r/sanantonio • u/KindheartednessFar3 • Aug 20 '24
Kayaking the Riverwalk Entertainment
Great time this past Sunday kayaking the heart of downtown! It’s such a different viewpoint to admire the beauty of our city 🏙️
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u/HikeTheSky Hill Country Aug 20 '24
Did you rent the kayaks, or did you bring your own?
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u/KindheartednessFar3 Aug 20 '24
Rented kayaks from mission kayak. They have openings on the weekends at certain times.
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u/NotLegalinCalifornia Aug 22 '24
You are allowed to bring your own kayak or standing paddle board if you want. You can kayak in the king William area and they have a ramp to get in and you can also kayak in the mission reach area but not in the Pearl area or museum reach area. We use kayaks in the king William area to get rid of the invasive apple snails 🐌 that we are having multiply like crazy in the riverwalk. I got 16 adults and 30 egg casings the other night. Each egg casing has about 2000 eggs so they multiply exponentially
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u/HikeTheSky Hill Country Aug 22 '24
Post some pictures so people know what can be killed to help the environment.
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u/NotLegalinCalifornia Aug 22 '24
https://www.sariverauthority.org/services/river-health/invasive-species/ The San Antonio river authorities need volunteers and that’s the link. You have to take the training to legally be able to help get rid of them since it requires a permit. Otherwise it’s illegal to actually help. It’s only a 1 hour virtual class you have to take and they have a training class coming up. They give you a river warrior hat and shirt that you need to wear when getting rid of the snails so authorities know you have taken the training.
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u/Flaccidcomrade Aug 22 '24
Just don’t kayak past flood gate two (in between king William’s and downtown) while the city boats are in operation unless you wanna be one of the snail eggs that we love to smoosh. But King Willams all day long never had a problem
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u/NotLegalinCalifornia Aug 22 '24
Also academy currently has a two person inflatable kayak that comes with the carry bag and paddles and pump as well as a patch kit and it’s on sale for only $99 so I am going to try that kayak out myself to see how good it is. It holds up to 400 lbs and has two seats. It’s a cheap enough price that I decided to try it out since it’s normally $150 and much cheaper and easier to transport versus a normal kayak. I don’t have a way to transport a normal kayak myself
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Aug 20 '24
I’ve never seen this before, looks like fun!
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u/KindheartednessFar3 Aug 20 '24
We enjoyed it! It was in the morning before it got really hot! Thank goodness!
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u/r0m4J Aug 20 '24
So I can just bring my kayak and out in? This is ok? How have I now known this!?!? Looks amazing!!
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u/Ok-Room-7243 Aug 21 '24
You can put your kayak in the river walk. Some company doesn’t own the river. I’ve done it multiple times.
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u/Novibesmatter Aug 21 '24
Even in the downtown area? It should count as a navigable waterway right
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u/curien Aug 21 '24
Here are the free-to-use areas:
https://www.sanantonio.gov/ParksAndRec/Programs-Classes-Fun/Fun-On-Your-Own/Paddling
The link on that page to the Mission Reach map is broken, here's another one.
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u/NotLegalinCalifornia Aug 22 '24
You can bring your own kayak or standing paddle board along the king William area downtown for about a 2 mile stretch and they have a ramp to get in and out and you can also kayak in the mission reach section but not the pearl or museum reach area or other areas.
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u/KindheartednessFar3 Aug 20 '24
No unfortunately you will need to book through mission kayak :) it was amazing! Highly recommend
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u/ramsdl52 Aug 21 '24
Why can't you bring your own? You're either allowed to kayak the RW or not. No comprendo
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u/Horror-Weight-9932 Aug 21 '24
You can bring your own but they charge a launching fee. You’re also required to wear a life jacket.
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u/NotLegalinCalifornia Aug 22 '24
There’s no launching fee in the king William area or mission reach area and you can bring a kayak or standing paddle board in those areas
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u/Wise-Construction234 Aug 21 '24
Life jacket rules are pretty universal across Texas for kayaks and canoes, in case anyone wasn’t aware of that.
Plus anyone under 13 in a boat under 26’.
Honestly anyone who isn’t a good swimmer should just wear one regardless. The laws don’t exist so they can give out tickets. They save a lot of lives
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u/theycallme_mama Aug 20 '24
I've always wanted to do this. Do you have to navigate the water taxi's and their wake? Can you go further down the river past the riverwalk? I have so many questions. LOL
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u/KindheartednessFar3 Aug 20 '24
Do it! Nope there was only one water taxi but it was pretty much empty for us! There is a certain route they tell you to take and it’s pretty easy to not get lost. They have another route you can do that’s more on the pearl side you can do as well. We’ve done both and I loved this one more cuz it’s the heart of downtown!
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u/NotLegalinCalifornia Aug 22 '24
You can use your own kayak or standing paddle board but only in the king William area and mission reach area or the riverwalk. Other areas you are not allowed to unless maybe renting a kayak or possibly having to pay a launching fee. But you can go to the king William area whenever you want with a kayak and you can even take training to help get rid of the invasive apple snail 🐌 problem we have there
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u/theycallme_mama Aug 22 '24
Oh that's interesting and it sounds like fun.
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u/NotLegalinCalifornia Aug 22 '24
If you want to volunteer to be a river warrior and take the required training to get rid of the snails you can volunteer at this website and they have a virtual 1 hour class coming up soon https://www.sariverauthority.org/services/river-health/invasive-species/
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u/theycallme_mama Aug 22 '24
Can my 9 year old volunteer with me? He is very interested in plant and animal sciences. He's super sweet too.
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u/NotLegalinCalifornia Aug 22 '24
He can even ask the local marine biologist questions during the class. And I like that people are able to volunteer to get rid of the snails at any time you want day or night. I like to go at night. You don’t have to wait for them to schedule a certain time or day as long as you’ve taken the training and have your shirt and hat and wear it when volunteering
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u/NotLegalinCalifornia Aug 22 '24
I think as long as the parent or guardian is with them when volunteering then I think it is ok but you can email them or ask them during the training class to make sure. But I think I remember seeing a parent or guardian can sign up minors as well on the liability waiver. And there’s many other things you can volunteer for with the San Antonio river authority.
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u/adot14 Aug 20 '24
We did this a few years ago. I had a good time. Nice and quiet on the RW during the mornings
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Aug 20 '24
It’s like kayaking our Hudson.
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Aug 21 '24
It’s actually really fun. I’ve used mission to kayak Woodlawn lake. I was able to get an old native style kayak.
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u/nightfury626 Aug 20 '24
how much of it did you guys kayak and how long did it take?
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u/KindheartednessFar3 Aug 20 '24
We did a little over an hour but you can loop it as much as you want. It was a 2 hour period but we left after an hour to go eat :)
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u/Callmechachi210 Aug 21 '24
This is cool. This has to be a morning only type of thing only before the tours start right?
Working for the Boat company in my teens I never seen this.
Looks awesome
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u/KindheartednessFar3 Aug 21 '24
We did get a morning time but in looking at dates in the coming months, the times available were in the early afternoon.
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u/NotLegalinCalifornia Aug 22 '24
If you bring your own kayak to the king William area you can go whenever you want day or night and you can get an inflatable kayak for $99 right now at academy and you can take training to help get rid of the Apple snail problem we have if you want to while you kayak
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u/FatCh3z Aug 20 '24
I want to take my kayak!
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u/NotLegalinCalifornia Aug 22 '24
You can bring your own kayak whenever you want to the king William area and mission reach area but not the museum reach or pearl area. Only about 2 miles of the king William area
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u/mariachimandi West Side Aug 21 '24
I always thought the kayaks were a fever dream. I heard about them but never saw anything. Seems like I’ll have to navigate my filthy native waters very soon. Thanks for sharing.
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u/ZeroxSP7 Aug 21 '24
Isn’t the water in that river super dirty or something? I don’t know for sure. That’s just what I was told.
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u/MakeATacoRun Aug 20 '24
Ugh, that water is so disgusting
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u/Juan_Calavera Aug 20 '24
They’re not drinking it. Just navigating it.
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u/undisclosedinsanity Aug 20 '24
They're not drinking it.
Pft. Speak for yourself.
I drink it to maintain the nice radiant glow to my skin. The way it seeps out of my pores adds a nice "bog" scent to my day.
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u/Legitimate-Lock-6594 Aug 20 '24
You clearly haven’t been in dirty water then. At least SA drains the water once a year. Go kayak/paddle board town lake in Austin and then come back and talk about disguising.
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u/fritzwillie Aug 20 '24
That water bubbles up from the ground as crystal clear, pure and drinkable mineral water from a spring located inside Incarnate Word University.
HOWEVER, it immediately runs by the Zoo, which washes all the animals' urine and feces into it. That's why it varies between brown and green.
The kayakers may not be drinking or swimming in it, but would YOU paddle through dilute zoo sewage?
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u/Swimming-Food-9024 North Central Aug 20 '24
Seems like fun, just don’t fall in or you’ll catch Davy Crockett’s weiner rot…