Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 08/12/2009 - 09:40.
Plan ahead ! Check the NOAA website for river levels, don't take a tube vendor's word for it,...of course they're gonna tell you it's good tubin', they want to rent tubes.The Frio is a great river, not the elbo to elbo crowds like New Braunfels. (usually) Go in a group big enough where there will be at least two vehicles, trucks preferably(for example) leave one at 2nd crossing, take the other upstream to Magers Crossing, just come back and get the other when you get out....don't want to mess with tube vendors ? Plan ahead, go buy a innertube, and a junky little air compressor that plugs into a cigarette lighter(Wal-Mart, Target, Tractor Supply)...sit under a cypress tree with a cold one while your tube inflates. Tubing down a river with a beer is one of life's simple pleasures, no need to make it aggrevating and complicated.
P.S., If you hear thunder to the North, be ready to beat feet off that river, it'll flash flood your ass in a heartbeat.
Enjoy !
Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 07/13/2009 - 16:10.
we always go to canyon lake to float every summer but we decided to try something different and go to the frio....NEVER AGAIN!! i researched in online and Andys tubes kept popping up so i called and they said the river was fine to float and to come on down. we drive the 3 hours and get to andys tubes and i notice there were not a lot of people checking tubes out so i go to the counter where there was a 12 year old working. he said andy was supposed to be working but he was partying all night and was too hungover to come in. so i found another guy just sitting aroung and he said he worked there. he said that there were lots of ppl floating and the trip would take 3 to 4 hours. he said we would only have to get out of our tube and walk maybe 20-30%. i said that was fine. so we take the shuttle with the rudest man i have ever met and he drop us off....didnt tell us where to get off or any landmarks what so ever. so we get in and it was the worst trip of my life. the 3 or 4 hour trip turned into an over 7 hour disaster. we had 2 tubes and a tube for our cooler. we walked at least 80% of the time and all three tubes popped with the cooler in them from dragging it on there. then when we finally had to get out and hitch a ride back Andy himself was a complete jerk and told us that we were nothing but liars and that our tubes didnt pop and we floated past where we were supposed to get out. he refused a refund and told me that if i didnt bring his damn tubes back he would charge me almost $100. so we had to walk back almost a mile to get the popped tubes. when i returned the popped tubes there was no apology, no refund, nothing. so just be careful who you trust on the frio.
Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 07/10/2009 - 07:40.
Are you kidding me? Comal is by far the best... unless the Guadalupe is flowing like a big dog. Last two times we tried to float the Guadalupe we ended up spending 4 hours paddling because even a gentle breeze would blow us back up stream. We always end up back on the Comal.
The Comal is like Old Faithful, constant temperature, constant flow rate and lots of fun.
Comments
How to tube the Frio
Plan ahead ! Check the NOAA website for river levels, don't take a tube vendor's word for it,...of course they're gonna tell you it's good tubin', they want to rent tubes.The Frio is a great river, not the elbo to elbo crowds like New Braunfels. (usually) Go in a group big enough where there will be at least two vehicles, trucks preferably(for example) leave one at 2nd crossing, take the other upstream to Magers Crossing, just come back and get the other when you get out....don't want to mess with tube vendors ? Plan ahead, go buy a innertube, and a junky little air compressor that plugs into a cigarette lighter(Wal-Mart, Target, Tractor Supply)...sit under a cypress tree with a cold one while your tube inflates. Tubing down a river with a beer is one of life's simple pleasures, no need to make it aggrevating and complicated.
P.S., If you hear thunder to the North, be ready to beat feet off that river, it'll flash flood your ass in a heartbeat.
Enjoy !
not the frio, not andys tubes!!
we always go to canyon lake to float every summer but we decided to try something different and go to the frio....NEVER AGAIN!! i researched in online and Andys tubes kept popping up so i called and they said the river was fine to float and to come on down. we drive the 3 hours and get to andys tubes and i notice there were not a lot of people checking tubes out so i go to the counter where there was a 12 year old working. he said andy was supposed to be working but he was partying all night and was too hungover to come in. so i found another guy just sitting aroung and he said he worked there. he said that there were lots of ppl floating and the trip would take 3 to 4 hours. he said we would only have to get out of our tube and walk maybe 20-30%. i said that was fine. so we take the shuttle with the rudest man i have ever met and he drop us off....didnt tell us where to get off or any landmarks what so ever. so we get in and it was the worst trip of my life. the 3 or 4 hour trip turned into an over 7 hour disaster. we had 2 tubes and a tube for our cooler. we walked at least 80% of the time and all three tubes popped with the cooler in them from dragging it on there. then when we finally had to get out and hitch a ride back Andy himself was a complete jerk and told us that we were nothing but liars and that our tubes didnt pop and we floated past where we were supposed to get out. he refused a refund and told me that if i didnt bring his damn tubes back he would charge me almost $100. so we had to walk back almost a mile to get the popped tubes. when i returned the popped tubes there was no apology, no refund, nothing. so just be careful who you trust on the frio.
Guadalupe?
Are you kidding me? Comal is by far the best... unless the Guadalupe is flowing like a big dog. Last two times we tried to float the Guadalupe we ended up spending 4 hours paddling because even a gentle breeze would blow us back up stream. We always end up back on the Comal.
The Comal is like Old Faithful, constant temperature, constant flow rate and lots of fun.