Lake Travis Glossary | Devil’s Cove, Hippie Hollow, Sometimes Islands & More

Devil's Cove

Devil's Cove is the iconic centerpiece party anchorage on Lake Travis, tucked into the Hudson Bend peninsula on the south side of the lake. It is the cove every Austin party-boat reviewer mentions and the default Saturday-afternoon destination for most captained charters out of Anderson Mill Marina. Premier captains run a 15-minute cruise across to Devil's Cove, anchor in the protected pocket, and the boat becomes the centerpiece of a floating block party with neighboring charters tied alongside. Expect music, swim platforms in use, and a dense Saturday scene from May through September.

Hippie Hollow

Hippie Hollow is the clothing-optional county park on the south shore of Lake Travis — the only legally clothing-optional public park in Texas, operated by Travis County. Boats anchor offshore but cannot tie up to the shoreline itself. Premier captains route around the Hippie Hollow zone unless a private adult group specifically requests the pass, and the captain runs the audio at conversation level on the approach. The sightline is narrower than guests expect; the cultural reference does most of the work.

Party Cove

Party Cove is the generic Lake Travis term for any of the rotating anchor pockets where Saturday-afternoon charters cluster. Devil's Cove is the headline party cove, but captains also rotate through Sandy Creek, Starnes Island side, and the Comanche Trail anchorages depending on wind, water level, and crowd density that day. The Premier captain picks the cove the morning of based on real-time conditions; planners do not need to specify a cove on the booking form.

Sometimes Islands

The Sometimes Islands are a pair of low limestone humps in the middle stretch of Lake Travis that surface only when lake levels drop below 670 feet — drought-condition territory. They earned the name because they appear in dry years and disappear under 30 feet of water in normal pool. They are not a swim destination; they are a visible drought marker. When captains point them out from the upper deck, the takeaway is the lake-level story, not a cove anchor option.

Pace Bend

Pace Bend Park is a 1,520-acre Travis County park on the west arm of Lake Travis with a peninsula of cliff-jumping shoreline and several day-use coves. Anderson Mill captains can route a charter past Pace Bend on a longer 6-hour itinerary, but the cruise time eats the cove block. For shorter 4-hour Saturday charters Pace Bend stays a destination for self-drive groups out of the west-shore launches, not the standard captained itinerary.

Anderson Mill Marina

Anderson Mill Marina sits at 13993 FM 2769 in Leander, on the north shore of Lake Travis roughly 25 minutes from downtown Austin via 183 N. It is the only marina Premier Party Cruises operates from — the entire fleet (Day Tripper, Meeseeks, The Irony, Clever Girl) lives here, the captain pool reports here every morning, the parking lot is free, and the dock has no stairs between car and boat. ADA-accessible boarding is standard. The marina is the practical starting point for 80% of downtown-Austin party-boat charters.

BYOB

BYOB on Lake Travis means bring your own beverages — every captained party-boat operator on the lake runs the BYOB format because Texas alcohol code does not let the operator sell drinks on board. Premier provides the cooler stocked at the dock and the ice (additional bagged ice is BYOB); guests bring the beer, wine, seltzers, and mixers. Cans and plastic only. Party On Delivery (Premier's sister company) pre-stocks the cooler 30 minutes before boarding for groups who would rather skip the HEB stop. Glass is illegal lake-wide.

Cans Only

Cans only is the BYOB rule of thumb on Lake Travis: aluminum cans and plastic bottles are legal, glass is not. The rule is statewide for any vessel under power on Texas inland waters and is enforced by TPWD game wardens on Saturday patrols. Premier deckhands check the cooler at the dock; any glass gets transferred to plastic or stays in the car. The rule is not negotiable and is the single most common violation that gets first-time charters a verbal warning from a passing patrol.

Mansfield Dam

Mansfield Dam is the 278-foot concrete dam on the east end of Lake Travis that creates the lake itself, completed in 1942 and operated by the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA). Captains running out of Anderson Mill cruise past the dam wall on the way to most south-shore coves and again on the golden-hour return — the dam wall plus the late-afternoon light is the most-photographed backdrop in the Premier review dataset. The dam also operates the flood gates that determine lake level on a given weekend.

Starnes Island

Starnes Island is a small mid-lake island on the north arm of Lake Travis, a 20-minute cruise from Anderson Mill. It serves as a quieter alternative anchorage when Devil's Cove gets dense — captains drop anchor on the lee side, run the swim platform, and let groups swim a short loop around the island. Starnes is the Premier go-to cove for family-reunion charters and corporate offsites that want the lake without the Saturday crowd.

Comanche Trail Park

Comanche Trail Park is a Travis County park on the south shore of Lake Travis with a short shoreline stretch and a popular day-use cove for self-drive boaters. Captained Premier charters do not anchor at Comanche but the captain may point it out on the cruise as a reference point. The park is more relevant for guests who plan a separate land-based lake day before or after the boat charter — picnic tables, restrooms, no boat ramp but plenty of shoreline.

Travis Lake Boat Co (legacy)

Travis Lake Boat Co is a legacy reference name some Austin planners still type into search when researching Lake Travis charters — it predates the current operator landscape. The name appears in older blog posts, Reddit threads, and event-planning checklists. Today the active captained operators on Lake Travis are Premier Party Cruises (Anderson Mill, the most-reviewed fleet) plus a handful of smaller south-shore operators. If a planning document references Travis Lake Boat Co, treat it as a search-history artifact, not an active booking option.

TPWD

TPWD is the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the state agency that licenses commercial boat captains on Texas inland waters and operates the game-warden patrols on Lake Travis. Every Premier captain holds an active TPWD commercial captain license, which requires documented experience hours, an annual safety review, and a clean incident record. TPWD wardens enforce the BYOB cans-only rule, life-jacket requirements, and capacity limits. The license is the regulatory baseline; the 7-year average tenure is what actually drives the Premier safety record.

Captain's Briefing

The Captain's Briefing is the 4-minute pre-cruise safety walk-through every Premier captain runs at the dock before the boat leaves Anderson Mill. The captain covers life-jacket locations, the no-standing-on-the-bow-underway rule, swim-platform entry and exit when the boat anchors, overboard recovery (the captain manages it, not other guests), and how to flag the captain from the back of the boat. Briefings are not optional, never skipped, and never rushed — even for repeat groups, even for adults-only bach charters, even when the calendar is tight.

Wake-Wake Zone

A wake zone (or no-wake zone) on Lake Travis is a marked stretch of water — usually near marinas, narrow channels, or the dam approach — where vessels must operate at idle speed to minimize wake impact on docks, swimmers, and shoreline. Premier captains idle through the Anderson Mill no-wake zone on departure and return, then accelerate to cruising speed once the buoys clear. The wake zone is also why the boarding and disembark blocks of the charter feel slower than the open-lake cruise — by design and by regulation.

Looking at the bigger picture?

For the full Lake Travis trip plan see /lake-travis-guide. For Devil's Cove specifically see /devils-cove-guide. For the BYOB rules and what to pack see /boat-drinks-byob-guide and /what-to-bring-on-a-party-boat. To book the captained Lake Travis charter direct, see /private-cruises.

Frequently asked questions