Kayak the Rio Grande

Guided excursions, all equipment & gear provided. Fees start at $20/per person (based on group size). River trips from 2 hours to all day excursions. Kayak/fish/swim/beach picnic packages. Morning and afternoon departures Wed – Sun. Hotel pick-up.

We also offer custom tours to meet your group’s thirst for nature, culture, history, architecture, art, and culinary discovery. Something for everyone in Laredo!

Call 956-209-1879
Reserve today!

Paddles to the People!

A Two-Hour River Trip

The Rio Grande is one of America’s greatest rivers. “It is the most remote river in Texas, and is one of the very few true wilderness trips available in the United States.” according to the Southwest Paddler.

Big River Outfitters offers hotel pick-ups for visitors, and we proceed directly to the river. Locals save money by meeting us at our office at the Rio Grande Plaza, where coffee and food are available at the Plaza Club.

Laredo’s section of the Rio Grande is a peaceful and easy-flowing 6-mile stretch of gentle current, with several Class I & II rapids, wide turns, and a precious tributary. Your fun begins at the largest sports facility in Laredo, Father McNaboe City Park. Paddlers are introduced to the river with a brief paddle upstream for a refresher course on kayaking basics.

Two miles (35 minutes) from this put-in is Manadas Creek, a shaded tributary full of turtles, towering cliffs with groundwater seeps, and more dragonflies than you can count. Manadas is a 15-minute respite (unless you want to picnic on the water, away from the big river current). We usually enjoy an upriver breeze - nature’s air conditioning - as the wind comes off the water.

The next landmark is Laredo’s drinking water purification facility at four miles (1.5 hours) into our journey together. The closer we get to “Los Dos Laredos”, the more families can be found picnicking, fishing, or swimming on Mexico’s shore. We often pause for swimming from our kayaks or simply floating to enjoy birds, butterflies, and observations from the river.

At six miles (two hours) we approach windmills at Laredo Community College’s Lamar Bruni Vergara Environmental Science Center. Here we head toward the U.S. shore for take-out. Our driver waits to take you to the Environmental Science Center for interpretive exhibits of the watershed’s ecology (if scheduled) or directly to your hotel.

Locals are returned to the Rio Grande Plaza, where we often linger over cold beers and snacks at the Plaza Club, where the pool overlooks the river and the footbridge to Mexico.

Call us at 956-209-1879 for more information!