Texas Tubes — Attraction in New Braunfels

I had never been tubing and hadn’t spent much time on rivers and lakes, but I hard heard it would be fun, so my wife and I decided to try it on my birthday weekend trip. Maybe it was just the timing, but this was a big mistake. Tubing on the Comal seems to be for a very specific demographic: 18-25 year olds who like to party. I thought floating down the river would be relaxing, but it was anything but. We went on a Saturday in June, and it was very crowded. The regular parking was full (it’s a small lot to begin with), so we had to pay to park in the Knights of Columbus grass. We had to change in our car since there were no bathrooms, and we couldn’t take any valuables except for a car key (although I later saw people checking bags of things). The parking lot was very hot with little shade and no seating, and the people working it were smoking and hanging around like they didn’t really care about their jobs. We had to take a bus to the river, which was okay. The bus driver was polite and told us how to find the right bus back. The area where you get into the river is busy and chaotic. There are no signs saying where to go or what to do; you just have to figure out from context. There are life jackets available, but there were none large enough for me (a 6-foot+ man). All the tubes are basically the same, light blue with the Texas Tubes logo and some ads for local businesses. The website said we could rent tubes with or without bottoms or a cooler tube, but no one said this was an option. You have to get tokens and bracelets to show you paid for your tubes. Once we got on the water we realized the river was extremely crowded. It was a virtual sea of people, making it hard to find your own path down the river. The river was very shallow and slow-moving on the day we went, which I guess could be good or bad depending on your tastes. The tubes move very slowly if you don’t paddle. I liked to paddle so that I could go at the speed and direction I wanted, but there were constantly people running into me or that I was running into. Also, people are not very courteous. A few people gave us bumps or pushes when we got stuck on the sides, but generally people were loud, obnoxious, and in the way. Many people bring large coolers or extra tubes for their stuff. Some people bring waterproof boom boxes. Some people lash themselves to their friends’ or families’ tubes to form a sort of flotilla. Almost everyone is drinking, and some people get very drunk. I do not enjoy spending time around loud drunk people, especially when I can’t easily get away from them. If you, I would recommend trying to go when it’s not very crowded. I would also recommend you don’t bring a lot of stuff. It can be hard to navigate the river even with just yourself. I would not bring any children younger than teenagers. Be advised that the river moves slowly, but there are three chutes on the course that Texas Tubes runs. The first one is okay; we definitely got very splashed and separated for a long time. The second chute was painful; my bottom scraped the bottom uncomfortably. The third one was actually fun. Your mileage may vary. The two or three hours we spent felt like an eternity. It was hot, crowded, and uncomfortable. There was some nice scenery, but it quickly became repetitive. There are also places that we couldn’t stay in the current and got stuck along the sides. Except for a few fun parts, I was so ready to leave, but the bus ride back was full of drunk people yelling, cursing, and singing loudly, even though there were young children present. I would not recommend unless you like drunk people,...

I've been tubing many times in other rivers and other tubing rental companies. We had 2 frightening incidents of myself and a friend overthrown from our tubes from strong currents, almost drowning. Luckily, those parts of the river they had lifeguards and park rangers monitoring tubers floating down the river. Now I am an experienced tuber and I have not seen any other rivers available to go tubing with such a ridiculous strong current. 90% of the route is a completely normal pace but it's daunting to me that rentals are open with splashing strong currents within the first 10 minutes of the river.

When you arrive at Texas Tube, the water looks completely relaxing and safe. I highly recommend anyone in your party who are not great swimmers to wear their complimentary life vests. We only saw children wearing them so we assumed it was for them and surely there wasn't suppose to be any crazy parts of the river, as I have been on many trips that would have never called for a serious need of life jackets.

Afterwards, I tried reporting to the staff of the incidents on our trip so they can become aware and know the lifeguards and rangers helped us out, and to enforce the lifejackets for non swimmers.

However, the staff working on Saturday June 1st 2019 between the hours of 9am-12pm did not seem to care. I would of been pleased with "Thank for letting us know" but the girl with long black hair at the counter just gave me a blank stare. I know there isn't much else they could do but before our trip I even researched the rental company and they have had lawsuits against them of people drowning. I thought it would be good for them to know regardless, which is why I am writing this review since my message didn't seem to resonate with them before. Aside from that the rest of the river was fun, but I wouldn't recommend this place to family or friends because of the location before the rough current.

Short Version: Highly Dangerous Parts of this River. People have drowned before. Reported our incidents to staff and they didn't care.

Go to Tube Haus for the Guadalupe River (opening time) instead for a more promising safer experience for friends...

2024- September.

There were lots of parking spaces. We were directed to park in the spill parking area which is about a 2-minute walk to the entry.

On the spill parking lot, the staff took our payment, gave us our bracelets, gave us tokens for the tubes, and we signed the waiver. No need to make reservations.

We walked to the starting point- of the tube entry, where the main parking lot is located, the restrooms (3 stalls & 1 changing room in the women's restroom), showers, free lockers, life vests for people who want or need them, and an area to get the tubes. They can also hold your car keys for you for free, all they need is your driver's license.

The water was not warm, but not freezing. It was refreshing for the hot weather. The water current was also very slow in most parts. Some parts of the river were shallow and some were deep. It is bordered by homes and rentals, along both sides. No scenery. We did see 2 ducks and some birds.

Not one staff talked about safety. You have to read it.

I saw 2 lifeguards in one of the chutes. I may have missed the others.

There were 2 mild chutes. But my son fell over his tube on one of the chutes.

No staff will help you get in or get out of the water.

Getting out of the water was a challenge! The exit area was deep. There were a few stair steps that were uneven and covered by moss. There was no platform to stand up to and nothing to catch your tube if you were not able to hang on to it while you pulled yourself up. Also, the water current in this area was a bit faster than most spots on the river. There were only 3 handrails with a rope at the end for people to grab on. And again, no staff to assist you. You pulling yourself up while hanging on to your tube was very DIFFICULT!

You then carry your tube up two flights of stairs to a parking lot where a shuttle is waiting to take you back to the entry point. Your tube is your ticket to the shuttle. So don't leave or let go of your tube!

The water was refreshing and the staff were nice.

From the time we arrived at the parking lot to the time we were back to our car, took 3 hours. 2.5 hours of that was in the water.

Have...