the Jewell Fulton canal at the confluence of Kinney Bayou.

[17] The Environmental Protection Agency has designated the Corpus Christi Bay system as an estuary of national significance.

[14] More than 234 species of fish are found in the bay,[14] including the Gafftopsail catfish, Hardhead catfish, Atlantic croaker, Atlantic cutlassfish, Black drum, Red drum, Southern flounder, Crevalle jack, Ladyfish, Inshore lizardfish, Atlantic midshipman, Silver perch, Pinfish, Smooth puffer, Scaled sardine, Bighead searobin, Sand seatrout, Spotted seatrout, Sheepshead, Gray snapper, Common snook, and tripletail.

[18] In 2009, $1 million of federal stimulus money was delegated to the restoration of the marshland near the Nueces Bay Causeway to increase the population of birds and fish.