The San Marcos River played host Saturday to more than 60 canoes and kayaks with close to 120 participants for the Jr. Texas Water Safari. The race started at San Marcos City Park and continued through Rio Vista Park in route to the finish at CR 1977 bridge in Staples. The canoes ranged from lightweight plastic solo boats to aluminum six person boats.
The Jr. Texas Water Safari covers the first 16 miles of the full Texas Water Safari, which also starts in San Marcos.
Called “The World’s Toughest Canoe Race” on their website, the full Texas Water Safari is 260 miles long, starting at Spring Lake at the Meadows Center, joining the Guadalupe River in Gonzales, then traveling all the way to where the Guadalupe River empties into San Antonio Bay in the Gulf of Mexico, and finally ending in the town of Seadrift on the coast.
“The clear waters of the San Marcos River and the beautiful, wild stretches make racing the river an amazing experience,” said Race Director David Kaiser. “The River is technical and has a lot of obstacles in the water that we call ‘boat eaters,’ especially since the water is running lower.”
One of the most interesting parts of the race for spectators is watching participants take their boats out of the water and around potentially treacherous obstacles such as the rapids at Rio Vista Park, a practice known in the canoe- racing world as “portaging.” Several of the participants in the larger aluminum boats chose to bypass the rapids, leading to a crowd of frontrunners exiting the River in front of Ivar’s Pub.
“The first drop at Rio Vista is very large and tends to capsize boats, said Kaiser. “So many people will portage the first dam, then run the other two. Another consideration is where you are in the pack of boats. If there is a traffic jam going over the first drop, it’s a smart move to just run around.”
The 2025 Jr. Texas Water Safari winners were Chris Issendorf and Ian Rolls, with a time of 2:02:28. The full Texas Water Safari takes place every year on the second Friday of June. In 2026, the 63rd Texas Water Safari is scheduled for June 12.
The Jr. Texas Water Safari is a good way for novices to decide if they are ready for the full Texas Water Safari, Kaiser said. ‘Many prospective teams use the race to gauge their interest for racing in the big race. It’s very easy to paddle slowly with the river all to yourself, and it’s an entirely different skill set to paddle as hard as you can with other boats around.”
The first Texas Water Safari was started in 1963 by Frank Brown and Bill “Big Willie” George of San Marcos, Kaiser said. “This race is a true test of endurance, fortitude, and courage. It attracts people looking to see what they are made of and when they finish they realize they were asking the wrong questions...the experience has a way of putting your life in perspective.”
