COOL IDEAS
12 ways to beat the heat in Central Texas
Welcome to summer in Texas, when it gets so hot you need oven mitts to touch the steering wheel of your car and water tops the list of requirements for keeping your cool.
Happily, here in the Austin area, we have plenty of options, from surfing on a man-made wave to gliding down Lady Bird Lake on a stand-up paddleboard or frolicking under the spray of an urban splash pad.
Need help figuring out where to cool your heels? We have 12 suggestions:
1. Get a glow: Feel like gliding down Lady Bird after the sun sets, a halo of neon lights surrounding your standup paddleboard? Glow Paddle Austin, which opened this spring, offers that experience. Hourand-a-half-long guided tours depart from the Texas Rowing Center, 1541 West Cesar Chavez St., at dusk nightly. A colorful flotilla of up to 20 paddlers heads to Barton Creek, where the water is clear and fish and turtles swirl below the water’s surface. No paddleboarding experience necessary, but you must know how to swim and wear a life jacket. Cost is $50 a person. Reservations required. Information: Go to GlowPaddleAustin.com, call 214-4358899 or email contact@GlowPaddleAustin.com. 2. Under the water: Take an hourlong snorkeling tour of the San Marcos River with Snorkel TX for a close-up look at the critters that call the river home. The company, 401 East Hopkins St. in downtown San Marcos, takes small groups along a 1-mile stretch of the river, where 15 species of fish, two species of turtles and the endangered Texas wild rice live. Water temperatures hover between 69 and 72 degrees. Cost is $50 a person. Participants must be able to swim. All equipment — and life jackets — provided. Tours offered weekend mornings only. Information: Call 210-415-5115, email hi@snorkeltx.com or go to snorkeltx.com.
3. Bat view: You’ve seen the bats emerge from beneath the Ann Richards-Congress Avenue Bridge, but have you watched them from a kayak? The Texas River School hosts Moonlight Bat Floats each month. Meet at the docks of Texas Rowing Center, 1541 West Cesar Chavez St., and paddle as a group to the bridge as a musician plays live tunes. Tours last approximately three hours and are scheduled for June 30, July 28, Aug. 25, Sept. 22 and Oct. 20. Cost is $15 for adults and $10 for children and includes use of a single, double or triple kayak or canoe. Bring your own food and drink. Information: Go to texas river school. org/events or call 512-865-1450.
4. Splash time: For some free fun, head to the Liz Carpenter Splash Pad at Butler Park, on the west side of the
Palmer Events Center, 1000 Barton Springs Road. Water shoots up from a circular pad on the ground daily, and the whole fountain is illuminated in colored lights from dusk until 9:45 p.m. The fountains are closed until noon Mondays for cleaning. Wear water shoes and expect to get doused.
5. It’s a bird: You won’t go fast, but you’ll be the biggest swan on Lady Bird Lake if you rent a gleaming white swan pedal boat from Capital Cruises. Cost is $15 an hour, and boats are rented on a first-come, first-served basis from the dock behind Hyatt Regency Hotel, 208 Barton Springs Road. The boats hold two adults — and you can squeeze in a kid on top of that. The company also rents kayaks, paddleboards and canoes. Information: Go to capitalcruises.com or call 512480-9264.
6. Jewel of a pool: You’d be surprised how many locals have never jumped in Barton Springs. The 3-acre, spring-fed pool is known for its invigorating waters, which are home to the endangered Barton Springs salamander (and the occasional topless bather). The pool is open from 5 a.m. until 10 p.m. daily (except during cleaning from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursdays), with lifeguards on duty between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. Entry fee (required during staffed hours) for residents is $1 for ages 1-11, $2 for ages 12-17, $3 for adults, $1 for seniors over 62 and $1 for veterans (more for nonresidents). Children under 1 free. The pool is at William Barton Drive at Zilker Park. Information: 512-974-6300. 7. Down the river: You’ve explored Lady Bird Lake, but have you ever paddled the Colorado River downstream of Austin? Rent a canoe or kayak from Cook’s Canoes, 1004 Water Street in Webberville, and make the easy, 5-mile run between Little Webberville Park and Big Webberville Park. Grizzled (and friendly) proprietor Neal Cook rents tandem canoes and solo sit-on-top kayaks and provides shuttle service for personal boats. Rental rates are $40 a day for each canoe or $30 a kayak. Information: Call 512-276-7767 or go to cookscanoes.com.
8. Tube time: For a rowdier experience, consider a tubing trip on the San Marcos River. Texas State Tubes picks up customers at 102 West Third St. in downtown Austin at 11 a.m. and shuttles them to San Marcos for a three-hour float, then shuttles them back. Cost including shuttle is $18 ($16 for students or military) a person (more on holidays). Or show up at one of the company’s on-site locations — Park & Float, 2024 North Old Bastrop Road in San Marcos; Scull Bridge Take Out & Parking, 3450 Scull Road in Martindale (Friday through Sunday only); and Texas State Tubes HQ, 101 River Park Drive in Martindale. Information: texasstatetubes.com 9. Pontoon and chill: For a more chill experience, rent a pontoon boat and putter around Lake Austin. Austin Rental Boats rents boats that hold up to 17 people (or get a double!) and launches them at the Pennybacker Bridge at Loop 360. Each rental comes with a captain, gas, ice, water, stereo, a 100-quart cooler, floating pad and water games. Rates start at $115 an hour Monday through Thursday, with a four-hour minimum. Weekend rates are higher. Information: 512-957-1444.
10. Lots of water: Head to Pflugerville to zip down water slides, drift around a man-made river, frolic in a wave pool and feel a giant bucket of water empty its contents over your head at Typhoon Texas, 18500 Texas 130 Service Road. Admission is $34.99 (less in advance at typhoontexas. com). Information: 512-2127792 11. Wake up: You don’t need a boat to try wakeboarding at Quest ATX, where you can hop on a board, grab a handle and let an automated cable whisk you around a small lake. A two-hour pass costs $25 for adults (life jacket, helmet and board rentals not included). The park is at 10816 Farm to Market Road in Southeast Austin. Information: questatx.com or 512-298-9370 12. Surf is always up: Want to hang 10? NLand Surf Park is one of just three man-made surf lagoons in the country. Surfers of all skill levels can try the beginner, intermediate or advanced waves churned out every few minutes by a powerful foil that moves back and forth across the lake. There’s also a restaurant and onsite brewery. Surf passes range from $60 to $90 for just under an hour in the lagoon and include use of a surfboard. Open Tuesday through Sunday at 4836 East Highway 71. Information: Go to nlandsurfpark. com, call 512-806-1900 or email questions@nlandsurfpark.com.