San Marcos River: Crystal Kayak Glow Tour

Discover the San Marcos River at night in a glowing crystal kayak. Choose your LED light color and explore the aquatic underworld with expert guides.

Duration: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • San Marcos River - The San Marcos River bursts forth from the Edwards Aquifer through 200 spring openings at the bottom of Spring Lake in the heart of San Marcos, Texas. The river provides a refreshing playground for swimming, canoeing, and tubing.
What's Included
  • All equipment is provided: Kayaks, paddles, life jackets, etc.
Additional Information

Discover the enchanting San Marcos River at night with translucent kayaks featuring special underwater LED lights. These crystal kayaks act as a magnifying glass into the fascinating aquatic world below, with LED lights offering seven different colors and settings to choose from. All necessary equipment is provided for your tour, including life jackets,…

Location
City Park
Charles Austin Drive
Park in the parking lot and walk over towards the circular drive near Lions Club tube rental. Look for the blue PaddleSMTX van!
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.9
(181 Ratings)
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1 star
638sarayb
May 14, 2026
Beautiful experience - Mary was the absolute best! She was very detailed at explaining and she’s also very funny
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Dreamer04236237179
May 11, 2026
Great experience with Izzy - Me and my friends had a wonderful experience with Izzy as our guide! It was my first time kayaking and she did a great job teaching us how to paddle, and teaching us about the river’s history and wildlife. Would recommend for anyone looking for a fun river activity!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
115gusp
May 10, 2026
Excellent tour. - Kat was very nice and gave a lot of information about the river. Very knowledgeable. Would do the tour again.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
V558sspriyankak
Apr 18, 2026
Must try!!! - Kat was awesome and very helpful! Had a great experience!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
990bijup
Mar 24, 2026
Best paddle boat experience - Absolutely loved the experience A must do if you are visiting San Marcos Evie is a great guide, told us the history and explained everything so well We had a blast
Review provided by Tripadvisor
R2609iunickys
Mar 21, 2026
Must do kayaking experience - especially at night - Awesome experience. Many thanks to Kat for looking after us out on the water!! Informative briefing at the start for those who were first timers and full of fun and interesting facts during the 90 minute adventure. Added the clear kayak’s with the lights was a cool feature. Seeing what was beneath you!! Believe max group size is 14 which is ideal otherwise it may get crowed. Cost is $60 per person. And if possible have some cash on hand to tip.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Violingirl3
Mar 16, 2026
Really unique and interesting tour! - My husband and I loved this tour, it was fun to be on the river at night and peek into the underwater environment. Dechlan did a great job making everyone feel comfortable and gave us some interesting ecological facts about the area. Would highly recommend this if you’re visiting San Marcos!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
D7786tjbenr
Mar 15, 2026
Worth your time & money: a great time on the San Marcos River - Izzy was a wonderful guide for our small group. My daughter and I (11 & 44) each had some experience with kayaking before, but Izzy explained things in a way that helped me feel like I was learning something new. The glowing kayaks cutting through the clear San Marcos River water help light up the river bottom and your immediate surroundings in a way that absolutely lived up to the hype. It’s about an hour, or an hour and fifteen minutes on the water which seems like the exact right amount of time. We saw fish and turtles and ducks and bats and a heron. I can’t recommend this experience enough!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Bethby2102sn
Mar 15, 2026
Wonderful and peaceful kayaking trip - Kat did an amazing job pointing out many interesting things. We even got to see two raccoons.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
S2104babrianc
Oct 14, 2025
Great Guide! - We celebrated our 8th anniversary with James on the the San Marcos river. He was great and has a true passion for what he does. Loved seeing the wildlife and learning about the history of the river. James was a great guide. Highly recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
From $77
up to 12 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).