Family Rafting Trips with REO
REO offers great rafting experiences that are ideal for families and children. Rafting combines the very best elements of a summer holiday: excitement, adventure, scenery, camping, great food. Rafting can also be a multi-generational trip. As many as three generations (grandparents, parents and children) have safely paddled down rivers together!Check out our Club REO all-inclusive family adventure vacations
REO provides family rafting trips on the Nahatlatch, Nicola, Fraser and Thompson Rivers. Our minimum age for whitewater rafting is 10 years. However, we do take children 6-9 years on the following trips subject to river levels and conditions:- Fraser River scenic float trip (Class 1-2); best in July & August
- Nicola River (Class 2-3); best May and June
- Nahatlatch River (easy routes on Class 3 rapids); best in July and August when the river water is warm and the air temperature is hot. In May and June, the Nahatlatch is high and wild so we do not recommend it for young children at this time.
Normally, our minimum age for Class 4 rapids is 14 years. River levels and conditions will be monitored by our senior staff and we will decide the best routes for rafts with children. The following rivers and sections have a minimum age of 14 years:
- Nahatlatch Classic (all Class 4 rapids)
- Nahatlatch Canyon (entire run)
- Stein River (entire run)
- What type of rafts are available?
- Which rafting trip is best for my family and what is the minimum age/weight to go rafting?
- How long have you been offering trips to families and what safety standards do you use on trips with children or older adults? An important question to ask your rafting outfitter is what types of rafts do they use (type of propulsion)?
The following types of rafts are available with REO:
Paddle rafts:
Each person in the raft gets a paddle and one professional guide who sits in the back calling out commands and steering the boat. This is the most popular means of rafting today, but does require the participation of everyone when doing rapids of moderate difficulty (Class 3 or higher). In Class 1 or 2 rapids, it is not so critical that everyone must be paddling. Younger kids could jump to the front of the raft in these rapids and just hang on. Paddle rafting is a true participation sport and paddle rafts are used on all classes of whitewater from Class 1-5. Paddle rafts are the preferred type of raft for most Class 3 and 4 whitewater trips. Paddle rafts can also do extreme whitewater as they are ideal on technical and steep rivers with an expert guide at the helm. Many of the Class 5 rivers that are run commercially use paddle rafts.Oar rafts:
Oar rafts are simply rafts with a large rectangular rowing frame strapped in securely to the raft, either in the middle or the back of the boat (stern). This frame will have a seat for the guide and two pins or oarlocks that support the oars. The guide will sit facing downstream and row through the rapids. The oars are quite powerful and the guide often does not need additional paddlers. However, on some rivers with Class 3 and 4 whitewater, participants may each have a paddle and the guide will call out commands for them to paddle. In this case, the company should use a stern-mounted frame so that all the paddlers are in front of the guide.- Age and experience of the family members
- Difficulty of the whitewater and special river hazards or features
- Personal preference for an active or passive trip
- Length of trip desired
Whitewater trips that feature Class 3 rapids have a minimum age of between 8 and 12. These age limits are based on REO's judgment once we know your situation. REO will also ask you the weight of your children since lifejackets have a weight rating. In our experience, children under the ages of 8 or 9 (usually less than 60 pounds), are not very good paddlers and thus should go in an oar raft or a paddle raft with other stronger paddlers. If your children enjoy camping, an overnight rafting trip would be a highlight of the summer.
Class 4 trips are best when your children are teenagers with a recommended age limit of 12 to 14 for more challenging rivers. Check to see if any special river hazards or features exist such as extremely cold water, log hazards, portages (carry around an unrunnable rapid) or other features that you should be aware of. A competent swimming ability is a must when running Class 4.
An important consideration in choosing your trip is how active you want to be. If you'd rather just sit and enjoy the scenery, then an oar or motor raft trip is the best choice. If you want to be an active participant and feel the reward of paddling the river, then a paddle raft is your best option.
Multi-day rafting expedition trips, usually using oar rafts, are an incredible family experience. Chances are you'll have miles and miles of floating, perfect for the guide to row you and your family while you relax, enjoy the scenery, float in the river, or try your hand at fishing. Motor rafts are an option on a few large volume rivers and one advantage is that they can speed up the trip during the calm sections. For example, motorized trips on the Grand Canyon are much shorter (7 days) than oar or paddle trips (up to 14 days or longer).
Why is company experience so important on a family rafting trip? More experience generally means better judgment on the river. River trips with young children should offer a little excitement but the trip should not scare them. Younger children have fun getting splashed on a Class 2 rapid and many Class 3 rapids are also appropriate. It is REO policy that only senior guides, those with 3 or more seasons of guiding, take families with children especially when the river has Class 3 or higher rapids. On any Class 2, 3 or 4 rapid, guides usually have many options in terms of how they run the rapid. Some routes are definitely more exciting and challenging and others are easier. Senior guides with more years of experience can best determine which route to take families with children.
In general, the outfitters on each river are the best judge of the type of trip that is best for you and your family. However, you should check with several companies because not all have the same standards of safety, customer service or experience on the river.
It makes sense to ask the outfitter how many years of experience their guides have or even request a senior guide for your raft. Some companies have such high turnover from year to year that many of their guides are new or even first-year guides. Others may employ guides with 10 seasons of raft guiding under their belt on rivers around the world. Again, these are questions that you should be asking particularly if you are rafting Class 3+ rapids.