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    Texas Rowing Center

    4.2 (211 reviews)
    Open 6:00 am - 7:00 pm
    Updated 2 months ago

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    Kalia A.

    I appreciated that the parking was accessible but not that we had to pay for it. Also the restrooms are porta-potties only :/ Besides that the customer service was good and they had a lot of equipment available. The area can be seaweed heavy but once you get further out it kinda clears out. There's a good little spot that allows you to get out of your equipment and stand up where the water is knee deep. The views of the city are also nice!

    Joyce K.

    Visiting Austin I always spend the day eating going from one restaurant to the other. I decided for a change to try an activity. It was not disappointing at all! That was so much fun! Also you have a good amount of time and distance to change sceneries. The Texas heat is unbearable and it is still tolerable you get some breeze here and there. Make sure you wear sunscreen and take water with you to stay hydrated

    Bret B.

    Nice day on the the lake paddling and pulling back a couple cool pops with my son and his friends on the birthday. TRC is zero hassles. Just sign the waiver, pay em, cash or credit, and slide into the lake. Decent equipment 11'4" NSR foam SUP, kayaks, & canoes (I think). Location is right behind Austin high school. If you have your own equipment, a public ramp is about 100 meters from TRC.

    Jamie P.

    My fiancé and I always head to Texas Rowing Center when we want to rent kayaks on Town Lake (aka Lady Bird). If there's a line to rent, or to retrieve your items, it always goes quickly. The employees there are so kind and they work very hard to get everyone in and out of the water safely. They also provide life jackets to all renters at no additional cost. Today, we rented a tandem kayak. I believe single kayaks start at $15 an hour and tandem $20 per hour. They also have paddle boards for rent and of course, are known for rowing. You can usually find a space to park on the street, or in the parking lot across the street. I'd definitely recommend them if you're looking to get out on the water and see Austin from a different perspective!

    Alyssa Z.

    Most of the time when people look at me, they definitely don't think "kayaking;" however, this was surprisingly one of the best things I did during our trip to Austin. We ended up going with this company because they opened earlier than some of the alternatives (with start times of 10am), and we were hoping to beat the heat of 105 degrees that day. This location was central to the Lady Bird Lake is very straight forward in providing kayaks and canoes, as well as supplying the local recreational and professional sports teams. Even though there weren't many people there, we still felt a litlost navigating the area. They definitely were not very tourist oriented, as no one was there to point us where to go. It was actually our first time kayaking and no one gave us any instructions or directions as to what to do in the case of an emergency, etc. They had us sign our life away in the waiver, gave us our life vests and paddles, and that was that. Luckily it was relatively self-explanatory, but it would have been nice to at least been given a recommendation as to which direction had what to see, etc. Long story short, if you're a tourist, its your first time, and you're looking for friendly service and a welcoming atmosphere, this place may not be for you. We were able to make do with what we were given though once we got on the water

    Amanda T.

    Went there twice during a trip. First time it was smooth sailing, multiple people are working, helping us check out, get on and off the water. Two days later we went back however, there was one man working, he was very grumpy, yelling at customers, and made us wait on the deck for almost an hour to see if the weather would worsen. I understand the weather concerns, however, he was playing rude with customers.

    Paddle boarding
    Nguyễn Q.

    Our group of 6 went here for kayaking on Monday. There wasn't many people. Our guy was very attentive. He answered my questions about padding board since I want to try for the first time. He also helped me to put it down and giving me clear instruction of what to do. The price was cheap: $15 for single kayak, $20 for double, and $25 for paddle board. The view is truly phenomenal!!

    Awesome views from a paddle board on Lady Bird Lake.
    Polly M.

    One of my favorite Austin activities! Love to rent a board and explore Lady Bird Lake. Texas Rowing Center makes it fun and easy.

    Kayak, oar, lake view
    Anna Q.

    Perfect nature date and view of Austin from the water! This dock is located near Austin High School, which puts you in the middle between a beautiful view of the city skyline or the rolling Texas hills. We rented a double kayak and went for the unlimited time ($40) but honestly after 2 hours on the lake rowing can get tiring pretty quickly. If you're looking for a view of the city you may want to try a different dock as it takes about 1 hr to row out to the pedestrian bridge (with a strong opposing wind). The rental includes a life jacket too so you won't need to worry about bringing your own. The weekend rates are more expensive, so I recommend going during the weekday if possible. You can choose from single kayaks, double, or SUP paddle boards. Parking is available on the street side or in a lot near the hiking trail. While you might not get wet kayaking, I recommend wearing waterproof or water resistant shoes and shorts because the seat underneath us was wet from the previous kayakers. If you're not used to rowing, wearing gloves may help too as I quickly developed blisters on both thumbs. However, the staff were nice and had first aid kits on hand and provided bandages and rubbing alcohol.

    Cheyenne H.

    I went to the Texas Rowing Center to rent a paddleboard to go on the lake for my first time. It's located just West of downtown and had plenty of street and lot parking nearby (free too!). When renting, they only ask you to sign a waiver and pay the specified amount. Stand up paddleboards were $20/hour and $45/day, but they definitely don't keep track of the time you're out for. I initially went on a Friday evening and had no wait for a paddleboard, but I went again on Saturday and waited 45+ mins for one. Definitely plan your trip accordingly. Once on the water, there were hundreds of paddleboarders and kayakers. Some were fishing, others were tied together and floating down the river. Upstream, hundreds were tied together for a river party... so fun! It was quite a hike to reach downtown. The staff at Texas Rowing Center were a tad unprofessional and disorganized, but that's expected haha. It didn't bother me too much, it made the experience more fun in my opinion. Overall, definitely check out Texas Rowing Center if you're a first timer!

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    1 year ago

    I love the location. People working there are great. The proximity to red bud isle is definitely a selling point.

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    2 years ago

    Affordable rentals with no reservations needed. They have storage for your phones/ wallets and plenty of help to get you launched

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    2 years ago

    Great service and excellent safety regulations will definitely be back !! They go above and beyond for everybody in the party

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    4 years ago

    Love this place! Get you out on the water super quick and everyone is super helpful and chill. Also such a great spot!! And good quality SUP

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    Ask the Community - Texas Rowing Center

    I was wondering where I'd have to go to apply for a summer position for Texas Rowing Center?

    Hi Rae, You can email Matt, the owner, at matt@texasrowingcenter.com

    Don’t See Your Question? Ask Away!

    Review Highlights - Texas Rowing Center

    I can only speak for their paddle boarding, but they will be my go-to spot for renting a board until I buy one for myself.

    Mentioned in 17 reviews

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    Rowing Dock

    Rowing Dock

    4.6
    (419 reviews)
    0.4 mi

    This is a great option for exploring Lady Bird Lake by kayak or paddle board. They have a modest…read moreparking lot but depending on when you get there, it may be full. For a weekend morning we were happy to snag a spot and made our way down to the rental area. You can decide on single vs double kayaks or paddleboards and rent by the hour. We decided on an hour of double kayak and thoroughly enjoyed our time out on the water. They have plenty of life vests and the staff were helpful in helping us get in and out of the kayak. It's a gorgeous lake and on a hot summer day was nice and cool on the water. Great opportunity to get some exercise in while looking at the beautiful vegetation up and down the lake. Highly recommend!

    We were excited to go paddle boating, but the experience was extremely disappointing…read more The lake had so much algae that it wrapped around the paddle boat's propeller every few seconds, making it incredibly difficult to move. Instead of enjoying our time on the water, we spent most of it stopping to remove algae just so we could keep going. My biggest issue isn't the algae itself--nature happens. My issue is that the staff never warned us about the lake conditions before renting us the paddle boats. If we had known the algae was bad enough to make paddling this difficult, we never would have rented them. On top of that, one of our paddle boats had a broken piece on the hatch used to access the propeller. I personally had to go over and help my sister because she couldn't properly open and close it to remove the algae. Every time the propeller got wrapped up again, it made the process even more frustrating. I explained the situation to an employee and pointed out the broken piece. Instead of offering a solution, I was told there was nothing they could do and that she just needed to keep removing the algae and paddle her way back to the dock. Later, when she was still struggling, we were told it would cost $50 for someone to come tow or assist her. Because we were moving so slowly due to the algae, we ended up spending more time on the lake than expected and were charged an additional $16 for another 30 minutes. That extra charge could have been avoided if we had simply been told about the lake conditions before renting the boats. Instead of taking our concerns seriously, the response was essentially, "It's better in the spring." If that's the case, then customers should be told about the current lake conditions before they're charged. We could have chosen a different activity instead of paying for an experience that turned into a struggle from start to finish. Honest communication and properly maintained equipment would have made all the difference.

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    Bat bridge
    Bat bridge
    Rowing Dock
    Rowing Dock

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    Waller Creek Boathouse

    Waller Creek Boathouse

    4.2
    (19 reviews)
    1.8 mi

    This is a great place to rent kayaks. Unlike other rental locations, you start off right next to…read moreCongress Bridge, home to the biggest urban bat colony in the US. Especially during the summer, you can see ribbons of bats emerge from under the bridge around sunset. You can head east to Bird Island or west to Red Bud Island if you want a work out. If you are interested in rowing, there is a great 1-month intro course (unlike kayaking or SUP, one cannot attempt rowing on one's own). The Austin Rowing Club is a non-profit so you become part of a community.

    Perfect spot, great access to the river but has racks of filthy life jackets and a staff that needs…read moreto lighten up. We came here to rent SUPs for an hour before heading to the airport keeping our luggage at the hotel. We filled out the waivers and gave them our credit card but the front desk REFUSED to rent us SUPs without both of our ID's. They claimed "it's the law." I'm still unable to find this law. We tried giving them our phones or credit cards as collateral but they couldn't risk "breaking the law." I'd advise your staff to lighten up a little bit, people are trying to enjoy this beautiful spot. Also their life jackets are filthy, they don't even hose them down throughout the day after multiple people use them.

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    Waller Creek Boathouse
    The new Waller Creek Boathouse, home of Austin Rowing Club, Congress Ave Kayaks,  In Motion Bike Rentals, Power to Perform
    The new Waller Creek Boathouse, home of Austin Rowing Club, Congress Ave Kayaks, In Motion Bike Rentals, Power to Perform
    View of the front of Waller Creek Boathouse

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    View of the front of Waller Creek Boathouse

    Texas Rowing Center - boating - Updated July 2026

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