Yaaaar! Batten down the hatches!
The tube chute is a concrete chute that runs about 100 meters along the Comal River, where it takes you and your tube back down to the river below, like a water slide. This tube chute is the most challenging part of tubing the Comal River. This tube chute is incredibly fun, but it's also a bit nerve rattling when it comes to tubing! Depending on the flow of the river, this chute can be a whirlwind ride better than anything they have at Schlitterbahn. Taking it on a tube with a bunch of stuff can be challenging, because when you get to the bottom, the eddies of water make for a good place for tubes to dump out all their contents, including the rider, beers, glasses, jewelry, ice- everything. It's a bit dangerous at the bottom due to strong currents created by the chute. Fortunately, there's usually a lifeguard.
Secure everything! There's always a group of people who hang out at the bottom of the tube chute collecting the free beer that comes floating by when some unsuspecting tuber gets dumped out, and forgot to tie down their tube and cooler. Personally, I generally lose something here nearly every time I go through the chute on a tube. Sunglasses, hats, koozies, beers. But I end up finding things too. "The river gods giveth and they taketh away." It's like a big lost n' found at the bottom of the chute. I've even seen scuba divers who hang out here collecting lost stuff. One diver claimed he finds enough jewelry, wallets, etc. to make a small business selling it on a regular basis. Wanna buy a wet phone? If you just hang out here on a busy weekend, you can score free beer all day long helping tubers collect their full beers when they dump out at the bottom of the chute.
Please be respectful of the river and remember to tie up your garbage, and try to secure everything before you go through on a tube. If you're not up for it, you can always portage it. read more