Shanty Tubes

Amazing! Best experience ever !! Staff is my new family! If u come to Texas come here!!! The bessssssssstttt!!!

Arrive early. They need more people working the front counter. The system seems a bit disorganized. However, I like that they drive you everywhere you need to go and the tubes work just fine. Overall, a quicker check in would be nice but we enjoyed floating and it was a great experience. Also, they give discounts to law enforcement and you don’t have to pay to park.

+
Worthy of try once at least.
Cheap
Cold water even in hot day (100s)
Friendly
-
Unorganized
Cheap
No sense of water safety. You can experience helpless drowning scare and sensation. Could be dangerous.
Doubtful water quality.
Drunk people everywhere
The level of crowd depends on time.4:3– PM on Sunday was not bad at all.

Nope. Never again. Absolutely not.
It was busy this past weekend, I get it. But when you have 100 people waiting in line for over and hour for a tube, watching the other tube places across the street get their tubes in an orderly fashion and have a steady flow of happy floaters (hehehe, I know) busy is not an excuse you can have for a poorly run operation.
You go to their «shanty» and wait in a slow moving line to pay to rent your tube: 20 minutes
You then wait to get on a shuttle, even though the river’s entrance point is within visibility, about 30 yards away: 20 minutes
You ride the shuttle, pulling tubes for OTHER PEOPLE, to another «shanty 100 yards away to wait in another line: 10 minutes
You wait in this line to get a tube from a separate shuttle carrying more people and other tubes: 1 hour
As the shuttles pull up the employees are yelling at the misinformed hoards of people to back up so they can pull in, not paying attention to the people who just walked up going to the front of the line instead of the back, and chasing you down to cut old rope off of your tube.
Leaving:
Carry your tube up to a waiting area (I know you didn’t see the waiting coming, right?) and throw them in some crazy pile trying to figure out where you’re supposed to be: 10 minutes
Wait for shuttle back to the parking lot: 30 minutes
It was ridiculous. It was disorganized. It was my last time renting there. Live and learn, eh?

I was very disappointed in my experience here. I’ve been toobing the river for more than 15 years and I’ve never had to wait that long to not only just get a tube, but be picked up after.
I’ve been floating the horseshoe for the past 10 years. I like being able to get in and out right by where you get that tube, plus I think the water levels are usually higher and it’s a better float than River Road or the Comal. We went Saturday to float and I initially went to a different tube vendor, but told they were sold out. It was very busy everywhere so this just happened to be the next place and we have it a try. They said they had tubes so we went. However, after paying, we had to wait for more than 30 minutes to just get on a shuttle that would take us to get tubes. I didn’t understand this. One, why not get tunes right there. You are right next to a river access point. And two, they literally drove us 100 yards down the road. We could have walked.
Then we had to wait about 45 minutes to an hour to actually get a tube. So we finally got in the river after an hour and a half. Then when we got to the end it was a mess. Tubes everywhere. People waiting for shuttles. One actually showed up and was already full. It took a good half hour for a shuttle to show up.
Again, granted, it was very busy everywhere, but other places like Tube Haus and River Sports seemed to be moving people and tubes much more efficiently. I’ve gone on busy days before and this was the worst experience I’ve ever had. I would not use them again.

AVOID THIS PLACE don’t get ripped off
Such a horribly unorganized place to go. The lady who claims she owns this place really doesn’t know what she is doing. She will charge for anything and in anyway.
A lady and her grandchildren wanted to be able to go around the horse-​shoe again. The owner said they didn’t have the correct wristbands and wasn’t suppose to bring personal tubes on the shuttle so they need to be charged.
So many issues going on and the place was not organized. It’s poorly ran with someone who clearly can’t wait to nickel and dime you for anything.
Families were not told they’d have to be charged for parking by the person not by the car.
Families were not told they needed certain wristbands if they want to go again or longer.
Do not go to the shanty because this person who claims to own this place, doesn’t know what she’s doing.
She will trap you and try to charge you for anything she can.
Her employees weren’t knowledgable in anything this owner was trying charging everyone for. The employees were apologizing for the owners poor skills in running the shanty.
AVOID THIS PLACE don’t get ripped off

Get ready to lower your expectations if you come here. We camped here and the camp sites were sparse and the showers and bathrooms were very «shanty» like. I won’t be roughing it here again. We camped in a tent, but apparently their cabins do not have showers in them because there was a bit of an issue sharing the bathroom/​shower with another huge family. There are only supposed to be 2 people per cabin, but this family had to have had at least 6 people in one cabin. Oh well… we shant be returning here again!

First of all, Armadillo Tubes is no more. They were sold/​bought out/​absorbed by SHANTY TUBES. One «front desk» phone number goes to a lady who has no affiliation with this company, and the other goes to a guys cell phone. My only guess is that the previous Armadillo Tubes owner gets kickbacks still when people show up asking for Armadillo Tubes. When we got close to the river, we got a text from the main phone number saying «Call 830−964−3990. Tell them Armadillo sent you.» Very Shady and was NOT what I was look for. Especially when we spent 30 minutes driving around — looking for a business that no longer existed.
But alas… we went to Shanty Tubes, and it was pretty decent. Good prices, very open and relaxing, and the river was great. The shuttle back and forth was a nice touch.
Shanty Tubes gets a 4, and Armadillo Tubes gets a 2.

My brother is in the military and my whole group got a discount even though he wasn’t there. The lines weren’t long, the driver of the shuttle and the clerk were friendly and cheerful and the walk back to the store wasn’t long. Though the last part of the river was hard to maneuver, that’s not their fault.

It is a run down place, but the people are wonderful. We stayed at Canyon Lakes Resort and they drove out and picked us up. They do not have a minimum number of people that are required for pick up, like Whitewater Sports does. The driver was very friendly and very funny.
The camping facilities are not the best, but it is camping… so who cares.
The tubes are just traditional ones, so nothing special there either.
I have floated with them twice and will be floating with them again in a few weeks. I can’t wait!

Shanty Tubes? More like Shitty Tubes.
My group only came here because the other places up the road were completely sold out… I suppose this should have been a warning sign.
First off, the line is horribly inefficient. Prepare to sweat in line with strangers as the overworked cashiers take their sweet time explaining every last detail to the each and every customer. I appreciate thoroughness but maybe just put it on a sign for us to read?
Your reward for enduring the long line is a scorching black tube, complete with metal protrusions to scratch up your washboard abs. Once you hop on your sweet ride, the river doesn’t move at all. We were in sight of this same bridge for the first two hours and the short walk back to the car afterwards confirmed exactly how far we did not move. We shan’t return.

We had some friends visiting from California on Friday. Our friends really wanted to go tube the Guadalupe, so my fiancée and I took them down to Shanty’s. We had called a couple places prior to see how long we could tube for (it was already 2 PM) and Shanty’s offered to take us on the Horseshoe twice, we asked about the water flow and water levels — they told us there was a nice, steady flow and the water level was not low due to the recent rains. My fiancée and I hadn’t been there before, but decided to give it a shot. When we got there, everyone was super friendly. We paid for the five tube rentals plus one water proof camera ($ 15) and everything came out to around $ 90. We were not given directions really, only told that the last exit was at the 2^nd bridge and someone would be there from Shanty’s. I am 6 months pregnant, noticed by the Shanty’s employees, but we weren’t told anything about the rapids, or that the water was so low in areas we would get stuck and have to hoof it over the slick rocks and through the low water or that at the end, we would have to walk up a large hill and hoof it to Shanty’s (about ¼ a mile away from where the last exit is). Rapids are pretty much expected, so I won’t fault them for that, but had we been told about the steep hill at the entry and exit, the long walk and crossing a busy road, or that it wasn’t as prego– friendly as some other tubing areas, we would have taken our business elsewhere.
We were taken over to an area to let us in the river, the let in area was right next to a busy bridge and we had to walk down a steep hill to get to the river. Once in, everything was hunky dory at first. There were some areas I had to get out and walk around the rapids, but that was ok with me and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves at those parts.
We were initially told it would take 2 ½ hours to complete the horseshoe, it took us 3 ½ since we all kept getting stuck in the low areas on the rocks and had to carefully walk across — during this time, two of our friends got injured from falling on the rocks — one of which had had ACL surgery 6 months prior. The low areas never came up when we asked them initially about the water level and flow of the river.
We got to the 2^nd bridge and we were expecting some type of sign showing it was the last exit or an employee waiting for us, but there was no signage and no employee. We didn’t get out right away because my fiancée was convinced we were at the wrong spot and it seemed pretty deserted, so he thought the exit was maybe further up. What tubing business doesn’t advertise the last exit or at the very least, have no employee waiting knowing there is no signage for customers to see? We went up a little bit until I convinced my fiancée to turn around since our 2 injured friends wanted to get out. We all paddled upstream and got to the bridge and looked around. As observed initially, no signs, no employee, only signs for other tube rental exits.
We were at the bottom of a big hill, so my fiancée went ahead and walked up it and to the bridge only to see we were about a ¼ of a mile from Shanty’s. We all had to carry our tubes, walk up the steep hill, injured and tired, partially through poison ivy, so we could run across a busy road and drop the tubes off at Shanty’s.
All in all, the employees seem friendly and the price is comparable to other tube rental businesses, but you don’t get the same level of service, at all, as you would other places. What is the point of paying about $ 17/​person for Shanty’s to take you what feels like a stones throw away from their business only, not even pick you up, but make you walk back tubes and all from below a bridge? For the money they get from customers, some signs for the last exit would at the very least be a small improvement.

best place to go tubing. family or friend owned but when you go they remember you and are always so friendly. they tell you exactly where to get off and you can go multiply times. and while we wait for the shuttle you can sit there and pop open a beer. i love this place and its only $ 13 to float… one of my favs

This place is totally unprofessional. A group of 10 of us went for my wife’s birthday and the first thing they said was that they didn’t have any tubes or parking and we should go across the street to Daisy Dukes where the have a lot of tubes and plenty of parking. There was parking, but no tubes.
We waited in line and paid for the tubes that were supposedly «on the way.» We waited an hour until a bus came and it took half our group to another location that supposedly had tubes, they didn’t either. After another hour of waiting for tubes at that location I walked back to Daisy Dukes and found the rest of my group sitting under a tree with a few other people. At that point my birthday girl wife was trying to get a refund so that we could go somewhere else to salvage the day. To no avail.
They gave us a rain check for nearly $ 200 and we left (which I think is illegal since they had absolutely no signage where we rented the tubes). Stay far away from this unscrupulous business!

The staff was extremely helpful, but they charged us a higher amount than what was quoted over the phone. They then tried to get us to spend more money on rafts instead of tubes. I didn’t appreciate that all too much.

So here’s how this year’s tubing experience went down for me:
Friend: I found a $ 2 off coupon for the tubing place.
All: Great!
/​we go in the morning. I look at coupon.
Me: Uhh, this coupon says it’s on the Guadalupe. Don’t we want to go to the Comal?
Friend: Wait, I thought it said Comal?
All: Ugh…
/​20 minutes after passing the Comal stop on the way to Guadalupe… we’re FINALLY there.
So besides the much longer drive (a river’s a river; there ain’t much difference), why the downgrade? While they were friendly up front, their directions were horrible, and really, besides a working tube, that’s all the service you’re really offering. The van (which literally broke down on the way – engine went out) ride is brief and takes you to… another company’s parking lot. And that’s it. No directions where to go; we had to actually ask the other company for where to go (as well as for bands to tie our tubes together). Ridiculous!
Doubly ridiculous was the fact that there were no directions at all after. The end of the horseshoe takes you to… another company’s pick-​up spot. So you have to walk back (about a quarter-​mile) to Shanty to drop off the tubes. Seriously, you couldn’t have told us directions beforehand?
Other than that, everything was kosher. Despite forgetting the coupon in the car, they gave us a «student» discount anyway. We also didn’t have a cooler, and the one they provided (extra $, of course) worked just fine. But seriously, next time, we’re heading back to the Comal.

should be called Sh##ty Tubes!
I went here for the first and last time on Sunday. They did tell us that the river was low and recommended that we rent tubes with a bottom.
What they didn’t tell us was that we would have to walk half of the river, there would be no signs posted where we were to get out, and that they don’t shuttle you back!!!
Our plan was to float the horseshoe portion of the Guadalupe twice but we were so frustrated by the time we got back to Sh##ty Tubes that we turn in our tubes, got in the car, and headed to Texas Tubes on the Comal!
Sh##ty Tubes is clearly more interested in making a quick dollar rather than having repeat business…