Austin Paddle Sports

During a recent jog around Town Lake, I saw a line of at least 50 people waiting to kayak or stand-​up paddle board at a business off the trail. Suckers. Soon after witnessing this spectacle, we arrived at Austin Paddle Sports and found a 5-​person line; we were paddling within 10 minutes. Super glad last summer’s Unilocal event here made us wise to this place.
I checked Unilocal for their hours, but rather than closing at 6pm they go a bit later in summer. After signing the mmmm-hmmm-uh-huh-I’m-not-reading-this contract, the paddle specialist told us to just be back by 8pm. Doable. You can paddle towards the bridge on the left, the little cove straight ahead, or down towards the dams on the right. On Saturdays there are music groups jamming out that you can hear in the cove. It is super sweet.
They have lockers that used to come with a lock for your stuff, but now it’s just open. Leave your valuables elsewhere if you feel finnicky, but with staff ever present it would be difficult for someone to swipe your goods. On weekends it’s $ 20/​pp for an hour of paddling and $ 15 on weekdays, which is a nice discount.
Oh oh OH: they have special magnetized plastic baggies for your goods. Should you ever, I don’t know, feel the need to take a picture of a yoga board pose or a lovely sunset.

The equipment and lake were fine but the attitude of the attendant was poor. There was a groupon which my girlfriend and I asked to use but were told we had to purchase it 24 hours in advance — which makes no sense — but whatever, $ 15 for an hour without groupon, no problem. As soon as groupon was mentioned the attendant rudely turned to his buddy and said they need to quit honoring groupon.
So we fill out the release form and I start to pay and he asks if it’s going to be together. I say yes and the guy explains how that’s good for me because he likes to make fun of guys who don’t pay for girls, but not in a joking tone. I think the guy really does enjoy trying to berate his customers. Total SoCal surfer vibe. Get off my swell bruh. So we pay with two 20’s and he counts out a 5 and five 1’s for change, followed by, «these go in the tip jar.» Seriously? Having a bad attitude then asking for a tip? Is that a thing in Austin now?
So we pay and I ask what time is it. The response is, «it’s hammer time,» followed by a blank stare. I say no, really, I left my watch in my car. «It’s hammer time,» again. Okay… maybe broski can’t tell time, so I got it from someone else.
So we paddled for awhile — good fun. We come back to the dock and ask for the time, which I should have known, it was of course, «hammer time.» We ask the workers to take a picture of us and are immediately told no. So we ask again and a different worker was nice enough to take one.
Pretty weak on the service side. The girl who was there seemed nice and had a good attitude but the others didn’t seem too thrilled with life or were outright rude. Several good reviews on here so maybe broseph was just having a bad day. Hopefully your interaction will be better.
I’ll be taking my business to one of the other rental spots in the future.

I like this location for SUP the staff are very friendly and helpful for first timers. $ 15 for an hour of paddling seams to be the price everywhere in austin. I like this location because you have the view of the new boardwalk and u can venture under a smaller bridge where they have fun fun water Olympics and try to catch a show!

We had an employee party here last night! Location on edge of a beautiful grassy park for a picnic gathering was great. The dock is huge, shaded and has lots of chairs for lounging. The staff went out of their way to have water and music for us to listen to and was super nice to all of our staff knowledgeably showing them how to SUP and kayak. Everyone loved it so much they want to do it again soon! This is a gem of a place in a gem of a park on the shores of a gem of an urban lake. Nothing better!

These guys were awesome! They gave a quick overview of how to paddle board efficiently and then they let you get on your way. Ren was especially great and even took pictures for us as we were coming back into the dock and then a few posed pictures. I highly recommend this place and will definitely keep it in mind for the future!

The facility is nice and the equipment is fine. My issue is with the membership and management. At the time I bought the membership, it was represented that the facility was going to be open until 8pm and I could bring a guest at no additional charge. The facility is only open until 6pm and they now charge the guest. Management was initially confrontational before apologizing and acknowledging both issues. They blamed the change of hours on the lack of business and the charge for guest on an employee that was selling the membership incorrectly. Eventually, they did offer 4 free passes for a guest. I told them I wanted my money back because I would not be able to utilize the benefits of the membership due to these changes. They said I would have to talk to the owner (Ryan). I have left Ryan at least three messages the past few weeks and he has not returned one phone call.

Visited these guys as part of the Unilocal event. Really fun group, laid back, had a fun time trying out the giant SUPzilla! Great leg workout!
This is a really cool alternative to the popular SUP rentals near the Mopac bridge, and I’m sure not nearly as crowded during peak hours. Prices seem reasonable, love that you can buy a monthly/​seasonal membership, double love that they have the ring toss game to keep you mystically entertained if you have to wait.
Great facility. Cool/​quirky that it is located right next to a hostel I had no idea existed.

I had a great time out at Austin Paddle Sports for the SUPZilla event. The employees were laid back, but professional and did a great job giving an overview for first timers getting on the stand up paddle boards.
The experience was a great one overall, and I had a ton of fun doing it. I’ll definitely be back on the water again soon and will check these guys out. One thing I really liked about them was their location on the lake. Far enough away from the main clusters of people out on kayaks, canoes, etc, but still very close to downtown… and really peaceful with a nice little secluded inlet just across the lake.

Great location and great staff to try out SUP. If you are in Austin then you need to go see the team down at APS.

Can’t beat the price. The staff is really chill along with the atmosphere they create on the dock.

How do these guys NOT have 100 5 star reviews? My 13yr old son and I went there this past saturday for our first time ever Stand Up Paddle Boarding and had a BLAST! We only did the 2 hours a piece due to cost and you do feel as if you got a work out even after only 2 hours but the next time we will go for the entire day as it was THAT MUCH FUN! I don’t rememebr the 3 different gentlemen that we came in contact with that worked there but every last one of them were as nice as can be, very helpful, didn’t rush you, and always had a smile on their face. I would and will be going back time and time again. Thank you Austin Paddle Sports!

I wish there were more stars to be honest, 5 stars is just NOT high enough for these guys. If you want to try a SUP in Austin — do not go anywhere else. We ran into John at Austin Paddle Sports on Lake Austin right next to Capital Cruises while visiting Austin for wedding planning and engagement photos. We paused to look at their set up and he immediately came to see if we needed any help or had any questions. He was friendly and knowledgeable. When we asked about doing early morning engagement photos on paddle boards he not only gave us the owner’s email but a way to get ahold of him (John) if we did not hear back in time! I couldn’t believe how receptive and supportive he was of the idea. And how willing to work with us.
I emailed Andy the owner on Sunday not really expecting to hear back but he was amazing! He emailed me back within a few hours and had already spoken with John about our Monday morning photos. We contacted John and made arrangements to meet at the dock. John actually came in EARLY on his DAY OFF TO HELP US! I honestly cannot believe customer service like this still exists — John and Andy really went above and beyond for us. It felt like working with old friends. We also went by their shop and it it is really great. A very cool set up with tons of boards, cool t-​shirts, and other Austin Paddle Sports paraphernalia. The Aloha Texas stuff is really clever. It’s definitely worth swinging by if you’re in the area. I believe it’s Ben that we spoke with there and he too had already heard what we were doing and was happy for us! (Great communication with all employees.) He was also great to talk to about SUP as well. These guys really have a passion for what they do and and a contagious enthusiasm. If you have never tried a SUP go with these guys — there is nobody better or more welcoming (and we did check out some other places).
We haven’t seen our photos yet but they are sure to be amazing — John made us feel really comfortable during the photo shoot as well. I cannot say enough good things about the people here.
Not only that, but when we have guests in town for our wedding they said to let them know how big our group will be and they’ll be sure to have as many boards as wen need ready to go. Honestly, it doesn’t get any better.

After visiting a couple of other places, we found Austin Paddle Sports to have just what we needed with a lot of help from their expertise! They offered a lot of help as well as great tips on where to go SUP. nice selection of boards. Wish I had come here first before getting my board. Will definitely come here when it’s time to think about another!

I love Austin Paddle Sports! I contacted them about setting up a recurring weekly paddle for 12 people, which turned into 2x weekly for 24 people. Andy was awesome, he worked with me to make it happen, was super flexible and a pleasure to work with. The guys at Austin Paddle Sports have been nothing short of amazing. They even took time to do a test run of our route to make sure it was going to be both safe and fun, which was totally unexpected. Our guides (Ryan and Simon) were beyond fantastic — knowledgable, patient!, fun, and super personable. And after all that, they even had waters on ice in the truck, perfect. Our entire group had a blast on our first paddle, and are looking forward to next week. If you have been considering SUP for yourself, or setting up a corporate group like we did, I strongly recommend Austin Paddle Sports. They have far surpassed my expectations and have gone above and beyond with exceptional service.

I knew that I wanted to get a paddleboard, but not sure which one, Andy suggested I check out the free SUP meetup, (Sunday mornings at the Rowing Dock). I got the feel for which one I liked, ordered it over the phone and, get this, they even delivered it to me at work! That’s great service.

I work with a non-​profit organization called Explore Austin, we teach youth leadership through mentoring and outdoor adventure. This past weekend, I reserved stand up paddleboards with Austin Paddle Sports for a group of 18. The large group size did not scare Andy and Tim and they worked hard to make the event a success despite it being a crazy weekend in Austin (Spring Break, SXSW and a Lady Bird Lake Rowing Regatta). Explorers and their Mentors received great service and the pre event communication with staff was easy. Tim and Ryan were there on day of and were incredibly helpful. The guys were there to give an introduction about the history of Stand Up Paddleboards along with safety and instruction.
We used 10 paddleboards and the infamous «Supzilla», a giant stand up paddleboard that can hold well over 20 people. The group had a blast and they came back from the activity talking about how amazing the day was and asking when they can go paddleboarding again!
I would highly recommend Austin Paddle Sports for your paddleboard needs, they are helpful and genuine people offering a great service.

Austin Paddle Sports is awesome! They donated their time, man-​power, expertise, and equipment to 10 kids and 10 Big Sisters of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Texas recently and everyone had the best time. Kids were asking could their mentors take them again and we as staff had a blast. Thanks Austin Paddle Sports/​SUP for providing this exciting opportunity to the kids in our program and their mentors. Everyone should check it out because anyone can do it!!!

Purchased a board from Austin Paddle Sports a little over a month ago. Recently noticed a small but growing blister on the bottom of the board. I took the board in to have them look at it. Without any hesitation they replaced the board with a new one. Could not be happier with the service I recieved.

My husband and I had a weekend without our kiddos & decided to spend the morning trying out SUP for the first time. We’re so glad we did! It was so much fun, & our instructor was AWESOME — very patient with my slow paddling into the wind, super helpful with technique, and just a great guy to hang out with for the morning. We’ll definitely paddle again! Thanks so much for a wonderful day!

If you are looking for a place to learn about SUP with no attitude, arrogance and all of that fun stuff that keeps you from wanting to learn a new sport — this is the spot. The owner and staff will answer your questions, share their many years of experience and hook you up with what you need to know about Stand Up Paddle. Give then a call before you head out and you can set up a one-​on-​one appointment at the shop.