Rowing Dock

Had a great time today kayaking/​canoeing with my kids. The staff is friendly and helpful, all the gear is in good shape, and prices are reasonable. Highly recommended for a sunny Austin afternoon.

The knowledgeable, friendly staff made for a perfect place for a mid-​morning paddle board rental. :)
They were very beginner friendly and accommodating to our extended rental time. Thanks SUPATX!

Good quality SUP & paddles for rent. Easy launch and return. Plentiful staff & long hours of operation.

Rowing Dock was super fun and an awesome experience! We came here because we bought the Groupon and it was definitely worth it! What a great deal. Two hours for $ 15 in a tandem kayak.
We paddled all the way down to the Congress St. Bridge at around sunset on a lovely Saturday evening in Austin. My wife and I really love the outdoors and this definite helped us experience the awesomeness that is Austin.
As for the staff. Friendly, cool, and accommodating. They checked us in right away and processed our Groupon. They held on to my keys for me just for safety’s sake. Within a few minutes we had our lifejackets, paddles, and were hopping in our tandem kayak for a paddle.
We’ll definitely think about coming back next time we are in Austin. Only wish we had timed our arrival a little better so that we could have hungout to see the bats fly out from the bridge!

This place was great! Unlike many of the other kayak places, they were very professional as a business. You can tell that lots of preparation went in to the idea and design.
Everyone was very helpful and polite. Equipment was well taken care of and the atmosphere was very chill.
When I leave a place, I always ask «Can I see myself doing this again?» And I had to say yes to this one.

This is a lovely, well-​organized place! We took advantage of an awesome Groupon deal ($ 15.00 any rental, 2 hour limit) this past weekend and we had a blast! Not too far from the Barton Springs area, this place was easy to get to.
Upon arrival we quickly checked-​in and opted for a canoe for our 2-​hour long outing o’er Lady Bird Lake. They even have an area where you can store your belongings, however at your own risk as they are open and can be easily accessible to the public (best to keep your valuables in your car).
You can also rent small and large plastic bags for your phone, etc. if you want to take pictures out on the lake.
Regarding restroom facilities, they have 2 port-​a-​potties on their parking lot you can use prior to your outing on the lake, and I would recommend taking advantage of that ‘cuz 2 hours can be a long time!
One thing that kinda grossed me out was that the life-​jackets they provided smelled weird. But hey, at least they have life-​jackets (awesome for someone like me because I can’t swim for nothing).
Overall a nice friendly place and the people were all very helpful!

FIRST time paddle boarding ever and Rowing Dock was spacious, beautiful, and has awesome customer service and made sure we were prepared to go out in the water! Adventurous and beautiful spot!!!

I am extremely upset with this place. I rented two of their kayaks for an hour. When I returned, about one hour and ten minutes later the cashier greeted me with an attitude telling me that I was late and that they were going to charge me for an extra 30 minutes.
I was fine with that and paid what I thought was an extra $ 14. Turns out they charged me the full rental + $ 14 extra (total $ 44 dollars extra for 10 minutes). I disputed the bank charge saying that they charged me twice and they disputed back saying that there was an extra $ 30 charge on top of the $ 14 for being late.
In summary you can get kayaks in like 5 different spots in a mile radius of this place. The customer service was terrible, made me feel like I killed a puppy for being 10 minutes late, and they charged me $ 77 total for being out in the river 1 hour and 10 minutes.
Finally they disputed the bank charge back at me so I did not even get to settle that charge.
You know what Rowing dock, keep your money, I am going elsewhere for my kayaks. Me and everyone I know will not be back there again.
Do yourself a favor and go to the Texas Rowing Center. There is tons more parking, staff are friendly and will not greet you with a chronometer and an insane bill upon your return.

Great place to rent a paddle board– parking nearby and good pricing. If you bring a Groupon, don’t forget to bring a license and credit card!

Today was my first experience paddle boarding and my first time coming here. It was my parents, two siblings, and I. My sister is very shy and small so I asked if if she could ride with me on the board and the lady at entrance said yes but once I got to the cashier he confirmed that we could not share paddle boards and every one must ride individually so my sister ended up on the nalu (I think that’s what it’s called). I was fine with this but it made me a bit frustrated that there was a bit of miscommunication between the workers and I saw people sharing a nalu on the water. I was not told I could do this or I would have done so, so my sister wouldn’t have had to ride alone. Regardless it was fine because she ended up having a blast. Once we got to the dock I was expecting the person explaining the rules to give me tips on how to ride it as it was my first time and he knew. He just explained the rules and once I was in the water I met up with my family and they had all been given a little tutorial except for me. I know it was Labor Day weekend so it was pretty packed but I would have given 5 stars if the workers were a bit more consistent.
Other than that it was a very fun experience and I finally learned how to paddle board!(:

Loved this place for kayak and paddleboat rentals. We came on a Thursday so it wasn’t busy. It cost $ 15 for an hour to get a double kayak or paddleboat. Pretty good deal and I think all day was $ 35. They hold your car keys for you so leave everything else in the car. They have drinks for sell, sno cone truck, and waterproof bags to put phones or anything else small in. They gave us all the info needed since it was our first time and we had a blast! If you want to see the city more I would go to a place closer in unless you rent for all day. We took our time but could of gotten to the edge of downtown if we had paddled faster.

Hate to spoil the secret, but go early! They open at 7:30am and hardly anyone is out. It’s cool and calm, bring your coffee and chillax!
They take credit cards now, but still bring an ID. They charge on the half hour, bring a timepiece of some sort (tip: your phone inside a freezer bag works well, then can take pics too.)
Just saw the promo for Bat Paddles and even Full Moon Paddle — what fun!

First off, I’ll start with the good; the Rowing Dock has close proximity parking (many do not) albeit their location is off the beaten path, they accept credit cards (this is for their own benefit) and they allow you to leave as late as 7:30pm (7:00 at many places).
Now with the bad; the Rowing Dock will NICKEL AND DIME you like no other dock on Lady Bird Lake. The second they swipe your credit card, the «timer» begins. However, they don’t disclose this at the time of purchase. The problem is that it might take you 5, 15 or even 20+ minutes to actually get onto the water and if you’re a second over your allotted hour, you’re going to PAY.
My friend and I recently rented paddle-​boards and as we waited to get our boards, an employee instructed us to go wait by the paddle-​board stand as there was another employee over there who could assist us. After standing around for a good five minutes, the employee who initially told us to go over to the stand came over to finally get our boards. Once we obtain our boards, we’re asked if we have been paddle-​boarding before and although we replied yes, we had to listen to what was described as a «short» instructional speech which was roughly 5 minutes.
Long story short, it took us between 15 – 20 minutes to get onto the water, but at this point in the game, I wasn’t too upset about it. However, upon returning our boards, we are told that we were 15 minutes over an hour and we will have to pay an additional 14 dollars between the two of us. This seemed really high as their Mon.-Thurs. rate for a SUP is $ 15 an hour, so I am not quite sure what their pro-​rating policy is at this point.
If you’re going to be such sticklers on time, you should factor in at least 10 minutes of padding or incorporate a grace period. I could easily see it taking almost half an hour to get on the water if you have a large group. Lastly, I don’t believe any other dock on the lake does this; I have rented countless SUPs and kayaks from the Texas Rowing Center among others and have NEVER been charged an additional fee for being a few minutes late.
ADVICE to potential customers, if you look at the docks on Lady Bird, they all literally have the exact same rental rates. Do yourself a favor and go to a dock that won’t try to NICKEL and DIME you.

Had a great time on the 4^th of July. Plenty of boats. We got there at 10am and there wasn’t a line. Really clean and great service with a smile. Will be back again (:

Last day my teenage son & 2 of his friends went kayaking. When returning, his kayak overturned. my son swam to shore about 150 yards, his friend was stranded. I notified mgmt & they were very slow to respond. It was 15…20 minutes. I was furious. My friends son could have drowned & they were unresponsive

The Rowing Dock is great! The location is fantastic and the staff is awesome. I had to book a large group rental so I went down to the location to speak with an employee. I first met Alex, who is incredibly helpful and caring. He put me in touch with Lindsay who helped coordinate my event. I cannot say enough nice things about Lindsay! She was willing to give me different price quotes and worked with me to keep to my party budget. She was always prompt with communication and was extremely friendly through the whole process.
The day of the event there was extra staff on location to help get everyone in and out of the water. They were able to provide group waivers that I had participants sign ahead of time so all the paperwork was taken care of. Everyone was able to get into the water right away so it felt like a truly seamless process. The staff that day was friendly and treated our group with great care. They took some great pictures of the outing and even had little doggy life vests for the pup in our group! So cute.
I work for a company that believes in superior customer service and am always on the look out for it as well. Thank you Rowing Dock for a fantastic experience from start to finish.

Kayak $ 15 hourly (single), $ 20 hourly (double). Canoes are $ 5 extra per hour. You also save $ 5 on rentals if you go on weekdays.
Line goes by quickly, but also gets packed quickly so go early. They have plenty of kayaks, SUP (I’m assuming this is the paddleboard), and canoes for rental per hour. Staff is friendly. View on the lake is awesome. You get to see several turtles sunbathing along the way. Snow cone truck in the parking lot (which can get packed quickly on weekends). Entry to/​from the lot can be a hassle on busy park days (as you have to drive through the park to get to this dock). They have bins (no lock) to place your shoes (no shoes allowed on rentals). Pet-​friendly. Will definitely be back.

Do yourself a favor and skip the other places. Rowing dock is hands down the best spot to gear up/​rent on the lake. It’s off the beaten path, and the last dock, giving it a charm and experience you won’t get elsewhere. I’ve been out here twice now, once on SUP and once on kayak. Their prices are reasonable and the staff is friendly, helpful and knowledgable. Boards/​boats and life jackets are always clean.
Bonus: Snow cone truck right out front!

I really enjoyed kayaking today… It’s been a very long time since I’ve done so and was glad I did!
I found out about Rowing Dock from one of their pictures on Instagram and they were advertising Yappy Hour where you can bring your dog… I thought that was so cool. I decided NOT to bring my dogs because they have too much energy and I’m too scared that they will fall in. But you should consider it if your dog is easily trainable!
Anyway, the location is super easy to find (off Barton Springs Rd) and a fairly simple process: park and then sign the waiver and choose what type of boat you want. It’s pretty inexpensive ($ 10/​hr for a single person kayak). They will hold your car keys, too. Choose your life jacket and then off you go.
I wasn’t out for too long because I have a habit of getting too close to the land and then getting stuck in the trees/​brush, but I did enjoy spending time with all the turtles around me… Some of them were little babies that could fit in the palm of your hand :)
The view of the lake is breathtaking and it’s very peaceful out there… I can see how this can become quite an addiction. I’d give this place 5 stars but always run into some minor customer service snafus — which has now been rectified.
Some tips: You might want to come on a day that is NOT on the weekend as it was busy on a Monday… I can only imagine how crazy it probably gets on a Saturday or Sunday! Also, there is the Zilker Botanical Garden and Austin Nature and Science Center right in the area… It might be nice to take the family out and hit up all of these great spots! :)

My first time I went to the Rowing Dock was to go paddle boarding, and I had a really good time!
The staff was very helpful, but they did fail to mention how much extra we would have to pay if we exceeded our one our time limit. It is hard to keep track of time when your out on the water.
I went on a weekday, so the price for a SUP for an hour was about $ 15 and I ended up having to pay an additional $ 7 for going over the time.
It was a great experience and I would love to do it again, especially there. They had parking and they would hold onto your car keys and wallets. I just think they should have some sort of student discount, or if they do they should advertise it more.
If you ever want to try paddle boarding this is a cool place to try it out, especially for their weekday prices.