Spotlight · Austin
Austin Bat Tours
Downtown Austin · Week of October 29, 2026
What do you make or do here that a neighbor walking past would never guess?
“We help people experience one of Austin’s most amazing natural spectacles, the emergence of the Mexican free-tailed bats beneath the Congress Avenue Bridge. What many people don’t realize is that we also offer several ways to experience them, including sunset kayak, stand-up paddleboard and boat tours. On a typical evening, you can be on the water watching nearly 1.5 million bats emerge from beneath the bridge as the sun goes down.”
What brought you to open where you did, and what is different about that spot now?
“Austin’s bats are what brought us here. One year, after spending 31 straight days photographing the Congress Avenue Bridge bats, I knew this was an experience worth sharing with visitors and locals alike. Austin has changed a lot since we started, but the bats still return each spring and summer and watching that first wave of bats pour out over Lady Bird Lake remains one of the most uniquely Austin experiences you can have.”
What is one other Austin business you send people to when they need something you don’t do?
“When people want to explore more of Austin beyond the bats and the lake, we often recommend Austin Welcome Center. Their tours offer a fun way to see and learn about Austin from a completely different perspective, and they’re a great complement to an evening bat tour.”
— Dan Travis, owner
The facts
Downtown Austin · Tour agency
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