Well, I just got home from taking the family on a vacation through central Texas. During this surf starved season, it was appropriate to book some sessions at these two parks. Here is a review from a 200#, 45-year-old 30+ year Texas surfer. As this was really a family vaca, I got shot down on bringing my own board from my crew as it would be in the way inside the van that doesn’t have racks.

Nland – Super mellow vibe, friendly staff that seemed to go out of their way to increase the stoke factor of the folks that are there learning to surf and riding the “bay wave”. It is obvious that this crowd is funding the place as it was very crowded on both sides.

Great selection of rentals. Went with a 8-0 Firewire for $20/ hr.

1st day. West side – 4 surfers on the “reef”. Pearled my first 2 waves. After chatting with a surf coach, she told me to stay as close to the fence as possible while paddling for the wave, then as soon as you feel the wave at your feet clock the board about 30 deg away from the fence and go. This was great advice, I was catching every wave afterward. Its important to read the other surfers the water. If they just can’t figure it out or go straight, then you sit in the mid-section and grab their scraps, this greatly increases wave count. If you hustle and the right folks are in the pool with you, you can almost catch every wave that plows down the line. This day the wave was solid and felt like a good chest-head high ground swell, I was super stoked!

2nd day. East side – 3 surfers on the “reef”. I’m not sure what happened, but it seemed to be more of a mushy wave this time and not as big. They were having a kids surf camp in the “bay wave area” and I couldn’t tell if they toned it down to accommodate that or if the west side is just better. I still had a blast and left with noodle legs after an hour.

BSR – Hard to explain the place without pics, but I’ll try. This place it out there! I mean you have a solid wakeboard cable park with a blend of talented wakeboarders, wannabe’s in skinny shorts (yeah, it’s a thing now if you have a man bun) that fall right after take off then scream when the turtles come close to them and the 20-something hotties watching it all go down. Then you pass the lazy river where all the fat ass drunks are complaining about how expensive everything is. The waterslide that seems to be the most popular and also the most painful for the drunks that just got out of the lazy river. Then the surf park, it’s the real deal. I booked 2 days of the intermediate sessions. Rental boards (5-2 – 6-0) were geared for the lightweight ripper surfing the advanced sessions, nothing in the “big guy thruster” zone. So, had to ride a 7-0 foamie at $25/ hr.

1st day. When I got there, they had the beginner session going. Unlike Nland, this place seems to profit off of folks that already know how to surf so not much instruction was being given to this group. Be sure to watch the vids on the BSR website that Cheyne M. put out, he explains everything and what to expect. When my first hour started, most guys in the group had no clue what to do as they didn’t watch the video before coming. There were a couple of guys that have been before and were giving tips. They shoot 3 waves every few minutes. The 3 waves are a little different. 1st wave – somewhat mushier and you need to be about 10’ off the wall to catch it. 2nd wave is the easiest to catch and gets hollow about mid way. 3rd wave is similar to #2 but has a section that throws about a 10’ section that is a makeable barrel. All waves are about chest high. Its up to you to group up with a group of 3 surfers and decide who is taking 1,2,or 3 wave. Be careful who you pair up with because if they don’t catch the wave or fall, they can get in your way. I paired up with the wrong folks so took wave 1 for most of the session. If you ride the wave to the end, by the time you make it back to the lineup, it will be your turn again.

2nd day. Way better than the 1st, the surfers in the pool were scattered so you weren’t with the same group of 3 the whole time. This time I caught a lot of 2 and 3 waves which seem to break with more power. Think chest high clean Gorda. Was a blast even on a foamie and was worn after the sessions. Stayed long enough this time to check out the advanced sessions. Most guys didn’t make the drop and if they did, got shoved in white water. There were 2 guys out of the nine that could actually surf this wave. Cheyne Magnusson and a couple of others were just sitting inside on the wall catching all the missed waves and absolutely destroying them. There were coaches in the water for the advance giving tips on where to line up and catch the wave. Bottom line is that the BSR wave had a real ocean wave feel about it. I'm stoked on going back soon with my own equipment. My recommendation would be to book the intermediate session first even if you are a veteran surfer.

Sorry, no pics as I was solo at the parks and left valuables locked up in the parking lot.