East Side Tubes

Tubing in town: Secret Beach becomes the newest floating destination

East Side Tubes Facebook

The secret's out about “Secret Beach” thanks to Austin’s first tubing and shuttle service on the East Side. For those who have never ventured to the hidden hotspot, Secret Beach is a stretch of undeveloped Colorado River shoreline — and it's is now a destination along the route outlined by East Side Tubes.

East Side Tubes owner Dan Walker, who also runs MOC Kayaks, decided to make Austin a tubing destination much like San Marcos and New Braunfels, saving Austinites the trip down south to the Comal and Guadalupe Rivers.

“I believe this will be a much safer alternative,” says Walker. “There’s a bus stop and people can take public transit to keep everyone off of I-35 going north or south that shouldn’t be driving.”

The starting point of the float is at East Side Tubes' store location on Red Bluff Road near Cesar Chavez and winds up at Montopolis Bridge where tubers can catch the shuttle back to their vehicles. Depending on if you’re a lazy floater or a swimmer, the one-mile float will take about one to two hours. Kids are welcome to float as well because the river is, as Walker calls it, very “lazy,” and they do offer tubes with bottoms.

East Side Tubes offers two options for those who want to float: either paying $15 for a tube and one shuttle ride back or $25 for unlimited shuttle rides for the day. The prices are somewhat higher than what you would find in San Marcos and New Braunfels, but for Austinites, the money saved on gas definitely makes East Side Tubes more affordable.

Walker offers a $5 discount if tubers bring back more trash than they took with them in an effort to keep the river and beaches clean and change the reputation that tubing has earned.

“I’ve had some people say, ‘Oh, I can’t go down there anymore because there’s tubing,’” says Walker. “People think tubing brings trash and trashy people, but it doesn’t have to be like that. . . [Tubers] often come back and say, ‘There’s no trash to pick up!’ — and that’s kind of the point.”

Get more information on this new essential Austin activity by visiting the East Side Tubes website.

East Side Tubes, tubing in Austin.

Photo Courtesy of East Side Tubes Facebook

East Side Tubes, tubing in Austin.

unspecified

High Score

Austin named the nation's pickleball capital in industry report

Photo by Henry Selis Photo

Other Racquet Social Club is back after city woes.

It's no secret that Austinites love pickleball. A new study proves just how much by ranking Austin the No. 1 city for pickleball in the whole country. Dallas and Houston also made the top 10 at Nos. 3 and 8, respectively.

The report was published by TeachMe.To, an online marketplace for learning sports (and sometimes music) from private instructors. It used data from its own platform, USA Pickleball, Places2Play, local pickleball associations, and more. It also referred to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association (SFIA), which named pickleball the fastest-growing sport in America, with a growth rate of 223.5 percent over three years.

Similarly, TeachMe.To ranked Austin as the fastest-growing city for pickleball, and citing this as the main reason for the overall title of "the nation's pickleball capital."

It name-checked the Austin Metro Pickleball Association (AMPA) — with approximately 3,000-3,500 members — and the Austin Pickleball League (APL), estimating that overall, "15,000-20,000 people play pickleball at least occasionally in the greater Austin area." About half of those players — about 8,000-10,000 people — play at least twice a month.

The report did not include gender data on Austin, specifically, but it did note that not only are two-thirds of pickleball players female; women's involvement in the sport is also growing 50 percent faster than men's.

New courts everywhere
This probably isn't a surprise to people who have noticed the number of courts opened around Austin in recent years. By 2024, TeachMe.To's data shows 32 dedicated courts in Austin, and thanks to with a utility rate of 92 percent it doesn't look like that'll be slowing down.

In the summer of 2023, the online booking platform Swimply noticed how many pickleball courts there were in Austin compared to such great demand, and added courts to its service. In fall 2023 and summer 2024, at least two important developments expanded that availability: Other Racquet Social Club opened as a friendly, country club-like neighborhood option, and national chain The Picklr announced it's bringing five locations to Austin and Round Rock.

Perhaps because Austin is such a food-obsessed city, there seems to be some growing opportunity for food and beverage hospitality around pickleball, too. Other Racquet recently started hosting the Bill's Dips food truck, a spinoff of the popular downtown restaurant Bill's Oyster; and a pair of bars with pickleball courts, Drifters Social Coffee & Cocktails and The Pickle Pub, also opened in South Austin this year, with strong online ratings already.

The trend has even reached into real estate (see this cute house with its own pickleball court) and inspired athletes to introduce similar sports to the local market, as in the case of the padel club Paddle39. TeachMe.To's report also mentioned tech companies adding pickleball to their campuses.

Aside from growth, the study also considered lesson activity (including information about teacher availability and diversity of clinic offerings), infrastructure, community vitality, the tournament scene.

Austin had the highest concentration of all the cities of players under 40 (65 percent), as well as the highest share of national lesson bookings. At 16.90 percent, that means about one in six of the pickleball lessons contracted through this platform were in Austin. Lesson demand, the report says, is growing 125 percent year-over-year.

Elsewhere in Texas
Dallas was No. 3 thanks in part to its "central location" according to the report.

"The city's 45 dedicated courts and 85 [percent] public accessibility rate have fostered one of the most active competitive scenes in the country, with 8,500 registered league players," it says. "The combination of strong tournament presence, extensive infrastructure, and a 112% growth in lesson bookings solidifies Dallas as a powerhouse in the national pickleball landscape."

Houston made No. 8 with an emphasis on integrating pickleball with other sports.

"The city's 22 dedicated courts have seen a 92% increase in lesson bookings, driven by innovative programming that includes the nation's first corporate league system," it says. "Houston's success in integrating pickleball into existing sports infrastructure while maintaining 72% year-round utilization demonstrates a sustainable model for rapid growth."

Overall predictions
After laying out data about the top cities in pickleball, the report made some predictions. As the Austin newcomer mentioned above believes, the report also thinks padel is the next big thing. It also guesses more cities will act like Houston by focusing on hybrid facilities.

It also expects to see an expanded professional circuit and mainstream coverage, more technology used on the court, a rise in the prevalence of young players, and more opportunities in corporate wellness and real estate. "Dedicated pickleball facilities will become as common as swimming pools in luxury developments," it says. Texans will be the judge of that one.

pickleball lists