Jet Boating.- Queenstown, New Zealand

As I am not into activities in the air (bungy, parachute or paragliding) because I like to feel ground under my feet, jetboating is among my favourite activities. There are quite some tours on offer in Queenstown but only one is a little scary at the start and makes you scream LOL

It is the Shotover Jet, the only company with a permit to race in its red boats through the narrow river gorge of the Shotover. The skills of the jetboat drivers are fascinating, as they pace along overhanging rocks, and seem to crash right into them. But you can stop screaming. Even in the narrow sections they perform 360 degree spins - and then you will know why you get a long raincoat which you wear under the life vest ;-)

What also fascinates me is that those jetboats (passenger capacity of 14) can operate on just ten centimetres of water.

The trip starts in the more open area of the Shotover, so photos can be taken - which you can purchase after the trip ;-) Then you race through the narrowest part of the gorge with high rock walls on both sides, and then into a wider stretch of the river where a lot of spins are performed. The driver gives some explanations and tells stories of the gold rush sites, as the Shotover was the world's second richest gold area in the 1800s, after the Klondyke.

Since 1970 more than two million passengers have been thrilled by the world's most exciting ride. So it is wise to book the tour in advance, especially in summer, and not just show up as you might miss out if you cannot try again the next day.

When going on a jetboat ride in lower temperatures it is wise to wear warm clothes and a beanie as the wind can be very chilly. However, as the exhaust runs through the handlebars to which you cling at least during the 360 degree spins, those handlebars warm your hands in a surprisingly simple way.

The current price for the ride (as April 2007) is NZ$ 99 (children 5 to 15yrs $59). If you go on a second ride within 5 days of the first and book it immediately you pay only $59 for the second ride.

Update 26 September 2008
Yesterday a jetboat of Kawarau Jet (the yellow ones that start directly at the Queenstown jetty, not the above described red Shotover Jet) had a terrible accident. A boat with 20 Chinese tourists aboard crashed into a sandbank and flipped. Only far too late (one and half hours after the accident!!!) they checked for the missing 20th passenger under the boat. This woman was indeed trapped under the boat, and she died due to the extreme delay in the rescue efforts. The Kawarau Jetboat company said it was the first such accident in more than 40 years. This is not true; in 1997 one of their boats flipped, but nobody was injured. In 1999 a Japanese tourist died when a boat of the Shotover Jet collided with a canyon wall, as the result of a steering failure. All this data shows that jetboating is rather safe but also that this adventure is not absolutely risk-free.

Update 21 Feb 2009
Next incident, this time with a boat of the Dart River Safaris. Yesterday a jetboat with 18 tourists on board flipped near Glenorchy, three people suffered minor injuries. In 1998 a boat of the same company hit a rock and flipped, eleven passengers and the driver were injured.

Jet Boating., Queenstown

Queenstown Hotels

Jet Boating., Queenstown

Visiting Queenstown?

Visiting Queenstown?

Queenstown Hotels