San Marcos River
On Saturday, June 12, 2021, we headed out to San Marcos to float the river. Now, I'm from Louisiana, and while there are a handful of places to go tubing, I haven't heard of many who thoroughly enjoyed their time doing it due to abundant rocks, sticks, and low water levels. I never decided to try it out. After moving to Texas, I knew one of the first things on my Summer to-do list was tubing. Around San Antonio, there are quite a few rivers you can float: San Marcos River, Comal River, Frio River... to name a few.
We have friends that have a favorite place to go through when it comes to tubing, and I totally get why! Don's Fish Camp made it an easy and painless process for us to get out on the river quickly. They shuttle you to the starting point, and when you finish, you're back at the parking lot. After a long day out in the sun, that is an exceptionally convenient perk. Don's Fish Camp is located at: 105 Nelle Ln, Martindale, TX 78655, and it was $24/person if you were renting or $17/person if you brought your own tube. You can also rent tubes for your coolers or coolers themselves. They have ice you can buy, as well as other accessories that might come in handy while you're floating.
Link to Don's Fish Camp's Website: https://donsfishcamp.com
There are a few rope swings placed periodically along the river for you to swing off of if you're brave enough! We also ran into a few cops standing along one of the sandy banks. They played a prank on one gentleman... they blew their whistle and beckoned him over, only to pat him on the back and send him on his way. I don't know about you, but I would have been terrified. No thanks, jokesters!
We had such a blast out there but not without a few casualties. It has rained a lot in San Antonio and the surrounding areas lately, so the river was high and pretty dang fast with a few areas of rapids along the way. Your bags need to be in a tube where they can't easily fall out. Someone placed one of ours on top of an ice chest, which I may or may not have said was a bad idea, and it definitely fell out. There were so, so, so many people out on the river that day, so someone right behind us caught it and handed it back. (Bless them, seriously)! We'd have lost several wallets, car keys, and more than one cell phone, including a brand new one, had those nice people not been paying attention. What we did lose for good was a small JBL speaker and two pairs of sunglasses, and one person left with a phone that spent its evening in a bag of rice. We didn't let that spoil our fun though as those were replaceable material objects. Do not let any of this deter you from heading out there yourself because it was one of the best days I've had in a long while. There is nothing like being surrounded by friends with the drinks flowing and good music playing.
KEY TIPS: 1) Get out there early! If the weather is nice out on a weekend, you're not the first person whose decided to make a trip out to the river. 2) Make sure your phones are in waterproof bags or cases.. that actually work. 3) If you bring sunglasses, bring a pair you're not attached to, and if you must have a pair you are attached to, also bring croakies for your glasses. 4) If you're going with a big group, bring bungee cords or rope to tie all of your tubes together so your party doesn't get separated. 5) Reapply sunscreen throughout your float... multiple times. 6) Bring a few snacks and water with you on the river. We also had tuna sandwiches waiting for us in an ice chest back at one of the cars which came in clutch.
We did do most of the above and thought we were ingenious for doing so, and the tips we didn't follow, we know for next time. Float on!
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