New Braunfels Texas
 

I am taking my mother and 11 year old to New Braunfels next week - rented a condo for a few days. One day is definitely Schlitterbaun water park all day and I'm also planning on visiting Natural Bridge Caverns since that is something we always used to do on family road trips as a kid. But I also want to do some tubing. The condo says that "Rockin' R" tube rentals is right next to our condo. Does anyone know these tubing trips are something I need to reserve in advance or can we just walk up? Any advice on different places to start besides Rockin' R or is that the best place? Also looking for restaurant info and recommendations. Thanks!

You can just walk up for tube rentals. Its very easy! There are many different river outfitters, but I believe Rockin R is the biggest and I've had good experiences with them in the past. Dinner at the Grist Mill is great, and make sure you have some breakfast tacos one day...can be found at any Mexican restaurant, which you'll see a ton of! If you guys like to shop, the San Marcos outlets are just around 15 minutes away and have great shops....Pottery Barn, J Crew, Neiman's Last Call, etc.

Thanks Becky - good to hear we can just walk up. Is this Gristmill in Gruene or New Braunfels?

Yes my 11 year old has already been pre-warned that the Outlet Mall is going to be on this trip. I'm a J Crew nut.

Grist Mill is in Gruene, which to me is same thing as New Braunfels..it all runs together. :)

I guess the town boundaries run together, but the downtowns of new Braunfels and Gruene are separate. We drove through New Braunfels' downtown and found nothing of interest, but had a lovely few hours wandering and window-shopping in "downtown" Gruene.

On the tube rentals (SO jealous, BTW - I really miss the river!!) make sure you get tubes with 'bottoms' and take a cooler with can drinks and snacks in ziplocs, plus one of those mesh bags they sell oranges in, for trash. Rent an extra tube for the cooler, tie it in, you've got your own floating snack shop. Perfect place to keep the sunscreen too. And wear old sneakers or TEVAs, not flip flops. Rockin' R used to hold your car keys for you - don't risk taking them on the river. (or anything else you don't want to lose). Have a blast!!!

Very good advice from txgirl! My husband grew up in NB and loves this bakery...you may want to check it out for breakfast or a snack:

http://www.naegelins.com/index.php

I wasn't sure if Gruene and New Braunfels just ran together or not. Seems like they must be really close.

But now I've thought of another question. Is tubing a loop? Like you come back to the same place? Or do you they have a place at "the end" where you drop off your tube. I guess I thought it was a loop which now that I think about it is pretty dumb - what river flows in a circle?

They have both options actually. I think the loop is on the Comal and is approx 2 hours depending on water levels. If you float the Guadalupe, a bus from Rockin R (or whoever you rent from) will pick you up at a specified point. I may be mixing this up a bit, but the tubing companies will help you pick the best option for what you want.

Thanks for all your help - can't wait to get there!

In case this is your first trip to Schlitterbahn be aware that there is two sections. The first time we went we didn't even realize we had missed half of the park. It is very large and best waterpark that we have been to and that includes all the Disney waterparks.

If your 11 year old is adventurous do the "wild cave tour". I can't remember the age restrictions and I think they had a couple of different adventure tours to choose from. Take old clothes.

Another good thing about Schlitterbahn is that there is no charge for parking and you can bring in your own cooler for food and beverages. Actually Schlitterbahn was built in 3 sections at 3 different times. A good place for breakfast is the Union Street Station which is right next to one of the Schlitterbahn sections on San Antonio Street. They have over 50 omelets on their menu, including peanut butter and jelly. They are open for breakfast and lunch, except on Monday.

Thanks everybody - between these great bakeries and the omlets I'm sure I'll be totally in swim suit shape for tubing!

I have not been to Schlitterbaun before but the 11 year old has and he mentioned that it was three water connected parks. We are going on a Monday so hopefully it won't be too crowded. Gotta find some shade and a chair to park grandma in.

We went to schlitterbahn last year on a Monday....don't get your hopes up about not being busy. It was busy!

You ahve very good suggestions/tips on the tubing. It basically depends on where the rental place that you choose is on a river. If it's upriver, then you float from the rental place and they pick you up at a "getting out" point and that depends on how long of a trip you want to do. 1/2/3 hr float trip lands you on 3 differnt take out points or getting out points. If the rental place is downriver, then they load you on an open air vehicle in bulk to the drop off point (and again this depends on which float trip 1/2/3, hr etc you choose) then you get out of the river at the rental place and return your tubes.

Most places will keep your keys for you - they will ask you for your id to hold with your keys (presumably so they don't just hand your keys off to any tom, dick, and harry - which is a good thing). If you get online and get on the website of the rental place, some have discounts you can print and use. Not much but it is a discount if you care to use it.

have fun! We love to go tubing but this year it just didn't work out with so many things on the itinerary.

Thanks Maria - Maybe we should try Schlitterbaun on Tuesday instead of Monday. And I appreciate the description of how the tubing works. I love this website. :)

Kath, yes, Tuesday at Schlitterbahn will be better than Monday. We have season passes and always go on Tues or Wednesday because there are fewer tourists those days. ;) Get a map when you get your bracelet.

I couldn't tell if the advice to get a tube with a bottom was just for the cooler tube, or for you guys, but I would not want a tube with a bottom to ride in personally. The point is to have YOUR bottom in the water!

Keep in mind that there are new rules that govern cooler size on the river and that glass containers and styrofoam coolers are NOT ALLOWED. Here is more info:

http://www.nbtexas.org/index.asp?NID=198

Gruene is a separate entity but about 1 minute from New Braunfels.

Have fun!

Hi - I did suggest tubes with bottoms, because a) you'll still get wet, b) if you're small, it can get tiring to try and hold yourself in your tube the whole trip, and c) depending on how low the water is, I've lost some serious skin on MY bottom before - scraping on the rocks!! It is funny to be going over a low spot and hear someone yell "Git yer butts up!!' Give me a choice and I will get a bottom in my tube every time.

Yeah, we splurge a bit more for bottoms with our tubes too. txgirlinbda is right about those rocky bottoms and the water gets really shallow - watch out for your bums!

hmm, well, I may not be as small now at a size 6/8 but even when I was a size 2/4 at 104 pounds, I could hold on to my tube. ;)

I just want to post again because I don't think it's a "be sure to get a bottom" thing because we never get tubes with bottoms, nor do any of our family and friends, all locals. I also like to float hanging onto the tube with my body in the water and you can't do that with a bottom. So just keep in mind it's whatever your personal preference is.

Actually, we usually buy our own tubes each summer, and we usually tube the Comal, as opposed to the Guadalupe.

Yes, it's definitely preference. The comal is pretty well set up though with properties on both ends and actual walls built to hold it in and deep water vs the gualaupe which has more "rocky" terrain and not as built up.