Great experience for my 3 generations of family! We took a full day trip with my son, grandson, and husband. Dave, our guide, was friendly and knowledgeable. Reservations were easy to make and changes were accepted. Questions were promptly responded to. read more

Our group of 7 had a really great full-day rafting trip on the McKenzie with Kamis and Ariel at Oregon Whitewater Adventures! We arrived to the meeting spot around 10am and got back to the cars around 3:15pm. Reservations were easy to do online, and I received the confirmation email shortly after with details on timing, meeting location, and what to expect for the day. This was the only communication we received, so if you're someone who finds reminder emails helpful, you may not get it with OWA. We were split up between two boats with one additional solo guest. The shuttle ride was quick to Paradise campground, leaving the meeting point around 10:10am. The guides set us up with life jackets and paddles, provide us with instructions for paddling and safety, and after hopping in the boats and doing some practice strokes, we were on our way. The deli-style lunch was set up for us about 2 hours into the trip (12:30pmish). We ate at a campground with bathroom access. The lunch spread consisted of bread, deli meats, cheese, sauces/condiments, melon, veggies, chips, cookies, PB/jelly, sodas - a surprisingly vast assortment and was a treat after a few hours on the water. The entire trip was really fun. We enjoyed chatting with our guides, paddling into the rapids and enjoying the scenery. Our boat hit a rapid "just right" and two members of our raft fell out, but we moved quickly to get them back in the raft and all had a good laugh about the rapid. The only thing I wish is that OWA would offer photos (just cell phone, nothing fancy). As they carry a dry bag and phones, it would have been nice to have a photo of our group that could be emailed/texted after the trip. Or from the staff member who sets up the lunch. We all really enjoyed our day and would definitely be interested to do another trip with OWA. And as the email says, "And remember, a guide can over tip your boat, but you can't over tip your guide." read more

These guys are amazing! Arielle was our personal guide and she was so great! She pulled off at a ton of cool swimming spots for us to cool off and was so chill and fun! Everyone who works there (that we met: Lenny, Case, Arielle) was super cool and laid back but also knowledgeable! They even have an option for a free lunch if you do a full day trip and we were so surprised to find a huge spread ready for us! They had bagels, smoked salmon, meats cheeses and breads, fruits, chips and even a tub of cold drinks like juices, la croix, and beer! So dope, If you're ever in town you should definitely go!! read more

Oregon Whitewater Adventures - Rafting/Kayaking Near Me

Five stars, plus!! Everything about this company is the pinnacle of professionalism. Booking online was easy and when I had a follow up question about their Covid protocols, they answered immediately and I felt at ease with their explanations. The day before our booking I received a voicemail about some changes to the meet up point. Since I didn't answer the phone or return the call (was just going to follow their directions), I still received a call the morning of our excursion to verify that I had received the voicemail! To my surprise, it was just our boat going out that morning for the full day so we felt super safe and had a great time. Alec was our guide and he was AMAZING!! Funny, knowledgable and great! Robin had a delicious lunch waiting for us and was also fun and personable. I can't wait to book with them again!! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!! read more

Oregon Whitewater Adventures - McKenzie River Whitewater Rafting. July 2020 - Rafting/Kayaking Near Me

Don't bother with any other rafting company for the McKenzie. OWA is the best and made every moment of our 3 hour adventure memorable and safe. They are taking way more precautions for Covid compared to other companies. We had our own guide and they even shuttled our car to the end point at no additional cost. (Other your companies' rafts had many people crammed in and used group shuttle for transport). We lucked out having Lenny, the owner as our guide. He ensured we had a blast from the start with sharing info about the area and the river. He also had the right balance of making the trip quiet and relaxing as well as thrilling. We can't wait to try another river with them. read more

We had so much fun - the guide was super friendly and knowledgeable, and we felt safe, too. Couldn't recommend them more!

We enjoyed a fun day on the river. The guide was knowledgeable and super friendly. Great organization!

RJ, our guide was excellent. Not only was he a competent leader, getting our boat off of a rock in the middle of the Dechuttes River, he was also knowledgeable about local history and wildlife and was engaging with the young and old people who were in the boat. The cold water, warm high desert air, rapids, wildlife and good company made this a great trip. Highly recommended; a great way to "unplug" for a weekend. read more

My family took the full day trip down the McKenzie river. Had a great time with our guide Case. Lunch was perfect. The rapids were great for us newbies. Reservations were easy to make online and they were available by phone for all my questions. Kids and adults had fun. read more

8 of us went in 2 boats on a full day tour on the North Umpqua River (mostly class 3 with one class 4 rapids) with Lenny and Cody as our guides. They were both extremely knowledgeable, safe, and fun. They even gave us waterproof jackets to wear under our life jackets as it was a cloudy and somewhat cooler day than we expected. What a well run company! We had an amazing time and would definitely recommend Oregon Whitewater Adventures for your white water rafting trip. read more

Great guides and very knowledgeable! They made our rafting trip unforgettable.

A friend and I recently did a half-day rafting trip with Oregon Whitewater Adventures. From the reservation to the very last minute of the trip, it was a joy. The guides picked us up and drove us in the company van to the starting point and we rafted back to where our cars were parked. We met three guides that day and all were extremely friendly, personable and had a great sense of humor. The trip itself was great fun. Our guide (Jack) explained the paddling commands we would be hearing from him, gave us complete information on what to do in case someone fell out of the raft and we were on our way. Along the way he told us about the river features we were seeing, including fun anecdotes and some history. The scenery was amazing, paddling the rapids was fun and we all learned a lot. read more

My family went on the half-day tour today and it was an amazing experience, even though I fell out of the raft. Shout out to our terrific guide, Kaitlin, whose vast experience made our time on the McKenzie River fun and exciting. The time she took to explain the importance of synchronicity in paddling to the safety features reassured any anxiety. Don't let her age fool you. This firecracker of a guide knows her stuff. If you're ever in Oregon, try to carve out time for river rafting with the Oregon Whitewater Adventures! read more

My friends and I drove down from Everett, WA during my vacation with them last week. Our guide was great! Very friendly and knowledgeable. He drove us up about 11 miles on the McKenzie River from our pick up point. We THOUGHT we were dressed for our outing...thankfully, they provide you with sweaters and water suits if you need them - we all did. The trip was fun and we got pictures of it all! Our guide e-mailed us the pictures he took during the entire adventure. Ladies, don't be afraid of sitting in the front...that's where all the action is! I would definitely like to do this again, perhaps on one of their other river trips. Thank you, OWA, for the experience! read more

I'm just one of their neighbors, but they get a bump from me because they often pull over to let my family pass when we're behind their van hauling fun looking rafts!!! read more

(This review is over a year late)...This was my first time whitewater rafting (July 2015), and it was also the ump-teenth time my fiancee and his brother had gone. Not necessarily to this one, but to others in different states. I have to say, we were ALL blown away by the amazing rapids this tour took us through. Apparently, they take you through more rapids per mile than anywhere else. We did the whole day tour which glided us through 15miles of river. I, being a novice, was scared I would topple over, but felt a great sense of pride when it was my future brother in law who fell over and not me!! HAHA. Our wonderful guide, Mindy, pulled him out of the water and into the raft faster than it took us to realize that he'd gone over. She was training another guide at the time, so we were very fortunate to have her riding directly behind him when he flew overboard!! Caitlin was training that day and although it was also her first time down the river, she did not make it fully known until we were past a level 4 rapid that that was the case. After everyone was alive at the end of that one, we were thankful she waited to tell us. Anyway, I would HIGHLY recommend this tour. We took a full day tour and half way through we took a break for lunch, nothing too exotic, plenty of food, sandwiches, fruit, nuts, water, lemonade, soda. It was definitely more than we could all eat before we continued the second half of the river. We met up with more people who were doing the half day tour after lunch and it made for a more comical scene. With the water being lower than usual, there were many times our raft or their raft would get stuck on a rock and we'd find imaginative ways to get off the rocks without toppling over. About 3/4 of the way through, we stopped on the side of the river, were able to get out of our raft, and jump off a high rock, it was scary for me, but totally safe. I was pushed off (because I had asked to be), I was too scared to jump on my own, but the other kids had no problem jumping off. I highly recommend not putting on the bunny suits to keep you from getting wet. Getting wet was half the fun, and plus it was hot, so being drenched in cold water felt very refreshing. The 5 of us on the boat made for a great team and a wonderful time. Caitlin even serenaded during the calm parts of the journey. So whether you have Caitlin on your team, or Mindy, I can guarantee you'll have a wonderful time!!!! We didn't have any kids in our raft, but the other 2 rafts did. They all seemed to have a great time too! So I think it would be great to take them. Safety is their number one concern and I have to admit, I felt very safe the entire way!!! read more