Lake Amistad in Del Rio, Texas

[Guest]

Have any of you been to Lake Amistad in Del Rio Texas? I am looking at renting a houseboat for a few days this summer. Any feedback on the Lake, renting a houseboat there or in general? Looking at a 59ft boat that sleeps 10. I plan on taking the Tige with me.

[kana12]

i havent been but cant wait until i get the chance.. its amazing from the pics ive seen..

[Lucky 275]

I have a friend that has been there a few times. He loved it. I hear there is decent fishing as well.

[rsjtmann]

Water is so clear

The water is very clear and you can see 20 feet deep. Fisherman like it cause they can see the fish. It is a huge lake and has alot of coves you can sneak up into for skiing. I have been by it but never on it. I have a friend who had a place on it afew years ago. You will like it.

[Matt Garcia]

If you do go post up some pics. That is one lake I want to visit.

[Guest]

I think we are going to do it, June 11th - June 14th, just finalizing the peeps who are going. I am totally jazzed and we will take a ton of pics! It is not nearly as expensive as I thought it would be 4 days, 3 nights for a 59ft boat that sleeps 10 -12 is about $2450 and that is including tax. We are going to have 10, so that is $81 a person a night for 3 nights. That is the low season special, it will go up $408 after June 15th. Of course you have to add gas on top of that, I need to get the details on what that will cost...

[Paublo]

I've been on the Lake a few times. It is a nice big lake, not very many people and there are enough coves and fingers you can always find good water. Because of the location, you usually only see fishermen. It is suppose to be one of the best bass lakes. I didn't drive there from AZ just to check it out, but my son-in-law was stationed at Laughlin AFB (next to Del Rio) and bought a boat just to take advantage of Amistad. I went with them 3 times and each time we used a different ramp and saw a different part of the lake. Each was a little different but all were worth the trip. And like it was mentioned- the water was fairly clear and clean. Post pictures.

[Matt Garcia]

I think we are going to do it, June 11th - June 14th, just finalizing the peeps who are going. I am totally jazzed and we will take a ton of pics! It is not nearly as expensive as I thought it would be 4 days, 3 nights for a 59ft boat that sleeps 10 -12 is about $2450 and that is including tax. We are going to have 10, so that is $81 a person a night for 3 nights. That is the low season special, it will go up $408 after June 15th. Of course you have to add gas on top of that, I need to get the details on what that will cost...

Wow. That is decent. I researched the same thing for Lake Powell but it was way too expensive for us to make that trip.

I may have to hit you up if/when we decide to do something like that.

Sounds like a blast though.

[eaglites2005]

Definitely post some pics. I live about 7 hours away in Oklahoma and I am always looking for a good lake to experience. I want to figure out if it is going to be worth the drive. I am curious if there is some good water there or is it rough and not good for boarding?

[rpaxton]

Austin,

Over the past 5 or 6 years the lake has gotten fairly low. Recently, however, the level of the lake is returning to normal. If you want to wakeboard on Amistad I really recomend you go back into the devils river. Anchor that massive houseboat and take the Tige up the river. When you get back far enough you are protected on both sides from the wind and it makes for some EXCELLENT wakeboarding. (This is where I took my first ride on a wakeboard)

One note of CAUTION! Be wary of the bouys seperating the US and Mexico border. In the past it has not been a big deal, but I have heard that both the US and Mexico are starting to intercept, search, and seize boats that cross over the international lines. I suspect that they are searching and seizing boats that make shore in Mexico and take on a load of drugs.... but better safe than sorry!

One other thing to watch out for on that lake. If you see what looks like a bush or a tree with no branches.......TURN! That lake is crazy with low spots in the middle of the lake!

If you guys need a rental vehilce while in Del Rio let me know. Dad owns a car rental agency, I will get you the family special! If you have any more questions just hollar! If I don't know I can ask Dad.

[Lucky 275]

rpaxton.

off topic, but do you know the Stidhams in Del Rio. Jason and Russell? It's a long shot, but they were my fraternity brothers in college.

[Guest]

So this trip is now official! I reserved a 65 ft houseboat for June 11th - 14th. They were out of 59 ft and after freaking out for about an hour I called back and found out they have a cotsco discount that made the 65 only 300 more than the 59. Sold! I will take and post a ton of pics. I owe everyone some good ones as I have been on tigeowners for years and I don't think I have posted more than a handful.

rpaxton - I did see the lake was at normal full level, I was worried because the central texas lakes are so low right now and I was happy to see we will not have to deal with that on Amistad. Not sure how that worked out but I will take it! We will check out the Devils River, we plan on parking the houseboat on the Texas side in that general area. We are not going near the Mexico border, but that has as much to do with burning 20 gallons an hour driving these houseboats as anything else. I think we will have plenty to keep us busy on the Texas side. Thanks for the depth warning, I need to get a Topo map so I can look out for the shallow water. We are not going to need a car to rent, but how about a jet ski/seadoo? I don't see a rental available at our marina and we are curious how much one would be for 4 days, any hook ups on that?

I think I am going to start a new thread asking for houseboat tips now that this is happening, I know there are quite a few on here that have rented them.

[Matt Garcia]

Congrats! How many people and boats did you end up going with?

[Guest]

Matt - We are at 9 adults right now and looking for one more in our crew. The houseboat sleeps 10, it has 5 queen beds. 2 private rooms, 2 semi private with a curtain seperating them and one fold out couch in the main cabin area. They will allow 12 on that size boat so we could have 2 more with air mattresses if we wanted. We are one boat, my 22V and looking at renting a jet ski, maybe. The only boarders on the trip are myself and one buddy, they rest are just in it for the experience, so boarding will not take up a lot of time. I will be happy getting in a few morning sets and then chilling the rest of the day with maybe a surf set in there somewhere. We are only there 3 nights, 4 days, and most the day the first day will be blown getting to the spot to anchor and the last day will be blown getting back to the marina and driving back to austin, so we will only really have 2 full days. We will see if that is enough or not.

[rpaxton]

rpaxton.

off topic, but do you know the Stidhams in Del Rio. Jason and Russell? It's a long shot, but they were my fraternity brothers in college.

NO sorry, I don't know them off hand. I did not grow up in Del Rio. My family moved there while I was in college. Now dad may know them. He has lived there for 18 years.