How to Tube in Texas during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Even though I’ve lived in Texas for a good chunk of my life, I think I’ve only been tubing maybe like three times? Recently, with all of this heat, I got the hankering to do something that wasn’t so hiking/planning/money intensive and tubing came up on my radar. I had seen someone post about how unpopulated the San Marcos river was and thought that would be a really cool way to spend a Saturday. As there aren’t many people on the river due to the city restrictions on getting in and out of the San Marcos river in the public parks, it can be pretty easy to social distance. But first, some things you should know:

What You Should Know

• DO NOT get out of the river on public or private property. Private property for obvious reasons (unless you have access to that private property with permission from the owner – or you’re renting it through Airbnb, etc.). But do not get out of the river on public property (i.e. public parks you would normally get out of the river) as there are currently (as of 9/4/20) city restrictions due to COVID-19 preventing the use of the public parks. If you so happen to get out of the river and get caught by a park ranger, there are some serious fines in store. You have been warned.
  • That being said, it is still legal to be on the river. No restrictions on floating down the river.
• There are a couple of floating companies that will let you PARK on their properties and to have access to the river. They do not provide floats or shuttles as that is against the city restrictions.  We used Texas State Tubes because it had a drop off and pick up location so we didn’t have to figure out a spot beforehand https://texasstatetubes.com/. They charge $10 per person for your parking space only. You can purchase online (the worker at the parking lot recommended getting a space online for weekends and holidays but otherwise you could just pay when you arrived).
• We had considered tubing at New Braunfels as well but we couldn’t find a company that had a pick-up spot in addition to a drop off spot. Alternatively, it was suggested that you get an Airbnb rental downstream with access to the river, but sounded like too much trouble (and too much money to me, however it is still an option for more adventurous folks)
• If you do decide to go with Texas State Tubes, the trip is 3 hours long.Thinking this was the same route pre-Covid, I hadn’t expected it to be so long. However, it was a very pleasant ride.
• Doing the trip was totally worth it.Very few people, very nice views, very relaxing.

What you Should Bring

• Your own floating device/inner tube (bigger than three feet, unless you want to be dragging your bottom on the rocks in the shallow areas)***
• Waterproof phone case
• Two cars (one car for parking lot drop off and one car for parking lot pick up – see point below)
• Water-proof/ziplock bags for water sensitive items (i.e. car keys)
• Sunscreen lotion
• Hat
• Sunglasses
• Drawstring bag to carry items mentioned above

If I could do it again

• Plan transportation better
  • A lot of Uber riders canceled on us and there were hardly any drivers to begin with. We couldn’t find any drivers with Lyft and only one with Uber. Our first driver canceled because we were wet. In addition, it cost more for four people than usual as Uber is not letting anyone sit in the front seat anyways. What we ended up doing was having one of us get in the uber ride to get to our car at the other parking lot and then have them drive and pick us up.
  • I think it would’ve been better had we just brought two cars – hopefully, you have a group big enough that has availability for two cars. As we were only a total of four people, we thought it would be wasteful to bring two cars.
• Buy your tube in advance
  • Tubes were sold out online and every Wal-Mart I could think of. I didn’t think to try Academy, so maybe you’d have better luck there.
  • According to the Wal-Mart website, there were some tubes available in the San Marcos  Wal Mart – however, I’m skeptical considering they said the same thing in the Austin Wal-Mart but I couldn’t find any.
  • We eventually ended up getting pool tubes from Home Depot which I was worried might pop. Surprisingly, they handled well.
  • Do not get those “giant tire tubes”. I had ordered these because they were advertised as “river tubes” online, just in case our pool tubes didn’t hold up. One of our group used the river tube and it was definitely too small for him (considering it was only three feet, although it had said it was “Adult size”) and by the time the ride was over, it was all misshaped. Not good quality at all and amazing it survived the trip.
• Double up on sunscreen
  • I was reapplying sunscreen every thirty minutes or so and I still got sunburned. Of course, it was 102 degrees that day.
• Don’t forget to bring a mask
  • If you do manage to get an Uber ride, don’t forget that you need to wear a mask while in the car!

Overall, it was a great Summer, social distancing activity that was very relaxing and a fun experience! Would definitely do again – but do a better job at not getting sub-burned!