Absolutely awesome experience! This is definitely a bucket-list experince if you want some fun and thrill during your stay in Rotorua. The whole team were fantastic - very helpful, friendly and reassuring. Blue picked us up from the hotel - I can't thank him enough for going out of his way to help us! Pete was our rafting instructor who made sure that we were all safe while we still had fun. He made sure everyone got an opportunity to get up the front of the raft and get absolutely soaked! The river was thrilling and beautiful. We had the opportunity to go for a quick swim in one of the calmer areas, and even stand up in in the raft going down one of the rapids! I have never been rafting before, but I am so glad that I chose this experience to do!

This activity is a must do near Rotorua. We got to their base by taxi (please try to book their hotel transfer, as the taxi could be quite expensive for such a long distance) and then they gave us the safety briefing and the equipment. We got instructed at first in the parking in the boat and also at the beginning in the river. We were 7 in the boat (6 customers and one guy from them in the back). The guy was very good and knew the river portions inside out, so he always prepared us for every waterfall. It was an amazing experience, full of adrenaline and perfectly safe. I loved the fact that the guy guided us to do extra stuff other than just completing the rafting itself, such as jumping to swim in a whirlpool area or staying with the boat in the waves for a while like surfing. One of their guys was taking photos of all the boats during the rafting from the woods and we got really nice photos from him at the end for a reasonable price (40 NZD).

The trip was a blast! The guide was hilarious and navigated us well, there were opportunities to jump out of the boat and swim around (in not-too-cold water), and they even allowed us to swim down one of the smaller rapids! I'd never done it before, and it was so much fun!