Roller coaster Steel Eel at Sea World San Antonio, TX. It is visible for miles
Airtime on the hillsriders rate it 9.3 of 10 Jolt in each valleyriders rate smoothness 2.4 of 10

SeaWorld San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas

Steel Eel

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POV
Ride it: back row POV
Back row
wrapping around the side of the lake
What riders love
  • The airtime is sustained and intense, especially in the first half.
  • This is a very under rated airtime machine. I rode this over 10 times in one day and couldn't get enough.
  • The coast itself was a nice surprise. Plenty of airtime all throughout its layout.
  • The airtime on the first hills were crazy but the last hills gave me so much ejector my legs hurt (In a good way).
  • The first drop and hills send you flying and the return trip is full of good floater.
  • Insane amounts of airtime in the back row especially because of the long trains.
  • The weird, old fashioned, steel coaster airtime with a lap bar that sits inches above your lap is my absolute favorite type of airtime.
  • Due to the legendary Morgan lap bars, this ride has some very good airtime.
  • The ride ops did not staple so there was plenty of room in the lap bars which added to the fun.
Steel Eel Watch Performance Should I ride it? Where to sit Specifications Reviews Planning History

Watch POVs and more

Steel Eel Front Seat On-Ride 4K POV | SeaWorld San Antonio

youtube.com › JRM Vlogs

Steel Eel - SeaWorld San Antonio - Back Row (4K HD POV) - February 2023

youtube.com › ThemeParkMark

Steel Eel Roller Coaster On Ride Back 4K POV SeaWorld San Antonio 2024 10 18

youtube.com › JohnYChen

Steel Eel off-ride HD SeaWorld San Antonio

youtube.com › CoasterForce

Steel Eel Review SeaWorld San Antonio Roller Coaster

youtube.com › Coaster Studios

Steel Eel at SeaWorld San Antonio REVIEW - RREC ep. 54

youtube.com › Mostly Coasters

Steel Eel - Review (SeaWorld San Antonio)

youtube.com › Coasters N’ Things

Steel Eel at Seaworld San Antonio

youtube.com › Coaster Ghoster

Performance

Vs. other coasters at SeaWorld San Antonio

The first drop is great, the third air-time hill is really great, the turnaround/right-banking drop was solid and the rolling camelbacks are good.

Sean Reardon

The ride experience is buttery smooth, packs in a great dose of ejector airtime, and keeps its pacing throughout the course.

Elevator, Alarm, Coaster and Animation Productions

The first drop and hills send you flying and the return trip is full of good floater.

Chris Jones

Still, I thought it was enjoyable for what it was, the airtime was actually good though.

Christian Ortiz

I was expecting crazy ejector like people said but I got ok floater at best, and pretty much no airtime on most of the hills.

Carter Eckhart

Man, after re riding recently its a lot better than most think, its surprisingly butter smooth when not on a wheel seat but still.

CSX Railfan

The airtime is fun, but unfortunately each airtime moment is followed by a spine-slamming jolt as the train descends into each valley.

Coaster Nut

The airtime is great in both locations, but the back was extremely rough, especially considering how great the ride was in the front.

Matthew Ebert

The first drop has ejector like an rmc and the double hill is insane, then in the giant downward helix the positive force is pretty insane and also has a great head chopper at the end.

coaster land

Plenty of solid negatives and strong positives on the bottoms of the hills

CSX Railfan

The airtime is sustained and intense, especially in the first half.

Jack Jack J.

And the helix is bone crushing.

Coasters and Christ

I understand your complaints, but I can’t help but love Steel Eel’s aggressive nature.

@mysticmamba5133

Excellent airtime and laterals, good pacing, and a wonderful location.

Eric Esty

Still a crazy ride but gives out a little at the end with the smaller hills, but still easily the best at SWSA.

Dylan JM

It doesn’t feel particularly fast, but the first drop is fun and the airtime keeps it interesting overall.

Your Coaster Friend

Due to other newer attractions, this was a walk-on all day long, so we were able to get multiple rides, but stuck to the front after our first experience.

Matthew Ebert

I didn’t have anything but station waits even though they were running 1 train.

Connor Malone

The queue line is especially short with minimal theming.

Elevator, Alarm, Coaster and Animation Productions

Should I ride it?

Organize by

Where to sit

Front of trainBack of train

1
2
3
4
5
6

Car 1, the front: 3 of 4 riders who named a rowBack row: 1 rider

Riders who said why they pick the front: 3 because it rides smoother.

Specifications

150 ftHeight
150 Steel Eel 108 GreatWhite 100 Journey toAtlantis 96 TexasStingray 61 WaveBreaker:The Rescue
150 ftFirst drop
150 Steel Eel 100 TexasStingray 81 GreatWhite 58 WaveBreaker:The Rescue
65 mphTop speed
Steel Eel65 Texas Stingray55 Great White50 Journey toAtlantis50 Wave Breaker:The Rescue Co…44 065 mph
60°Drop angle
60°Steel Eel57°TexasStingraydashed line: straight down, 90°
0Inversions

What riders say

Praised for

Strong airtimeEjector airtimeFloaty airtime

Criticised for

Painful or bruising

This Morgan felt like a pre-computer design that is comfortable but still awkward with its transitions.

David, Captain Coaster review

My first ride was in the back and this ride was just uncomfortable going over the airtime hills.

Nick W., Captain Coaster review

First off, I had about 5 inches of room with that Morgan lap bar to truly experience the airtime.

Arrow Die-Namics, Captain Coaster review

This coaster has such strange track profiling- you slam into your seat after each airtime hill.

angela, Captain Coaster review

This thing is full of floater airtime in both the front and the back.

Erik C., Captain Coaster review

The airtime is fun, but unfortunately each airtime moment is followed by a spine-slamming jolt as the train descends into each valley.

Coaster Nut, Captain Coaster review

Photos

Steel Eel with its purple and yellow repaint at SeaWorld San Antonio
Wasurber, CC BY-SA 4.0
Steel Eel at SeaWorld San Antonio
Lonelysoulq (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0
Steel Eel at SeaWorld San Antonio
Rei at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
Steel Eel at SeaWorld San Antonio
Rei at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
Steel Eel at SeaWorld San Antonio
Wacky Windjammer, CC BY-SA 4.0
Steel Eel at SeaWorld San Antonio
Wacky Windjammer, CC BY-SA 4.0
Steel Eel at SeaWorld San Antonio
Wacky Windjammer, CC BY-SA 4.0
Steel Eel at SeaWorld San Antonio
Wacky Windjammer, CC BY-SA 4.0

8 photographs. Swipe or drag sideways.

Planning your ride

History and awards

March 6, 1999Opened

Built by D.H. Morgan Manufacturing.

3.5 gStrongest force on riders

Golden Ticket Awards, top steel coaster: ranked in 4 polls, 1999 to 2010

23rd1999, its first poll
47th2010, most recent

Sources

Restraint types: Captain Coaster. History, incidents and awards: Wikipedia. Specifications and status: Coasterpedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. From the park and maker: SeaWorld San Antonio guide. Also read: Captain Coaster (converted to feet and mph). Rider sentiment and performance scores: rider reviews on Captain Coaster, read and scored by AirtimeFever.

Photographs via Wikimedia Commons: Billy Hathorn (CC BY-SA 4.0), Wasurber (CC BY-SA 4.0), Lonelysoulq (talk) (CC BY-SA 3.0), Rei at English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0), Rei at en.wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0), Wacky Windjammer (CC BY-SA 4.0). Video thumbnails remain the property of their channels and link back to them.

Live wait times: Powered by Queue-Times.com.

What riders love, by theme (themes in the order riders pick them most on Captain Coaster): Elevator, Alarm, Coaster and Animation Productions, rider review on Captain Coaster: “This coaster feels like a high-speed dune buggy going…”; Jack Jack J., rider review on Captain Coaster: “The airtime is sustained and intense, especially in the…”; Noah Sanchez, rider review on Captain Coaster: “This is a very under rated airtime machine. I…”; Your Coaster Friend, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The coast itself was a nice surprise. Plenty of…”; Blake Stoudt, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The large and small hills throw you out of…”; Connor Malone, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The airtime on the first hills were crazy but…”; Chris Jones, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The first drop and hills send you flying and…”; Dylan JM, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Insane amounts of airtime in the back row especially…”; Arrow Die-Namics, rider review on Captain Coaster: “First off, I had about 5 inches of room…”; Beau, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The weird, old fashioned, steel coaster airtime with a…”; Inverted Thrills, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Due to the legendary Morgan lap bars, this ride…”; Erik C., rider review on Captain Coaster: “The ride ops did not staple so there was…”; Tobin Billings, rider review on Captain Coaster: “It’s a great looking ride too, wrapping around the…”.

The photo slider at the top and the fading stills: ThemeParkMark's back row POV, Steel Eel - SeaWorld San Antonio - Back Row (4K HD POV) - February 2023 (YouTube), and the page's Wikimedia Commons photographs.