Rollover Pass is a man-made strait that cuts through the Bolivar Peninsula and links the Gulf of Mexico

Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...

 with Rollover Bay and East Bay on the upper Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 coast in eastern Galveston County (29°30′N 94°30′W). The pass was opened in 1955 by the Texas Game and Fish Commission to increase bay water salinity

Salinity

Salinity is the saltiness or dissolved salt content of a body of water. It is a general term used to describe the levels of different salts such as sodium chloride, magnesium and calcium sulfates, and bicarbonates...

, promote growth of submerged vegetation, and help marine fish to and from spawning and feeding areas in the bay.

Rollover Pass earned its name from the practice of smugglers who, from the days of Spanish rule through prohibition

Prohibition

Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...

, avoided the Galveston customs station by rolling barrels of import or export merchandise (i.e., whiskey and rum) over the narrowest part of the peninsula.

Rollover Pass is a popular location for fishing and birding.

On the morning of September 13, 2008 Hurricane Ike

Hurricane Ike

Hurricane Ike was the second-costliest hurricane ever to make landfall in the United States, the costliest hurricane ever to impact Cuba and the second most active hurricane to reach the Canadian mainland in the Great Lakes Region after Hurricane Hazel in 1954...

 came ashore near Galveston, Texas. The storm surge associated with Hurricane Ike

Hurricane Ike

Hurricane Ike was the second-costliest hurricane ever to make landfall in the United States, the costliest hurricane ever to impact Cuba and the second most active hurricane to reach the Canadian mainland in the Great Lakes Region after Hurricane Hazel in 1954...

 devastated the adjoining coastal communities of Gilchrist

Gilchrist, Texas

Gilchrist, Texas is an unincorporated residential community and beachfront resort along State Highway 87, located seventeen miles east of Bolivar Point in the Bolivar Peninsula census-designated place, in Galveston County, Texas, United States....

 (northeast from Rollover Pass) and Caplen

Caplen, Texas

Caplen is an unincorporated area the Bolivar Peninsula census-designated place, in Galveston County, Texas, United States.-History:On April 23, 1991 the community, and other areas of Galveston County, received an enhanced 9-1-1 system which routes calls to proper dispatchers and allows dispatchers...

 (southwest from Rollover Pass) along with most of the Bolivar Peninsula.