River Float Trips from Austin to San Marcos and New Braunfels
A summer Saturday on the Comal, the Guadalupe, or the San Marcos with the bus doing the I-35 drive both ways, the tubes and coolers on board, and dry clothes waiting when the group climbs out at the outfitter.
Float the river without the drive
Tell us which river and how many floaters, and we will get back to you with a plan for the day.
The short version
Floating a river is the most Central Texas thing a group can do in July, and it is also the trip with the most moving parts. The rivers are forty-five minutes to an hour south of Austin, the outfitters are off two-lane roads, and the group comes off the water at four sunburned and ready for a shower. A bus takes the driving out of it, holds the coolers on the way down and the wet stuff on the way back, and makes the ride home a nap.
Busiest months
What Austin river float trips groups actually request
A few numbers from the Austin groups who plan the same thing, so you can see where yours lands.
- of Austin requests are July events
- 7%of Austin requests are July events
- median group size for July events
- 15median group size for July events
- of July events fall on a Saturday
- 45%of July events fall on a Saturday
- median historical quote per passenger, party buses
- $92median historical quote per passenger, party buses
Source: Austin Party Ride inquiry records (2023–2026) and our booking-data library. Percentages are rounded; historical quotes are references, not offers.
The morning drive south, and why it starts early
Float days leave Austin between eight and nine. The bus loads at a house in South Austin or a lot in Buda, tubes and coolers stacked by the door, and the ride down I-35 passes Kyle, the San Marcos outlets, and the exit for Gruene before the day has gotten hot. On the party bus the sound system is going and the first round is already open, which is the reason people bring the bus rather than the cars. The Comal outfitters in New Braunfels are about an hour from downtown, the Guadalupe outfitters on River Road a little more, and the San Marcos put-ins east of I-35 closer to forty-five minutes. Arriving by ten matters. The outfitters run out of tubes and parking on summer Saturdays, and the river itself is a different place at ten than at one, quieter, cooler, and with the water still clear. Groups who leave at eleven spend the day in line and float in the heat.
Three rivers, three different days
The Comal is the easy one: spring-fed, constant temperature, a two-hour loop through New Braunfels with the tube chute in the middle, and an outfitter shuttle that returns the group to the start. It suits a first-time group and a big one. The Guadalupe above Gruene is the long one, three or four hours depending on the flow released from Canyon Dam, with rapids that are fun at a good flow and a slow crawl at a low one. It suits a group that wants an all-day float and does not mind the two-lane drive on River Road. The San Marcos is the pretty one, clear and cold through the city park and out past Rio Vista, or a longer country float from the Martindale outfitters. It is the closest to Austin and the least crowded of the three. Every group has a strong opinion about which is best, and the bus does not care, because all three are the same drive south and the same ride home.
Vehicles Austin groups pick for river float trips
Real photos of the sizes that come up most, with the reason each one fits.
26 pax26 Passenger Party Bus
Twenty floaters with coolers and wet bags fill a 26 comfortably, which is how the 11 to 20 range that covers 54% of Austin groups should be sized for a river day.
28 pax28 Passenger Shuttle Bus
Rear luggage space keeps the wet gear off the seats on the I-35 ride home, and forward-facing seats suit a sunburned group.
14 pax14 Passenger Executive Sprinter Van
A group of 10 to 12 gets a vehicle that fits the small Comal outfitter lots where a full-size bus has to wait off-site.
Who books the river, and when
River floats are birthdays in July, bachelor and bachelorette weekends in June, and a company summer outing that somebody pitched as a team-building day and everyone quietly loved. July groups in our Austin records land at a median of 15 passengers, right at the overall median, which is why the 26-passenger party bus and the 28-passenger shuttle are the vehicles we send south most often: fifteen floaters plus tubes plus coolers is a twenty-six-seat load. July is also unusual on the calendar. Only about 45% of July requests are for a Saturday, against 55% across the Austin year, because floaters have learned that a Friday or a Sunday on the Comal has half the crowd and the same water. Summer overall, July through September, is about 19% of our Austin requests, and a big share of that is the river. Groups who book a June Saturday two weeks out are competing with every lake group in town for the same buses.
Plan river float trips transportation
If this sounds like your group, tell us the date and we will price the night.
The ride home, wet towels and all
The bus that comes back from the river is not the bus that went down. Everyone is sunburned, the coolers are ice water, the tubes are deflated or stacked, and half the group is asleep before the bus clears the Gruene exit. This is where the dry-clothes bag earns its place, because the leather seating on a party bus does not love a wet swimsuit and neither does the person sitting on it an hour later. The wrap-around seating turns into a nap room, the LED lighting goes low, and somebody plays the one playlist everyone agreed on that morning. Groups that want a stop on the way home usually take it in San Marcos or Buda rather than pushing on to Austin hungry. The ride from New Braunfels back to downtown is an hour on a good Sunday and longer on a Saturday at six, when the whole river is heading north on the same highway, which is the moment every group is glad they are not driving.
Good to know
- •New Braunfels bans disposable containers on its rivers, so the coolers of cans stay on the bus and the river drinks go in reusable cups.
- •Tube rentals and outfitter shuttles are paid to the outfitter, and the bus meets the group where the outfitter drops them.
- •Water shoes save feet on the Guadalupe rocks and the San Marcos put-ins, and they are the thing most often forgotten.
- •Canyon Dam releases change the Guadalupe from a lazy float to a fast one, and the outfitters post the flow each morning.
- •A dry bag for phones and keys is cheaper than the replacement phone, and the bus is where everything else stays.
- •August water on the Comal is still cool because it is spring-fed; the air above it is not.
Outfitter by outfitter: what the bus does at each river
On the San Marcos, the Martindale outfitters like Don's Fish Camp run the shuttle themselves: our bus parks at their property, the outfitter drives the group upriver, and everyone floats back to the same lot where the vehicle is waiting. That is the simplest float day for a bus. On the Comal in New Braunfels, the outfitters clustered near Landa Park do the same, with the wrinkle that their lots are small and weekend staging is strict, so the driver often waits off-site and returns at the outfitter's posted end time. On the Guadalupe, the outfitters up River Road above Gruene sit on a narrow two-lane with no shoulder; the bus goes in slow, drops at the outfitter, and stays or moves depending on that outfitter's lot. In every case the vehicle never chases the group downstream. Give us the outfitter's name, its check-in time, and its stated pickup point, and the itinerary writes itself. Give us just the river, and the bus is guessing among a dozen lots that all have different rules on the same Saturday.
Austin-specific notes
- •Don's Fish Camp and the Martindale outfitters are off TX-80 and FM 1979 east of I-35; the exit is different from the San Marcos outlets traffic.
- •The Comal tube chute at Prince Solms Park is where groups get separated; regroup at the outfitter, not the chute.
- •River Road above Gruene, where the Guadalupe outfitters cluster, is two lanes with no shoulder; the bus goes slow and so should the schedule.
- •Landa Park in New Braunfels has a large lot but it is a city park, not an outfitter; buses cannot stage there all day on weekends.
- •Bring a dry bag for phones and keys on the river and a dry set of clothes for the bus; leather seating and wet swimsuits do not mix.
Austin-specific notes
- •Don's Fish Camp and the Martindale outfitters are off TX-80 and FM 1979 east of I-35; the exit is different from the San Marcos outlets traffic.
- •The Comal tube chute at Prince Solms Park is where groups get separated; regroup at the outfitter, not the chute.
- •River Road above Gruene, where the Guadalupe outfitters cluster, is two lanes with no shoulder; the bus goes slow and so should the schedule.
- •Landa Park in New Braunfels has a large lot but it is a city park, not an outfitter; buses cannot stage there all day on weekends.
- •Bring a dry bag for phones and keys on the river and a dry set of clothes for the bus; leather seating and wet swimsuits do not mix.
Popular river float trips venues and destinations
Tools for planning river float trips
Work out the cost, the size, and the timing for your group in a couple of minutes.
Distance Calculator
See distance and drive time from Austin to popular destinations.
Open tool →Austin Weather Planner
Check typical Austin weather by month to plan outdoor events.
Open tool →Party Checklist Generator
Generate a checklist tailored to your event type.
Open tool →Cost Per Person Splitter
Split the total rental cost evenly among your group.
Open tool →Austin Party Ride polls
River Float Trips polls
Vote on the questions other groups planning the same thing asked, then open more categories for vehicles and booking.
San Marcos
Tap an answer to vote. Results update as soon as you vote.
What is your favorite outdoor activity in San Marcos?
Which local restaurant do you visit most often in San Marcos?
What do you enjoy most about the San Marcos River?
How do you feel about the nightlife in San Marcos?
Want the whole list? Visit the polls page or check the poll results.
Related Austin event ideas
Pages that share a route style, venue set, or vehicle size with this one.
Brunch Bus
Brunch transportation for group meals, mimosas, and daytime celebrations.
Food Tours
Austin food tour transportation with planned restaurant and food-truck stops.
Distillery Tours
Distillery tour transportation with safe routing between tasting stops.
Karaoke Night
Karaoke-night transportation for groups, dinner, and late return rides.
Club Crawl
Club crawl transportation with planned stops, timing, and final pickup.
Homecoming
Homecoming transportation for photos, dinner, school events, and return rides.
River Float Trips questions, answered
What Austin groups ask us about river float trips.
River Float Trips pickups outside Austin
We pick up across the metro. These are the suburbs that ask for this event most.
Ready to plan river float trips transportation?
Tell us the date and how many are coming. We will come back with the bus that fits and what it costs.
Get your river float trips quote
Route, passenger count, pickup points, and timing. We handle the rest.