“I had gone to Shane and talked to him about crystal kayaks, because I’d seen them in San Marcos,” Thigpen said. “I [also] wanted to bring paddleboards back. So we priced [the equipment] out, [and] went up and did the crystal kayaks on my birthday. [Afterwards] we walked right over to [Zelick’s Icehouse,] cracked a beer, and looked at one another, and we said, ‘We’re crazy for not doing this.’”
The background
Thigpen said the partnership began to form in 2017 when Shane Wolf was managing Rockin’ R River Rides. The company had a boat rental behind the Courtyard by Marriott and had recently lost its captain.
“Shane Wolf, who at that time was managing Rockin’ R, had said, ‘Hey, you want to come drive a boat for me behind the Courtyard by Marriott? I’ve got a rental back there, and I lost my captain, and I need somebody for the summer,’” Thigpen said. “I could use the extra cash, I have kids in school, [so I agreed.] [It was during my time as captain that] I discovered paddleboarding.”
Thigpen and the Wolfs formed PaddleTx in 2022 after Rockin’ R was purchased by new ownership. They started with six crystal kayaks and 10 paddle boards.
What they offer
Thigpen said PaddleTx stands out from the competition because of its customer service-oriented business model.
“We wanted to add benefit to the community and add benefit to clients,” Thigpen said. “For the clients, we were thinking of VIP transportation. Rockin’ R was doing it, [but] no one had ever really carried it around year-round. And so that’s one of the things we wanted to do.”
PaddleTx offers year-round kayak and paddleboard rentals, tubing services, shuttle transportation to and from nearby bodies of water, lessons and guided tours.
The business also hosts guided night tours on the Comal and Guadalupe rivers, using clear plastic kayaks equipped with LED lights. Thigpen said the tours let people view the river and its ecosystem in a way they never had before. Visitors tend to see beavers, nutria, crawfish and catfish.
Thigpen said the tours also help children disconnect from electronic devices and tune in to nature.
Additionally, PaddleTx provides local VRBO guests, or rental properties, with watercrafts tailored to their physical abilities, skill level and the body of water.
“When your people show up, we show up with the equipment. When your people leave, we leave with the equipment,” Thigpen said. “We’ve eliminated this headache for [VRBO owners,] and we’ve increased [the] level of service at your house.”
Thigpen said this system has been so successful that they have streamlined their website to make the process easier.
“We have a drop-down menu, [which] says, ‘Where are you staying?’ We have a list of all our properties, and they can go and pick [their address,]” Thigpen said.
PaddleTx also has regular pick-up times for several hotels, including the Courtyard by Marriott, Fairfield Inn & Suites New Braunfels and the Holiday Inn.
What else?
In June 2024, PaddleTx contracted with the city of New Braunfels to manage the Landa Park Putt Putt mini-golf course.
“[Managing the mini golf course] is a big personal thing for me. I played mini golf there when I was a kid in Landa Park,” Thigpen said. “The big thing that Shane and Nicole, and I always want to be is stewards. I want to keep [the course] beautiful and enhance it as much as possible and make it available to as many as possible for as long as possible.”
During the summer the course is open seven days a week. In the school year, the hours are adjusted to every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The course cost $10 for guests ages 11 and older, $8 for children ages 5-10, free for children ages 4 and under, with discounts for seniors, military and students.
Thigpen said if demand allows for it, they will expand the school year schedule to seven days a week.
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