If you’re an Austin local or just visiting for the weekend, the Bat Boat is a must. It’s a tad bit corny–think a bunch of people dancing to Party In The USA on the top deck of a pontoon at 7pm–but it’s a whole lot of fun.
My friend Brittany and I have wanted to do one of these tours for years, but never seemed to find the right time! It was either too hot, the boat was sold out, one of us has a previous engagement–so many things. We finally just picked a day, bought tickets and put it on the books.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Tickets for the boat are $39 and you can buy them here. There’s typically 100 spaces per boat and they run these tours from 6:30-8:30pm every other Tuesday night. If you can’t make a weekday work, or if you’d just prefer to cruise on the weekend, they do a brunch boat as well for $49! You can find those tickets here.
The boat leaves from right outside of The Hyatt Hotel in Downtown Austin and there’s plenty of parking nearby and at the Austin American-Statesman office. You’ll meet at the Yeti store around 6:15pm and walk over to the boat as a group!
WHAT’S INCLUDED?
The ticket price may seem a little steep, but it includes the two hour boat ride, dinner {typically nachos and pizza from Via 313-NOM} and all the alcohol your little heart desires. Our boat had Deep Eddy vodka drinks, wine, sangria and beer, so it was a pretty good spread and there was something for everyone.
The boat was a double decker and so the bottom floor was where the food/drinks/supringly clean bathrooms were and then upstairs was the DJ and main viewing area.
Quick Pro Tip: They’ll put the pizza {or dinner} out downstairs right as you board the boat. Chances are you’ll already be on the top deck with a beverage, but don’t pull a, “I’ll just wait for the line to die down” move. Go get yo pizza because it goes fast–we learned the hard way. RIP delicious VIA.
WHERE DOES THE BOAT GO?
Once you have your food and drinks, you can chill on the top deck or at the tables on the bottom. The boat will go up and down Lady Bird Lake for about an hour and a half and then it’ll park right by the South Congress bridge so that you can see the bats.
We saw zero bats on our trip, they were being super stingy that night and didn’t come out, but it was still such a pretty view and we loved watching the sunset from the water!
FINAL THOUGHTS:
All in all, I would recommend this boat tour to anyone looking for something fun to do in Austin. It would work as a girls night out, date night, office party idea or even a great activity if you have family in town.
If you have any questions, feel free to comment below! I also linked both of our outfits for you. Britt’s little two piece polka dot set is serious #boatgoals.
