San Antonio: Rio San Antonio Cruises (July 2013)

My spouse and I took a 40-minute narrated cruise on the river in early July 2013. We had investigated river cruises online before we arrived in San Antonio, and it seemed that there was more than one company providing the cruises, but that is not the case - one company owns and runs all the boats.

The cost is $8.25 per adult, and you can purchase tickets at any of three locations along the Riverwalk; credit cards are accepted. The booth across from the Hilton Palacio del Rio looked just about ready to open after extensive renovations; when we visited, we had to purchase our tickets at the street level because the river area was closed during construction. Supposedly, the new ticket area will also feature public restrooms, which will be a welcome addition to the Riverwalk. The main path of the standard cruise does not include the museum reach area - you need to take a water taxi to that section (the taxis look just like the other boats, however, they will be much less crowded, and they fly a yellow-and-black checkered flag). The boats are a bit crowded, and seating is cramped (seats face each other), so you will definitely get to know your neighbor. You may want to go very early in the day such as when the boats start running (which we think is 9:00 am), so that your boat will not be as crowded as it could be at peak times. The boats are open-topped, so be sure to wear sunscreen if it is sunny day.

We enjoyed the cruise and thought it was well-worth our time and money - we would have liked for it to be even longer, though, and extend through more of the river. We took our cruise later in our stay, but we wish that we had taken it on our first day in San Antonio in order to give us a better introduction to the scope and size of the Riverwalk area.