Austin Duck Adventures

November 24, 2009 by Julia
Filed under day trips, travel, Featured, travel

A month of thanks giving: I am thankful that I am living and raising my family in the friendliest place in the US. I don’t care what anyone else says. No one is friendlier than a Texan.

We had family visiting Austin for the first time so we joined them on the Austin Duck Adventures. This is one those “touristy” things that we would never think to do on our own, but it really was fun in spite of the duck schtick. Everyone who has grown up in Texas knows how proud Texans are and how every child is subjected to at least two years of Texas history from K-12, and the Austin Duck Adventures is very much the embodiment of that Texas pride.

Each ticketed passenger receives a duck whistle.

For groups four and smaller, no credit card is necessary to make an online reservation. Groups that are five and larger require a credit card. We reserved our seats for a 2 pm tour from the website, paid $5 to park in the lot across from St. David’s Episcopal Church (7th and San Jacinto), and walked one block south to the Austin Visitor Information Center on 6th Street. This is where we paid for the tickets ($67.33 with a coupon for 2 adults and 1 child over 2) and boarded the Hydra Terra amphibious vehicle for the duck tour.

Cushions were on every seat, and flotation safety devices were near every seat.

Unlike the (only other) duck tour that we had taken in Branson, MO, the Hydra Terra vehicle used for the Austin Duck Adventures is not so much modeled after the World War II amphibious DUKW vehicles but an open air bus. The ladder to climb up and down is a little steep for young children, but it is otherwise a comfortable ride. Because my four year old is petite, she was unable to see over the siding, and when the vehicle was moving, she was too nervous to sit up on her knees to peer out. The vehicle was moving slow enough that I never felt like my children’s safety were compromised without a car seat, not that you could secure one on these seats.

The Austin Duck Adventures starts at the Austin Visitor’s Information Center, heading west on 6th Street, up Congress Avenue, and circled around the historic landmark buildings before heading west again on 6th Street. We traveled down Lake Austin Blvd to Lake Austin where the vehicle entered the water just past Hula Hut and made a loop around this part of the “lake.” We then headed east again along Lake Austin and 5th Street before diverging off towards Cesar Chavez and coming back closer to City Hall before arriving back at the the visitor’s center.

entry point at Lake Austin

Most of the narration gave history that one would find doing the downtown walking tour, tidbits about the who, when, and where of historical buildings and the personalities involved. Most of the adults were interested in the tour guide, but the younger children aboard were more preoccupied with pointing out birds and flags because really that is all that they could see from their vantage point. Because this is an open air vehicle, beware when sticking heads out of the bus for a look. There was so much construction downtown that street signs were just about the right level to smack someone upside the head if leaning too far over the siding, and at one point when the Duck vehicle turned up one of the streets, a tree branch accidentally whacked a passenger aboard. Luckily no one was hurt terribly, but it is still something to be mindful when aboard any open-air vehicle.

If you can get past the hokey duck jokes, all the quacking from the duck whistles given to each ticketed passenger, and the ticket price, the Austin Duck Adventures is not too shabby a way to learn about Austin and Texas history. I would recommend the tour for adults and children old enough to appreciate narrated history tours. I am not sure that the $15.95 ticket price was worth it for our 4 year old as all that she seemed to have gotten out of this tour was a duck whistle and “The bus could swim in water!” Because this is an open-air vehicle, whatever is the outside temperature is what you will be experiencing so dress appropriately.

If you are a local, even if you do not do the Austin Duck Adventures, it is worth it to stop in at the Austin Visitor’s Info Center if you happen to be in the area. I always forget about all the coupons and deals that can be found in the pamphlets and brochures at Visitor’s Centers.

Ticket prices: