Blue Hole Regional Park — Local services in Wimberley

Last year we bought tickets to Blue Hole months in advance, but the day before our date arrived we were notified that Blue Hole would be closed due to low water levels. We were disappointed, but our tickets were refunded, and we vowed to try again this year. Again, we bought tickets months in advance for our friends and ourselves. We rode our bikes several hours to get there, and our friends drove a similar distance. We arrived early for our 2:00 spot and waited in line. At 1:56 pm, the person working in the hut said there would be a delayed opening because someone, somewhere heard thunder. We waited. Every fifteen minutes, he delayed the opening 15 more minutes, claiming there was still thunder somewhere. Neither we nor anyone else waiting ever heard thunder. The sky was cloudy, but the clouds were not ominous, and it was not raining. Many people waiting were looking at the weather on their phones. It did not look like the weather would ever turn bad, but we were still not allowed in, and the person in the hut said it was very unlikely that they would open because climate change makes it impossible to predict the weather anymore, and storms can come out of nowhere even if the weather forecast looks fine. He said we could wait until 4 pm if we wanted. By 4 pm he would either let us in or the Blue Hole would refund our tickets. We waited until around 3 pm, at which point he said it was almost certain that they wouldn't open, so we'd be better off leaving and getting refunded. Due to our long bike ride, our friends' long drive, and this person's near-certainty that we wouldn't get in, we gave up. Today I got an email from Blue Hole that said, "Thanks for joining us on 7/12/2024!" That really hurt. We understand why Blue Hole would close for an active thunderstorm, but stringing people along in fifteen minute increments when it's not even raining and the only person who claims they can hear thunder somewhere is on the other end of a walkie-talkie, refusing to let people even sit in the grass near the water, telling them that they're probably not going to get in anyway so they may as well give up, and then refusing to refund their tickets because apparently the Hole did open at some point is just cruel. Please consider these suggestions: 1) If the weather seems basically fine but you can't allow swimming because someone, somewhere hears thunder, please at least let people sit on the grass near the water in the meantime so that they can enjoy that part and can be ready to swim when they're allowed. 2) If the weather seems basically fine but you can't allow the staff to do lifeguarding for some liability reason, allow people to sign a waiver and swim at their own risk. If adverse weather actually arrives, they could still be asked to stop swimming. 3) Not everyone is able to wait over two hours, from whatever time they arrive until 4 pm, for the chance to find out if they will actually be allowed to swim, especially if they are not even allowed to relax on the grass by the water. Two+ hours is a long time to wait in a hot parking lot, especially if you biked all the way there and were counting on cooling down before biking all the way back. The grounds that you are allowed to use while the Hole is closed are very small and hot, and if you leave the grounds you run the risk that the Hole could reopen while you're gone and you could miss out on that precious time. Instead of withholding refunds for people who aren't able to wait until 4 pm, please consider issuing refunds if the pool doesn't open by 3 pm, or even if the pool isn't open at 2 pm, period. People paid for four hours. If they aren't allowed to swim or even be in the grass by the water for four hours, they should be...

I took a school group to the Blue Hole to celebrate the end of the academic year on May 15th. I reserved and paid for 15 adults/kids, but in the end, we only had 6 swimmers and 3 adults. That was okay. I didn't expect a refund. I was put off by the website which says "Blue Hole Regional Park" is FREE but reservations are required to swim. The truth is that they sell tickets to swim -- up to 250 tickets per day. We were there on a quiet weekday and our tickets were $12 for adults and $8 for kids. They also sell tickets to use a picnic table ($20) and to use an umbrella ($15). Aside from that nickel and diming, they also only sell tickets for half-days: 9am to 1pm, and 2pm to 6pm. If you want to swim from 11am to 3pm, you have to make 2 reservations and buy 2 tickets. We arrived at 10:15am after driving in from Boerne. However, the worst part of the experience was the overzealous employee who monitored the lawn and river area. Our group of 9 was quiet and well-behaved, but we were constantly watched and made to feel uncomfortable. At one point, a few kids were standing next to an umbrella -- a closed, unused umbrella -- and they were yelled at for standing too close to it because they hadn't paid for it. Clearly, no one had paid for it! It was closed and unused. They were simply standing within 10 feet away. It was odd and unsettling. At 12:45, we were told by the same employee that it was time to pack up and leave. The kids asked if they could use the swing one more time to jump into the river. The employee said no, he had already packed it up, and it was time to go. The kids and the adults left feeling kicked out, upset that we still had 10 minutes on the reservation we weren't allowed to use, and frustrated that we were treated like interlopers at the park. What should have been a fun day of celebration turned into a day where the kids felt like they were in trouble constantly and the adults felt resentful of a great day being ruined by one guy who just didn't seem to like us. There are so many places in the Hill Country to jump into the river and have a good swim on a beautiful day -- Guadalupe River State Park, Bandera River Park, James Kiehl in Comfort, Kerrville, and if you're local, you probably know half a dozen places to pull off the road and jump in. We made the hour-long drive to the Blue Hole because it's closed most of the time and we wanted the kids to experience such a well-known spot before it got too dry to swim there. That was an expensive mistake that we will never, never, never make again. There are too many other options out there for a day...

I wasn't expecting the swimming portion to be as small and restrictive as it was, but I had a lovely time checking out the park and being riverside.

From the parking lot down to the green next to water, it took about 5 mins down a paved, gradual incline path to a large, green area next to the river. We looked around, and as beautiful as the area is, I couldn't help looking around to see if the pathway continued down the river so you could walk around it. Spoiler, you cant. After about 100-200 yards, theres a chain and a sign that says "no trespassing." Also, as you looked across the river, you can see people's properties, and their "no trespassing" signs as well. This was a bit shocking to me, as its supposed to be the second largest swimming hole in Texas?

But all in all, I loved what little I saw. The piers were next to large trees, and each tree had a different style swing you could swing off into the water. The water was deep enough to not worry about young kids doing this. The trees were all sloped as well, so I could see the more brave children jumping from as high as they choose to go.

They have an appointment system, and only open for swimming May through September (but check the website, sometimes its weekends only)

One great thing was this place has a huge park attached. As we were leaving, we decided to go down another road still within the regional park towards the fields. We ended up driving around a huge grassy area with people playing soccer. There was also a volleyball court, basketball court, and little kids playground.

I can definitely see why this is one of the more well known...