White Water Rafting, Cairns

We signed up for a 1 day White Water Rafting trip on the Tully River with a company call Raging Thunder, and it was an exciting and action filled day. The Tully River is tame enough for relatively safe rafting, yet offer enough rapids and waterfalls to make this an adrenaline pumping ride.

There are a number of extreme sports you can do while visiting this area.
The two that stand out are White water rafting and Skydiving.

You have two main companies that do white water rafting. These are Raging Thunder and R@R white water rafting.
Raging Thunder do this on the Tully and Barron rivers.

The companies will pick you up from your accommodation and off you go for a day's adventure.

I would suggest that if you decide to do this, do the Tully rafting. I say this because some times during the year the Barron River one would be a disappointment, it doesn't always have lots of water in it and you could be pulling the raft more than rding in it!!! I have seen this happen on the Barron and I thought to myself, that ain't exciting, that is money wasted!!!!

I took Raging Thunder to go white water rafting and it was simply awesome. We went through the rapids of barron River on a Grade 3 level and it took around 4 hours and 80 aussie dollars. My shoes got scrwed as we were told to jump into the water twice. Jumping in the water itself was an amazing experience. The guide was excellent, it was raining and we made the best of it. A peice of advice...dont take your shoes...raging thunder gives you sandals for 3-4 bucks and it is definitely worth it.

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From my research, there are basically two rivers to choose from and two companies that take you rafting. The Baron River rates out at 1-2 on the rapids, which means they are simple, easy going (yawn); the Tully River rates out at 3-4, which makes them moderate, have to hold on more, sometimes losing people over the side...
The companies are Raging Thunder and RnR. We went with Raging Thunder; a couple of our guides had also worked for RnR, and didn't have a very high opinion of them, so I think we went the right way.
The bus picks you up at your hotel and takes you to the head of the river, which is about an hour drive. During that time, they give you a familiarization to what you're getting into, and also start grouping you together for the different rafts, trying to match personalities. We got a great guide, and he did things with us that the others didn't necessarily do. I believe they will tailor some of the activities depending on each groups abilities, mentalities, funlovingness, etc. We happen to be a very fun-loving group, so we had some "wars" going with other rafts, pulling each other out in calming waters, our guide tipping us in others. I was old enough to be everyone's mother, but still kept up with them just fine!
Good information to know: they do lock up your valuables under the bus when you set off at the head of the river, so all is safe. You are required to wear lace up shoes or river sandals; they do rent sandals for $4. They will NOT allow you back on the bus at the other end with a wet tush, so make sure you have a change of clothes.
Third of the way down, we all pulled over for a barbeque lunch that was well deserved and very good. Further down, pulled over again to do a little diving off rocks, for anyone who so desired. For anyone concerned about falling out, the male in our raft was the only one that fell out of ours -- and he managed it 3 times. Even though we were all briefed on being good saving partners, I was very impressed at how extraordiarily fast our guide could make it across the raft, grab hold of the guy, and whip him back in.
The scenery down the river was absolutely beautiful, and for the times we had peaceful water, our guide (who was quite a card) was full of interesting information about the area. All in all, a wonderful trip, would do it again.Cost per person US was $128, that was including the $30 insurance added in.

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Cairns has a great river for rafting, i don't on wich level it is, i guess it wasn't that hardcore, but then again, i never rafted before. You get to see some really beautiful surroundings and get some good action too.

I suggest bringing a waterproof camera

We actually booked the rafting from the hotel and get picked up there.