Looking to spend some time with friends and family, where you can enjoy the wonders of the sea and the thrills of an amusement park? SeaWorld is your place! SeaWorld San Antonio is just a short 30-minute ride outside the San Antonio, TX metro area, slightly northwest of the famed River Walk. 

In addition to an up-close look at animals like killer whales, beluga whales, sea lions, penguins, and more, SeaWorld offers rides and amusements for the whole family. Whether you’re into extreme thrills, exciting water adventures, or rides for the youngest kids in your group, SeaWorld San Antonio has something for everyone. 

Like most theme parks, SeaWorld San Antonio has safety and height restrictions on some of its rides; these are listed below to help you plan and make the most of your trip.

We can help you save on tickets, tours, and hotels. If you purchase through some of the links below, we may be compensated. Thank you for supporting our small business! Our editorial guidelines.

Tip: Skip Lines With Quick Queue

Quick Queue is SeaWorld San Antonio’s premium solution to ride wait times — invest in this pass for the day and you’ll enter shorter, designated lines for select park attractions. You may also receive priority seating for some live shows at Orca Encounter, Dolphin Amphitheater, and Sea Lion & Otter Amphitheater.

Prices vary and can be as low as 19.99 per person per day, depending on the time of year you are visiting. You should decide if you need Quick Queue in advance, as only a certain number of passes are sold each day. 

If you visit at a busy time of year, want to see and do as much as possible or just hate waiting in line, I highly suggest upgrading your ticket to include the Quick Queue option to save time. You’ll pay a little more but wait a lot less.

I also have written extensively about how to buy SeaWorld San Antonio discount tickets from the Fun Card to tickets that include dining.

Top 8 SeaWorld San Antonio Rides

From the fastest, most modern ride to the newest wooden roller coaster in Texas, SeaWorld San Antonio has a ride for all you thrill seekers and adventurers. 

Steel Eel Roller Coaster

Height Requirement: 48 inches or taller
Ride Type: Roller Coaster – Extreme Thrill
Quick Queue: Yes 

Looking for an extreme thrill right from the start? The Steel Eel is it! Called a hypercoaster by SeaWorld, this ride is the tallest roller coaster in the park and has a vertical drop of 15 stories.

Followed by a series of camelbacks, riders are given the feeling of complete weightlessness. Much like the movements of an eel, this ride mimics the dynamic movements and speed of the sea animal it is named for.

The Steel Eel is visible throughout the park. In fact, you will walk right beneath a good portion of it. You can feel its energy and its great presence as you walk around. The overall joy and excitement emanating from its riders makes you want to be next in line for a turn. 

Great White Roller Coaster

Height Requirement: 54 inches or taller
Ride Type: Roller Coaster – Extreme Thrill
Quick Queue: Yes 

SeaWorld San Antonio Great White Roller Coaster
Great White roller coaster hurls down the track.

Have you ever looked at a great white shark, and felt amazed by the way they effortlessly slice through the water? Have you ever wished that you too could feel this sense of freedom? Well, this would be the ride for you.

With your legs dangling beneath you, riders will take on corkscrews and thrilling curves at 50 mph. You’ll experience 360-degree flips, and want to ride it all over again once you finally come to a stop. This ride is a lot of fun to watch up close from the ground, as it weaves dangerously close to spectators walking on the promenade. You’re close that you can see the excitement on riders’ faces. 

Wave Breaker: The Rescue Coaster

Height Requirement: 48 inches or taller
Ride Type: Family Ride, Roller Coaster
Quick Queue: Yes 

Guests on Wave Breaker, one of the best SeaWorld San Antonio rides.
Wave Breaker

This is SeaWorld San Antonio’s newest thrill ride and the first of its kind. The Wave Breaker is not just a ride, it’s an adventure and story all in one. You’ll board your very own jet-ski-style car. This adventure has riders set out on a quest to rescue a sea animal in danger. 

The ride starts by being launched 60 feet in the air and takes you along 2,600 feet of sea-rescue track. This ride has a height requirement of only 48”, making it a favorite for the families to enjoy together.

As the name would suggest, water is an element of this ride, however, it’s not a water ride, in the sense that you will get wet. The track is carefully designed to fly over the surface of water below, giving riders another level of fun.

Texas Stingray

Height Requirement: 46 inches or taller
Ride Type: Roller Coaster – Extreme Thrill
Quick Queue: Yes 

The Texas Stingray is the tallest, fastest, and longest wooden coaster in Texas. When you think of a classic roller coaster, this is it.

You can see this coaster from the parking lot upon entering the park. And you can hear its excited riders’ screams as they plunge 100 feet, with a max speed of 55 mph.

The Stingray has over 3,000 feet of track, packed with dips and dives, as it whips you around the turns. Hold on tight, this Stingray is on the move!

Riptide Rescue

Height Requirement: 45 inches or taller
Ride Type: Family Ride; Thrill Level – Moderate
Quick Queue: No

If roller coasters aren’t your thing, but you’re still wanting a thrill, Riptide Rescue will deliver. As a classic spinner ride, you will venture out buckled into your rescue boat or gondola, as they’re called.

From there you will soar through the sky on a simulated sea turtle rescue mission. The ride’s three mid-flying arms send you into the air, swooping and swirling, as you defend the sea turtles you’ve set out to save.

Each of the ride’s 12 gondolas seats two people, so you’re not alone on your mission. This high-flying ride will leave riders in a daze of whips and spins. And you’ll want to ride all over again once you’re back on the ground. 

Sea Swinger

Height Requirement: 48 inches or taller
Ride Type: Family Ride; Thrill Level – Moderate
Quick Queue: No

With your feet dangling beneath you, you are strapped into the Sea Swinger, by an over-the-shoulder harness. Here riders are seated in a circle, at most 16 at a time, with their backs to one another. Once the ride begins, the floor begins to move away, allowing for the Swinger to begin gaining momentum. 

As the ride starts to move, riders are moving in a pendulum motion. As this movement accelerates they begin to spin. The Sea Swinger climbs higher and higher with each pass through the bottom. Once the ride reaches the highest point, you’d think that you might flip completely over…but you don’t. At the climax you’re somewhat weightless, before gravity takes over again, and sweeps you back to the start. This ride is very exhilarating. It has it all, speed, spins, and heights!

Rio Loco

Height Requirement: 42 inches or taller
Ride Type: Water Ride; Splash Level = Soaked!; Kid-Friendly
Quick Queue: Yes

A Rio Loco raft spins under a waterfall at SeaWorld San Antonio

On a hot Texas day, a water ride might be exactly what you’re looking for to cool off some. Rio Loco or the Crazy River does just that. You’ll take your raft down the river, along with 8 other people, and navigate the twists, turns, and drop-offs that give this ride its name.

With a waterfall feature, you can only imagine what’s in store for its riders. If you guessed that you might get a little wet on this ride, well you’re wrong. You’ll get soaked on this one, but that’s what you’re looking for, right?! 

Journey to Atlantis

Height Requirement: 40 inches or taller
Ride Type: Family friendly; Water Ride; Splash Level = Soaked!
Quick Queue: Yes 

Riders get soaked by water on Journey to Atlantis.
You will get wet.

On one of the most popular and best SeaWorld San Antonio rides, you’ll be swept into the fabled story of Atlantis. This ride has it all because it’s part water ride and part roller coaster.

As you climb the first peak you have a 360 degree view of the park below. On your journey next you’ll be set upon a 10 story reverse camelback, which concludes with a wet and wild plunge in the lake below. 

Plan Your Day With More Tips

We can help you save on tickets, tours, and hotels. If you purchase through some of the links below, we may be compensated. Thank you for supporting our small business! Our editorial guidelines.

Arrive prepared for your day at the park with these quick tips.

  • Purchase admission in advance. Compare prices directly through SeaWorld or through our discount ticket site.
  • Download the SeaWorld San Antonio app to check wait times, live show times, the park map, restaurant locations and operating hours, and more information.
  • You can rent lockers to store valuables, change clothing, and other things.
  • The app will also help remember where you parked.

SeaWorld San Antonio Rides Frequently Asked Questions

How Many Rides Are at SeaWorld San Antonio?

There are 13 rides total at SeaWorld San Antonio. They range from roller coasters, and water rides to children’s rides and a carousel. 

Which Rides at SeaWorld San Antonio Are New?

The newest rides at SeaWorld San Antonio are  The Texas Stingray and Wave Breaker: The Rescue Coaster. The Texas Stingray opened last year and offers guests the opportunity to ride the tallest, fastest, and longest roller coaster in Texas. The Wave Breaker is unique in a way because rather than being strapped into a traditional seat, you’re straddling a jetski as you go on a mission to save a sea animal. 

Which Rides at SeaWorld San Antonio Are Water Rides?

These are the water rides at SeaWorld San Antonio:

How Many Roller Coasters Are There at SeaWorld San Antonio?

There are six roller coasters at SeaWorld San Antonio. These include:

  • Texas Stingray
  • Wave Breaker: The Rescue Coaster
  • Great White Roller Coaster
  • Steel Eel Roller Coaster
  • Super Grover’s Box Car Derby
  • Journey to Atlantis