This is a great outfitter. Very experienced guides with a smooth set up. Well explained to know what to expect. Bill was a wonderful guide and especially knowledgeable and informative about river life and the local geology. They provide all the gear like wetsuits. The river is very beautiful and cold. read more

Jaro was awesome. We definitely benefited from his 11 years of experience as a river guide. Would highly recommend Hydra for a top notch experience! read more

Hydra River Guides - Crossing the finish line. - Rafting/Kayaking Near Me - Banff, Alberta

Our guide Jaro was awesome. Such a fun day rafting, he kept it light, knew a lot about the wildlife and geology and had a great sense of humor. Felt really safe too, even though it was some pretty wild water in places. Would definitely go back. read more

Great fun, lots of rapids. Our guide Bill was very informative and fun. Wetsuits kept us from getting to cold. Highly recommend

We went on the kicking horse river for a 2 hour ride and it was amazing. Jaro our guide was great, he was very knowledgeable and made the ride so fun. Our family had our own raft and that was amazing. It was a bit of a drive, but the scenery was beautiful and the area was not crowded. Highly recommend! read more

My husband and I did the morning rafting trip, it was a bit chilly but they provided all of the gear to keep us warm. Our tour guide, Drew was great, it was an unforgettable experience! 10/10 recommend! read more

Hydra River Guides - Rafting/Kayaking Near Me - Banff, Alberta

See all

Bill is the goat. Get him his cheeseburger. Lots of fun and totally recommend. Tons of rapids and action. Definitely recommend the classic trip. read more

Excellent experience. Guides are fun and professional. Beautiful scenery and kicking horse river is so much fun. Highly recommend read more

Hydra River Guides - Rafting/Kayaking Near Me - Banff, Alberta

Fun, intense experience Great accommodations Safety first, and adventure according to ability The Kicking Horse River has a lot of action...Hydra was a great host for what the KHR has to offer. We made our way out from Calgary, arriving with some time to spare for the afternoon run. We threw a Frisbee around, loaded up on sunscreen, and then lined up for a tasty barbecue lunch provided as part of the experience. After a leisurely (but filling) cookout experience, we congregated for the safety overview, gear gathering, outfitting ourselves, raft groupings, and some obligatory "before" photos ($31.50 for your own USB drive with attending relaxed & action shots). Then, down to the river... From my personal experience: Jan was a supreme guide. He was engaging with solid local knowledge at the beginning as he sized up our group. As the river ceased to flow along peacefully, he eased us in with a lot of "paddle forward / paddle forward / relax" and maneuver training at the outset, followed by plenty of clear vocal guidance as we began seeing rapids, and finally - boisterous, funny, encouraging prompting through the class III/IV stuff. When my group finished the Last Waltz rapid, we felt like saluting him - facing down gaping maws of foamy water and crazy 6 degree C water temps will do that. Value = high, memorableness = high, adrenaline = high, and general capability and demeanor from the whole Hydra team equates to highest recommendation. read more

See all

The best rafting experience in Banff . The only company I would recommend for your safety is their priority. All their guides are experienced. The experience itself was awesome. I would do it again and also will book their other activities next time I come back to visit Banff hopefully next year. read more

I came to Calgary and wanted to go white water rafting. This as our first time doing this. I had looked at others but because of the holiday was not able to book with them. That was a sign it was meant for us to boom with Hydra. From the moment I booked the staff were absolutely amazing and great. That's not where it stopped, my guide was Dave ( the one who gives the safety speech - the one who always looks cool in all the pictures ) he made it worth every saved penny. He kept us safe and entertained the entire time. The rest of guides were also great ! You can't go wrong . When I made the reservation I had only done it for the half boy was I so glad that they allowed to finish the trip and just pay the difference at the end . On top of the great pictures we got this was definitely an unforgettable adventure. read more

Loved our white water rafting adventure! Initially booked it on the warmest day of our trip, which quickly turned into the coldest and rainiest day. The rain did not have any impact as you are wearing wetsuits and jackets while on the raft. Our guide was Erik and he was awesome! He was very friendly, funny, and knowledgeable. He was also very experienced judging by the way he led the tour we assumed he was the lead rafter. During the last waltz he had our entire rafting group stand on the raft while going through the rapid which made the trip that much more memorable! He made us feel very comfortable, being that this was all of our first white water rafting trip. The lunch provided was located on property and included potato salad, macaroni salad, burgers and the most delicious brownie bites. Would definitely do it again with Hydra, and highly recommend to those who are interested in an amazing time. read more

I CANNOT say enough great things about this company, from every aspect, start to finish - EPIC EXPERIENCE. And if you're lucky enough to get Jack as your guide, you'll never have a better day on a river - respectful of women, fun, daring yet safe - smart and knowledgeable, honest and real, no ego - an exceptional guide, and awesome company - do not choose any other company in the area - this is the one. THANK YOU, JACK - see you next time...maybe the Grand Canyon? read more

My first time rafting and they made it a really fun experience. My gf and I just signed up not knowing what we were in for. We met some class 3 and 4 Rapids which our guide made super fun to hit and was safe about it. The guides we talked to were all friendly and hilarious. We went on the PM tour which started with a really hearty burger, pasta and potato salad lunch with brownies and lemonade. The burgers were really good. We then went for a 20min safety briefing which the guide made quite entertaining. After that we were fitted with our gear, all you need is to bring a bathing suit. Then you're off in your group of 8 and some instructions from your guide and you're off for an adventurous and informative guide through Kicking horse river. Our guide, Brett, explained features and history of things along the way. Check this out if you're around! Also if you go early or are staying after your adventure you can chill and play volley ball on their nets. Their washrooms and showers are good and change rooms are private. Lastly, hydra looks like they're the only company that starts their raft tours 20mins upstream of the first Rapids so you get to chill and chat for a bit before getting soaked. read more

Great adventure of rafting through the kicking horse river...the program is well planned...they pick u up from banff and drive u to base camp in a bus...@ the base camp we had bbq burgers in a nice open air location...veg options available...after changing and a safety orientation (which was really funny) they took us on a 2 hr trip through the kicking horse river...the first hour is slow and relaxed and our guide and boat driver gave us a very nice talk about the area...well done Luke...the next hour was all the exciting stuff and lots of fun...gets pretty technical and fast...great views of mountains, valley, bridges and rocky mountain railways from the river level...the staff is super friendly and funny...special thanks to mike for driving us back and forth from banff, taking some awesome pics, and retrieving my bag (which i forgot at basecamp)...over all highly recommended read more

Hydra River Guides - Great ride through the Kicking horse river - Rafting/Kayaking Near Me - Banff, Alberta

See all

Our family has done 4 other river rafting trips in Colorado but this one was our favorite. Our guide, Erik, was knowledgeable, funny and kept all of us safe on our raft. He always made sure we followed safety instructions but at the same time, made sure we had great fun! DO NOT do the 1 hour trip, it will leave you wanting MORE! Do the 2 hour or the 4 hour trip. You will be glad you did. The BBQ lunch at the end of our trip was tasty and satisfying before our trip back to Banff village. read more

If we breakdown the day into parts, it will make more sense. The drive from Banff to Kicking Horse and the Hydra guides had great scenery and was a relatively easy ride - 5 stars. The facility reminds me of summer camp. The outhouse type experience, hand wash stations, limited water supply, and a BBQ area - 2 stars. The introduction to White Water rafting and the instructions were complete and funny...the tour guide obviously did this for a long time to have a good script memorized. 5 Stars. The equipment smelled like wet rags and was dirty. The helmet smelled like years of sweat built up. 1 star. Lunch was a BBQ cheeseburger with some veggies and a brownie. Adequate before facing the dangers - 3 stars. The River was low and the speed of the rapids were not Class 4 but a mild 3+. Didn't do much paddling...just floating. 3 Stars. Our guide - Yaro - knew a lot about the sport and the river itself. He did his best to keep us entertained and at times floated us in more rapid areas to give us some excitement. A couple times, I was almost thrown. 4 Stars. The bus back to base camp was a ride in an old blue bus with dozens of smelly rafters in wet - wetsuits. My feet were fully pruned. It would have been nice to change at the take out point but not possible - 2 stars. Back at base camp, we handed in the gear and was taking a quick (really quick) shower but we can't use any soap. By the way, if you are a modest person, you might not be able to wash as there are two outdoor showers with little coverage. We were on a three hour ride back to Calgary and we really needed a full shower after the dirty suit. 2 Stars Hopefully each of you will understand what to expect now that you saw my broken down ratings. All in all, an enjoyable day but it was a letdown by the river itself. But not a total loss of my first time! Will be doing more in the future. read more

Spent the morning rafting with Garrett. Lots of great rapids, not too much paddling required. Pure adrenaline to start the day!

I have done several rafting trip in Colorado, this was by far the best trip ever. Extremely friendly staff. There was a confusion in our booking, owner was extremely flexible to make it right for our family of five. River was very adventurous and thrilling for my 7, 8 and 12 year old. Even though we did a family trip for mild my 12 year old and wife continued for the remaining part if the classic trip. What makes the trip most exciting was our tour guide - Anthea, we wouldn't have enjoyed as much, she made sure my little ones had a blast. She was amazing. This was one of the highlights of our trip read more

Fantastic adventure for the family! My family has all ranges of physical abilities and adventure level wants and everyone enjoyed this river trip! We did the 2 hr morning trip with the class 3/4 rapids and all laughed the entire time. The river is quite cold, but the wetsuits help. We took the bus from Banff, and our driver, Shannon, was a great tour guide and oriented us to the area on our first day. Erik was our guide on the raft and did a great job teaching us the ropes and keeping us safe. Huge recommendation!! read more

My family and I were vacationing in Banff and Lake Louise and went rafting on The Kicking Horse River with Dave at Hydra - it was the best rafting experience we have ever had! We've rafted The Snake and The Gallatin River and this experience was our favorite because Dave, our guide was not only experienced, but also funny and witty and knowledgeable! The entire staff were helpful and humorous. They knew how to get the rafters laughing and knew the river's personality so we all had a great time! By the end of the two hours trip, we all knew each other's names and were laughing out loud. They had hot water showers and changing rooms that were clean and comfortable. Nice! After our lunch and rafting trip, one of the tire on our rental car had a flat from our Calgary trip. We had made it to the railroad track before we realized this. We drove back to the Hydra site and asked for help. Dave, our very capable guide was super awesome and inflated our tire so we could be on our way. Thanks Dave! We highly recommend this trip with Hydra! read more

We did a mid day rafting trip in Golden, with Erik as our guide. The meeting place is 1h30 drive from Banff, so try to make it into a nice day expedition via Lake Louise. Lunch is very basic and takes less than the 30min allocated to it, so no need to arrive early for the 12:30 departure. Note that the departure is on Alberta time (not BC). There are 6-8 people per boat, plus the guide. The first 30min is calm river so we can practice the drills with the guide. This is followed by a straight where people can jump in the water. and then the real action starts. Everyone gets plenty of adrenaline and cold water splashes. Our guide was great at making sure we had fun while steering the raft safely. After about two hours, we landed and took a 15min bus ride back to camp. Gear wise, they provide wetsuits, booties, fleece and jackets. I recommend to take at least a jacket to protect from the sun and not get too cold in the shaded sections. read more

We had a large company trip raft the Kicking Horse river with Hydra River Guides and it was amazing! Our guide Kyle really put us at ease with a safety speech while keeping it fun and light. We could not have asked for a better trip. Thanks Kyle!! read more

Experience was great however I did not appreciate the attitude from one of the faculty members named Anthea, she was extremely rude and not nice. The rest of the faculty were nice but her. read more

Hydra River Tours is a great company! My sisters and I visited Hydra for our first rafting experience and we had an amazing time! We were slightly nervous since we had no rafting experience between the three of us but our guides (Dave and Anthea) made our fear melt away in seconds. The grounds are clean, organized, and visitor friendly. We were provided with a tasty lunch to start and then given a very detailed safety instruction, which we all appreciated. All the gear is provided for you and the guides double check to make sure everything fits as it should. As for the rafting itself, it was amazing!! The rapids are a blast and Anthea keeps you laughing the whole entire time. Her humor and friendliness made our trip even better! She is the perfect rafting guide. Dave E. is equally as great and super knowledgeable. He also keeps you laughing every second! We were fortunate enough to experience rafting with both of them. If you're struggling to decide which tour to take, pick Hydra! You won't regret it! Kuddos Hydra! Thanks for a great experience! read more

What an awesome time. These guys do a great job and clearly have a good time doing it. Will definitely come back. Thanks to Jaro for being a great guide. read more

We had 3 families raft down the Kicking Horse this weekend. Hydra was fantastic. Very organized and friendly. Our guide, Hanna, was great! Highly recommended! read more

We had an awesome time! Our guide AJ was great. Was a highlight of our trip in Banff. If you want an adventurous activity for sure book Hydra River Guides. This company was very professional and great! read more

This company likes to use the bait and switch method for increasing their bottom line.I purchased online a Raft & Stay Package for $369.36 including taxes as per the confirmation that I have printed after making the purchase online. When making the online booking it does ask for the # of occupants and the price is brought up accordingly for the # of occupants indicated.The company sent me an email reply saying that they could only provide me with the package I purchased if I agreed to pay an additional $167.94, making the total $537.30.The company has refussed to provide the package as purchased for the price advertised online. read more