By 
White Water on the Comal River in central Texas is more of a fisherman’s paradise than a rafter’s or kayaker’s dreamland, but for a fun and relaxing family adventure, I highly recommend the trip. For the second time in the last two years, my family and I spent a few days enjoying the fun, the water, and the sun in and around New Braunfels, Texas, on the Comal and Guadalupe rivers. Day one was spent on the Comal gently floating through the lazy 72 degree water from Prince Solms Park to Rockin R. I have always rented Rockin R tubes for as long as I can remember Rockin R claims it was established in 1979 so maybe The first time I went to Camp Warneke it wasn’t called Rockin R, but it seems like it is. the same corner. Although Camp Warneke is no more, the signs along the river still point to a simpler time when multi-million dollar water parks did not dominate the New Braunfels landscape.
Rockin R does a great job touring the tremendous qualities of the workers in the old airport rental car transfers enjoying the relaxing beer-soaked float down the Comal. The tubes can be rented with or without a bottom and don’t forget your cooler float. Ours came complete with a nice Texas flag painted on the front of our refrigerator.
Our first day at the Comal was later voted the family favorite. The relaxing float that started just above Prince Solms Park in Landa Park featured four trips through the tube for my son and me. It wasn’t until my third trip that I noticed the park was closed and there were No Trespassing signs everywhere. . Opps! On the fourth trip, the rest of the family finally faced light rain after having waited for all the thunder, lightning, and most of the heavy rain under the great oak trees on the banks of the Comal in Landa Park. Truth be told, I was more than a little concerned this Labor Day weekend, as scattered rains followed us through the entire vacation. They say lighting never hits twice, but I was in no mood to tempt fate as I was surprised by a surge of light the week before working on my computer with my hand resting on the mouse. My pinky may never be the same again.
Our first trip with the whole family through El Comal was like a classic. An exciting start and a smooth, relaxing ending. The urban Comal River is 2.5 miles long and is one of the largest springs in Texas with 8 million gallons of water flowing through every hour. The water is pure, clear and cold, and consists of 72 degrees. The calm, cool waters of the Comal in Landa Park are created by a small dam to the right of which is the gentle adrenaline rush from the dam’s S-shaped spillway called the Prince Solms Park Tube Chute.
After the mild tube adventure at the beginning, we had an amazing day on the water as we only had two beers in the cooler. A tactical error given the cases of beer that workers consume during the course of any given day on the Comal River in Texas. On a side note, the beer at the Rockin R was, say, priced like a piece of plywood in Florida this black market hurricane season.
At the end of our trip, the exclusive Rockin R exit was where our equipment and slides were gently lifted out of the water by the Rockin R staff. At the top of the stairs, our Rockin R cruise director asked about our future sailing intentions. make the river float. The Rockin R will take you from the finish line to the start, from dawn to dusk. The family decided to go back to the river after lunch. With the tubes loaded onto the trailer, our old vinyl seats from the rental car shuttles served as our last place to relax. Several dads with squirt guns provided the entertainment by spraying innocent bikini-clad women from the bus windows as we returned to the Rockin R store on Liberty Street. The gang settled on Pat’s Place for old-fashioned burgers and iced tea from mason jars for daytime lunch. After a satisfying meal and great service, our only fulfillment being that they didn’t have a full-service outdoor terrace, we headed over to the corner store for some reasonably priced snacks. Having fully stocked up the expedition, we take the ferry back to our starting point in the Landa park. This time we all took a refreshing dip in the cold waters of the Comal quickly and took a raft to descend the tube.
Our last trip through the tube chute looked the same as the one before, but my ten year old daughter, who was tied up with her grandmother, got separated and got caught in the action of the whirlpool just behind the dam. He couldn’t get back across the main spillway drain and couldn’t grab onto the high bank wall to get back on the steps just behind the dam. He made several attempts right under the unsuspecting eyes of the park rangers before I yelled and motioned for him to stay still on his tube. I waded upstream on the opposite bank and plunged into the main stream of the tube ramp that sent me like a rocket across the river to the opposite bank. As I approached the high concrete embankment, I jumped and grabbed onto the wall only to be quickly swept away by an influx of tubers and the rush of water that preceded them. Trying to keep my head above the water, I got a really nice shin rash from the sharp concrete wall foundations as I grabbed onto the ladder rails and it was my second attempt to get out of the rushing currents. Finally, with a new respect for the calm waters of the Comal, I headed upriver on the opposite bank to help my daughter. Having listened to my advice, she was resting near the wall in a clam area where the top of the wall was out of her reach. Lying down, she handed me her tube and I pulled it out of the water for the short trip down the walkway downstream. As I wandered, quite exhausted, past the park rangers, I gave them a mocking look as if to say: “where the hell are you?”
The rest of the float downstream surprised me how stupid to jump into the confluence of the dam spillway while consuming a refreshing Mexican import. Children are children, my son and I tried to stand on our tubes in the quieter and deeper sections of the Comal as our thoughts turned to our next adventure at the Texas Ski Ranch.
What to expect:
When you go to the tube conduit, in the Comal expect the trip to be fast, you must wear water shoes or rafting sandals to protect your feet from the concrete and the uneven bottom of the river – the rocks and steps are covered with algae and they are slippery. You can go through the tube chute as many times as you like and with a shuttle from the tube supplier float the Comal several times a day. The tube conduit is not recommended for weak swimmers or children under 6 years of age. The remainder of the 2.5-mile river is pure family fun. The crowd can be stuffy and rowdy at times, including some college students drinking beer bong in the shallows along the way. So be sure to warn the eyes if a young lady drinking beer should show the crowd that she was cheering. You’ll be floating through the lush backyards and urban parks in the city of New Braunfels, so if you need to get out of the river for any reason, make sure you don’t go in, as the owners are not tolerant due to the beer-drinking crowds. mentioned before. The trip is definitely a must if you are in central Texas in August. On the bright side, this is not the Schlitterbahn, this is what inspired the Schlitterbahn. My 14 year old son after a day at America’s favorite water park (they waited for us in line for the MasterBlaster for 1:43 minutes starting at 10:26 am and we left for the ride at 12:11) and One day at Guadalupe he declared that El Comal was his favorite.
For more information on family adventure travel, visit http://www.advenquest.com
Website: http://www.advenquest.com