After 7 years living in Austin I had a reason to go on this tour, a Visiting family member. It was so worth the wait and I highly recommend it. Our boat captain Han 'solo' and captain DJ made our experience even better! They gave you a little history and facts about the bats that live under our Congress Bridge from March to November. Glad I was able to experience this with my family!! read more

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A must do when visiting Austin. So glad we choose this over watching from bridge. Our captain was very knowledgeable and entertaining. I would highly recommend! read more

Great tour! Our guide Han was very entertaining and knowledgeable. Highly recommend this if you want to get the best view of the bats.

Great tour with the family! Quick, comfortable, informative tour of the Austin skyline and easy viewing of the bat emergence. Highly recommend. read more

There are a few ways to experience the beautiful flight of half a million bats at the Congress Street bridge at sunset (from the bridge itself, from a park at the south end of the bridge, or from adjacent restaurants), but this has to be one of the best ways. The trip on the boat included a funny and informative narration from Captain Shelby about not only the bats but the buildings located along the shores of the lake. It was a wonderful way to spend my last night in this fabulous city. And a bargain at $10 per person. I made reservations two days in advance online but had a friend join us at the last minute with no problem after he called the same day to reserve his spot. I highly recommend this tour! read more

Lone Star Riverboat - View from the boat just before the flight. - Boat Charters Near Me - Austin, Texas

I've gone out on a bat seeing tour with much every visitor who's come in from out of town, and this is BY FAR the best! The captains were funny/entertaining as well as informative, and the boat was super comfortable. read more

My wife and I came to Austin for our anniversary and this was the perfect way to kick off the weekend events. We enjoyed the views and the comedic atmosphere of the captain! Thank y'all so much for showing us an amazing time! The bats were crazy cool to see and seeing them from the river rather than the bridge was great! 10 out of 10! read more

Captain Fred is the absolute best! So funny and engaging . Recommend this cruise to absolutely anyone!

Loved our tour on the Lone Star Riverboat!! My friend was visiting from San Diego and absolutely enjoyed the tour! Learned a lot about the buildings in my new city... Captains were both really friendly and knowledgeable about Austin history. Would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in spending a day out on the water :)) read more

What a fun way to spend an evening in Austin! I took this little tour solo dolo while I was in town for work and really enjoyed learning about the skyline of Austin as well as the bats. This is definitely worth the price for an evening of sightseeing. The only downside for me was that as a visitor in town, it was difficult to figure out where to get on the boat. I parked pretty far away and walked and walked and walked and walked to find the on-ramp to the boat - without knowing if I was headed in the right direction. read more

Great trip and nice guide! Make sure you book online ahead of time (2 days in advance at least) to get a good spot on top, it's worth it. read more

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We enjoyed a wonderful cruise with the superb and witty Captain Sharon this evening. Although I've lived in Austin for many years, she was able to shed a new perspective on the sites and bats that intrigued both me and my out of town guests. This cruise has moved to my # 1 spot of things to do to show off our beautiful city to visitors. read more

Great time with Captain Bella! Very informative and amazing view of the bats! Loved that it was BYOB. Make sure to arrive at least 15 min before to sit with your group. read more

Had a fantastic time! Had our uber drop us off at the Hyatt and we walked down to the dock. I had no idea what to expect but the view of the bats was amazing!! read more

Lone Star Riverboat - City view from boats! - Boat Charters Near Me - Austin, Texas

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I had a great time with this cruise along Austin picturesque scene. Tyler was witty in his presentation of the history of Austin, well known buildings along the route. Because it was a 3pm cruise we did not see the bats but we certainly heard the squeeking of their melody! read more

Lone Star Riverboat - Boat Charters Near Me - Austin, Texas

Enjoyed the ride at lone star Riverboat! I took my man and we enjoyed that one ride on the lake. great for a date night

Booked this to learn about Austin. Great weather, bring your own drinks, very relaxed atmosphere. All positive. But...We're told to be there 30 min prior for boarding. Found a nice spot, a table upstairs. Once tour started, the guide had no microphone. Nobody could hear a thing he was saying. His response was to move to another seat. No seats if everyone has been there 30 min. prior. Biggest suggestion - spend some $$ for a portable microphone, enhance the cruise experience and it might help the tips! read more

Was really fun. Workers super friendly and good knowledge on austin. Was amazing sewing the bats come out at night.

This was so much fun!! Our tour guide was amazing and she told us all these fun facts about the buildings we saw along the water. She was mostly killing time until the bats came out, but made it very enjoyable. We learned a lot about the bats and we got so close, with the best view! Such an incredible sight to see. Our guide knew so much about the bats and we learned a ton. We got there right before they started boarding and got front row seats on their smallest boat, which was perfect! read more

For $10, why wouldn't you do this cruise? We wanted to see the bats but we don't like crowds or waiting around. This cruise was so much fun- we had been sightseeing all day so having a chance to sit and relax and do something mildly educational was wonderful. Our guide (Isabella) was AMAZING!!! She was very informative and funny and we loved her. The weather was perfect and we had such an amazing view of the bats! This was so much fun; I recommend it to anyone who wants to see the bats without standing around on the bridge! read more

Very good trip only wish I had taken the night ride. Totally recommend and would do it again if I hadn't moved!

Great cruise. They were very knowledgeable of the area and the bats. We got a great spot by the bridge to see all of the excitement.

Booked the bat watching cruise and our experience was so so. The cruise departs at 8 pm and they were fairly close to that time. Definitely need to show up an hour early to choose the seats you want, especially if you have a larger group. Their process of checking people in goes quite slow. They need to come up with a more efficient check in process. The cruise down the river was nice, but once you get to the Congress bridge IMO, was sorta disappointing. If all you want to see is the bats, save some money, and hang out on the south side of the Congress bridge. Our guide was good, so this review has nothing to do with her. I really appreciated her knowledge and sense of humor. read more

Horrible experience. Sold tickets for a small party that they couldn't fit on s single boat. Don't take 'bat girls' tour, she is horrible and just made things worse. read more

This was a fun one hour trip! I learned some interesting things about Austin. It was hard to hear the commentary due to it not being very loud and people were talking during the presentation. Also, be sure to confirm your reservations. Ours somehow got lost and they were booked up, but after several calls were able to fit us in. read more

Only one star because I can't leave a zero start review. This place is a joke. We made "reservations" online for the 8 o'clock departure, paid our fees, dealt with Austin traffic and ridiculous parking, arrived at 7:47 for them to turn us away saying we missed the 7:45 loading time and they gave our seats away. 7:54 and all the boats are still sitting here, but since they gave our reservations away were going home empty handed. Terrible. Learn what a reservation is and follow it. Don't use this "service". read more

Really enjoyed our boat ride on Lady Bird Lake! The host was funny, the ride was smooth, and the city landscape was BEAUTIFUL! I definitely would recommend and plan on bringing my family next time. read more

Good time and watching the bars was amazing. The only negative were the we sat in the very front and had to struggle to hear the captain and the seat was pretty uncomfortable. It was super affordable and the views were awesome. XS read more

We came for my friends birthday and we had an amazing time!!! Wonderful history, architecture, and of course the BATS! Our captain Bella was the best and gave some fun recommendations. I HIGHLY recommend this tour! read more

This was a great way to see the bats coming off the Congress St. bridge. Very comfortable and they had 3 boats to go on. We got a little bit of a city skyline tour and explanation, and then they put us in the best possible spot to actually see the bats as they flew off. Great service too. read more

Had an amazing time with my family! So much fun and learned so much about the city of Austin! Both captains were great! read more

Lone Star Riverboat - Boat Charters Near Me - Austin, Texas

The staff was very courteous, helpful, and extra fun. They had great information and history not just about the bat watching but also about Lady Bird Lake. We definitely got more than we expected. The bat watching was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and the sheer volume of bats was incredible. A great value for a low price. Don't question it, this is as advertised and more. read more

Lone Star Riverboat - View of Austin skyline from tour boat. - Boat Charters Near Me - Austin, Texas

Had a really good time and thought this was an awesome value for the money. I'm pregnant so I didn't drink, but it's BYOB. However, they don't have a restroom on the boat, so consider that if you "break the seal" easily. I was a little disappointed that they put us in a little open-air pontoon boat rather than the actual riverboat because someone had rented it for the evening. It would have been nice to know that in advance. I'm a local but actually learned a few things about Austin. read more

We had family in town and we decided to go see the bats! This is THE BEST way to see them, you guys on the bridge don't know what you're missing. Our captain was fun and knowledgeable! read more

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The boat ride is wonderful and the bats are amazing, but these folks need to work on training their new staff a little better before unleashing them on the world. Our guide was an a delightful but poorly trained 18 yo who knew very little about Austin or driving a boat without running into things. The PA system was poor and no one could hear her as she spoke a million miles an hour while relaying very little content. I recommend Capitol cruises over Lone Star Riverboat . read more

Very very nice and informative host. I had a pleasure getting to know a little bit of Austin. And learning about the condo and building structures. read more

Very decent experience on our "batsy" tour. Robert was informative, had a good schtick going and managed to not get me pooped on (which was more I felt the bats' respect in knowing I too had my own batshit working-maybe I've just learned how to fly better under the sonar). read more

Lone Star Riverboat - Boat Charters Near Me - Austin, Texas

Captain Chris was fun and informative. Thoroughly entertained and good times for all ages. Paid online and easy reservation process.

We have never experienced the bats in Austin and wanted to make sure we got a great view. So I booked tickets for our family of four. We enjoyed the tour of the lake and all of the information from our tour guide/captain. We had front row seats to see the bats and were right on time to see them depart on their nightly hunt. Our kids are looking forward to going back in the fall when the guide says the number of bats increase. We will definitely be booking here again. Do show up early as suggested even if you book your tickets on line so you have your choice of seats. We chose to ride on one of the smaller boats. read more

This was so much fun!! It's a great way to learn a little bit about Austin and Capt Shelby had a some great info about the surrounding buildings, bridges and lake. This a great outing for all ages. We took our 11 yr old and 2 yrs old with us. They got a kick out of the turtles in the water. The bats we amazing though!!!! After seeing a few scouts fly out suddenly tins were just flying out from under the bridge and flying over head and above the trees. They make the most adorable squeaking sounds!!!! We will definitely be back!!! read more