White Water Rafting Cairns

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White Water Rafting is one of the most popular adventure activities in Cairns. Not only does it provide adrenalin pumping action, but where better to get your thrills & spills than amongst pristine World Heritage Rainforest. This unforgettable backdrop is well worth the experience in itself!

There are two main rafting rivers in Cairns – The Tully and the Barron River. The Tully River is a full day trip with rapid grades ranging from 1 – 4. The Barron River is a half day trip more suited to beginners, those who are a little less confident in the water, families, or those short of time.

We have the best climate, weather, and with the Barron and Tully both being Hydro release rivers, water levels are guaranteed year round.

The Barron River half day rafting tour provides a fantastic introduction to White Water Rafting. Ideal for beginners, those who feel less confident in the water, or for those who are short of time. This fun-filled 2 hour trip will bring thrills & spills, and lots of laughter along the way!

Barron River begins its way on the Atherton Tablelands and flows towards Kuranda before descending down the 260m high Barron Falls and reaching the Cairns floodplains. The steep, narrow Barron Gorge is formed at the base of these falls. Much of the water that flows along the gorge is used to generate electricity at the Barron Gorge Hydroelectric Power Station. This is ideal for rafting, providing a consistent supply of water all year round.

Cairns is lucky enough to have the Barron River located just 20 minutes from the city, ideal for a half day of white water action. No experience is necessary to raft these grade 3 rapids.

The trip commences 100m south of the Barron Hydro Station. A short walk over the rocks is required to access the rapid section, and then the adventure begins! Enjoy up to 2 hours of white water rafting grade 2-3 rapids. You will discover rapids such as ‘Rooster Tail’, ‘Mother in Law’, ‘Cheese Churn’ and ‘Hells Gate’ plus experience the meaning behind their names!

Tully River Rafting is regarded as the best rafting in Australia. Experience grade 3-4 rapids and stunning views of world heritage-listed rainforests of the Tully Gorge National Park.

The Tully River is located about 2 hours south of Cairns, be prepared for an early start, pick-ups begin at 6:00am from Cairns. Please make sure to enter your hotel name into the booking form.

On the way to Tully your guide will conduct a safety briefing providing clear instructions on how to navigate the rapids.

After a quick stop for breakfast (own expense), you’ll then arrive at the river, ready to get your kit on.

Raging Thunder has over 30 years experience on the Tully River and a 100% commitment to white water rafting safety

Each raft at the Tully river is controlled by a highly trained river guide, who teaches you the correct techniques during the day, and who will share with you the history and wonders of this magnificent landscape which few get to see.

The Tully River is rated a Grade 3-4, which means there are some exciting rapids and guaranteed water levels all year round. It really is a very memorable, fun day with the World Heritage rainforest providing an unforgettable backdrop.

Far North Queensland is an awesome place to go rafting. We have the best climate, weather, and with the Barron and Tully both being Hydro release rivers, water levels are guaranteed year round. White Water Rafting also provides a great opportunity to view World Heritage Listed rainforest from a different perspective.

Barron Gorge National Park and Tully Gorge National Park are both situated within the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area, meeting all four natural criteria for World Heritage Listing status. Your guides are environmental stewards who will share an appreciation for the importance and exceptional natural beauty of this region.

You will definitly get wet so bring your swimmers, ideally board shorts are recommended and make sure you wear secure footwear such as running shoes or sandals (that you don’t mind getting wet). Cameras, watches and jewellery should be left behind otherwise there is a high chance of losing them if you fall out the raft.

Professional photos are taken during the day available to purchase and download, so you can show off your hero shots to friends and family. Go Pro helmut mounted video cameras are also available to hire so you can keep the memories in real time action.

Please Note:
Please remember to remove any jewellery before white water rafting.

TULLY RIVER RAFTING
The full Day Tully River experience with Raging thunder has different times depending on the season.

Full Day 6am – 6pm Seasons
February to Mid May
October to November

Cairns: From 6am – 6pm
Mission Beach: From 7.45am – 5pm
Feluga: From 8.45am – 4pm

Full Day 10am to 10pm Seasons
Mid May to September
Decemeber to January

Cairns: From 10am – 10pm
Mission: Beach From 11.45am – 9.15pm
Feluga: From 12.45pm – 8.15pm

BARRON RAFTING
Departs Cairns: 2:00pm
Returns Cairns: 6:00pm

Departs Port Douglas: 1:15pm
Returns Port Douglas: 6:30pm

TULLY SPORTSRAFT
Offers Half Day Rafting of the Tully River.
Departs Tully: 9am & 12Noon

Rafting with Children
Children as young as 6 years can experience rafting from Cairns.

Barron River Rafting
Minimum age for the Barron River Rafting with Foaming Fury and Raging Thunder is 12 years.

Tully River Rafting
You must be 13 years and over to join the Raging Thunder Tully River Rafting tour.

Tully River Sports Rafting
Children as young as 6 years can join the Tully River Sportrafting tour. The Sportsrafting is on a lower section of the Tully River with grade 2 Rapids which is suitable for young children.

Our prices include the Levy
Most Rafting Tours in Cairns ask customers to pay a Levy on the day of travel. This is usually made up of insurance & Environmental Management fees.

For example: You might see a Tully River Rafting tour from Cairns advertised for $229 + $30 Levy payable on the day.

To make things easier & save confusion we include the levy in our advertised prices.

We advertise the Actual Rate so when you book with us there is no more to pay on the day!

The rafting guides add to the adventure providing heaps of laughs and entertainment along the way. A lot of people who might be a little afraid on signing up find that they have the best time ever! It’s very rewarding and all the family can take part. The guides go through rigorous training and are very experienced, they provide lots of fun but at the same time are capable and expert in what they do.

All river guides are trained in first aid, CPR, river reading, river navigation and white water rescue. Guides receive regular ongoing river training and assessments to maintain their existing high standards. All guides carry safety equipment to deal with any situation, and life jackets are helmuts are provided to all rafters. Only the world’s finest rafts are used. These heavy duty inflatable rafts can seat 6-8 people, they are easily maneuverable and high-performance, providing an exhilarating whitewater ride like no other!

Grade 1: Very small rough areas, might require slight maneuvering. (Skill level: very basic)

Grade 2: Some rough water, maybe some rocks, might require some maneuvering. (Skill level: basic paddling skill)

Grade 3: Whitewater, small waves, maybe a small drop, but no considerable danger. May require significant maneuvering.

Grade 4: Whitewater, medium waves, maybe rocks, maybe a considerable drop, sharp maneuvers may be needed.

Grade 5: Whitewater, large waves, large volume, possibility of large rocks and hazards, possibility of a large drop, requires precise maneuvering.

That was the best experience of my vacation. great action and beautiful location in the jungle. Thanks a lot to Rob. mate you are the best !!!

I went on a rafting trip with Raging Thunder at the end of May. It was absolutley awesome!!! I have done a fair bit of white water rafting in New Zealand and overseas and this was one of my absolute favourites!! Super cool and fun guides, good opportunity for river swims and some rock jumping, we saw big colourful butterflies everywhere, an incredible cassowary bird at the side of the river a green snake in the trees and the most stunning scenery of the ancient forest along the river. Fun rapids and a delicious lunch halfway through the day. Thank you so much Raging Thunder! Can’t wait to go back and visit Tully! 🙂

I finished a G adventures tour from Brisbane to Cairns a couple of weeks ago and 5 of us from the group spent our final day of the tour rafting on the Tully River – all 5 of us loved it and so it was a very fitting end to the tour! Rob our guide was an absolute legend – very amusing and we had a great laugh with him, but he also really knows his stuff and I felt really safe with him in charge of the raft! Really good fun and really beautiful scenery. Just make sure you apply sunscreen on your knees if you’re as prone to burning as I am! 😉

Amazing day from start to finish! Incredible guides and so much fun! Laughed from start to finish! 100% must do activity!

Just want to apologise to Rabs for yesterday, he told us not to get in the water at the end but I did & I was a bit cheeky in my response when he reminded me. It wasn’t until I got back to our hotel that I remembered why he told us that…bloody crocs…sorry Rabs…I think I had information overload & was about to conk out � wasn’t a good time to forget. On the up side..thanks for a great day…bit sore today but what a blast

Had such and awesome day !!!! Thanks so much to all the team but especially to Malcolm the young American guy that was head of our team today. He made our day, his knowledge was on point, jokes a good cracker and essential making sure we tipped out the boat as many times as possible!!!!

Well organised and a great confident crew. I was a little nervous and Mauricio put me at ease. Great rapids, I did the Xtream as my friends made me. If you like water and going in this is right up your street, cliff jumps, rapid swimming and safe, forced tip overs. Good fun. Crew are well enthusiastic and make the day special. I was picked up from Mission beach and they dropped me off to my next destination – Palm Cove. After a long day this was priceless. They do pick ups and drops offs in various places again this is well organised

Our family including 2 teens had a fabulous day on the Tully. Our guide James made sure we had an exciting and fun experience. The lunch was great and we had loads of fun and plenty of screaming. Cheers Donna Sampson

Thank you for a fantastic time, will return next year to do the Tully, everybody we had dealings with were very professional and very friendly, very impressed Tour | Barron River Rafting | Raging Thunder

Rafting down the Tully river was an amazing experience with the family. Very experienced river guides, made it a fun and memorable experience. Highly recommend. Tour | Tully River Rafting

We chose tubing beacuse our 11 year old was just a bit too young for white water rafting. Our 16yo thought it was going to be lame. However all of us had a ball and really did not want the day to end. staff were friendly, relaxed and knowledgeable which just added to the fun day out , no stress day. Tour | Cairns River Tubing

Cairns CBD Accommodation Transfers are available during the 2021 Christmas holidays.

This is for the full day option.
Departs Cairns 6am and returns to Cairns at 6pm

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