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About Us

Founded in 1981, Vanishing Texas River Cruises is a leading nature attraction in the state of Texas, providing a unique Hill Country experience to more than 500,000 passengers over the years.

The cruise is operated and maintained by Captain Shawn Devaney, a decades-long Hill Country resident and an original founder and partner. The cruise originally came to life more than four decades ago thanks to Ed Low and Daniel Boren, both who have since passed away. Captain Shawn helped grow the cruise over the years into a premiere ecological experience in Texas and ultimately bought the business from Ed in 1999.

Since then the VTRC family has grown, offering private charters around Lake Buchanan, as well as kayak and canoe rentals. We also offer sunset cruises between Memorial Day and Labor Day — a perfect way to end a hazy Hill Country day.

With Captain Shawn at the helm and deckhand Tim Mohan offering voice-guided tours, you’ll be in good hands during any one of our numerous cruises.

Our Boat

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The Texas Eagle II is a custom-built tour boat with a passenger capacity of 149. The boat has a covered, open-air upper deck for ideal scenery watching and an enclosed lower weather deck with large picture windows, air conditioning, heating and restrooms. 

All of VTRC’s boats have the approval of the ship safety division of Texas Parks and Wildlife, meeting stringent requirements in design and construction. They also must maintain or exceed standards of safety equipment and fire fighting equipment required by TPWD and the Lower Colorado River Authority.

Before the boats leave the dock, the crew conducts a safety briefing which outlines the safety features of the vessel, what to do in case of an emergency, an introduction of the crew and their qualifications, as well as an outline of the course and activities planned for the voyage. Plus, the crew are always intermingling with customers and always have the opportunity to share information about the lake, the vessels, the community, history, wild life, even real estate prices which are all common inquiries from our guests.