Experience the fun and thrills of a half-day whitewater rafting trip on the Barron River, located just 20 minutes north of Cairns. Enjoy the spectacular scenery of World Heritage-listed Wet Tropics as you raft through stunning terrain, including highlights such as Barron Falls. Your expert guide provides all necessary rafting equipment and paddling instruction for the 2-hour rafting trip, you simply bring clothes that can get wet. No experience needed for this fun and safe rafting excursion. Includes hotel pickup and drop-off from Cairns and the Northern Beaches.

Feel the rush of white water rafting on this half-day tour from Cairns
2-hours rafting through Barron Gorge National Park
Safety equipment including spray jackets, helmets and life jackets
Rapids are graded to 3, perfect for beginners
English-speaking informative and enthusiastic river guides
Hotel pick up and drop off from centrally located Cairns and Northern Beaches hotels

What's Included

Professional river guide
Transport by private vehicle
Hotel pickup and drop-off (if option selected)
All rafting equipment (except shoes)

Photos and DVD's (available for purchase)
Rafting shoes (available to hire)
$30 per person levy is payable direct on day of travel

Meeting And Pickup

You can head directly to your preferred meeting point, or request pickup.

Meeting points

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Pickup points

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End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

Pickup details

We can pick up from any Cairns City accommodation. Guests are more than welcome to make their own way to Lake Placid Park (self drive).

What To Expect

After hotel pickup in Cairns or the Northern Beaches, transfer to the river where your guide welcomes you.

Receive a safety briefing and get outfitted with the provided gear, including life jackets, helmets and paddles. Then learn paddling basics from professional guide, before hopping in your raft for a thrilling ride through Barron Gorge National Park.

As you glide through calmer sections, admire the surrounding World Heritage-listed Wet Tropics and hear about regional animal life, plants and highlights such as Barron Falls. The famous Kuranda Scenic Railway and Skyrail Rainforest Cableway also traverse sections of the gorge.

Expect to get wet when you go through rapids with colorful names such as Rooster Tail and Cheese Churn. This section of the Barron River is rated as grade three, which means that the waves can measure approximately 3–6 feet (1–2 meters) and passengers need to hold on at times in rapids. Bring sturdy shoes that can get wet, swimsuit and towel, plus dry clothes to change into after your trip.

After your 3.5-hour rafting trip, your tour ends with hotel drop-off.

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not recommended for pregnant travellers
Not wheelchair accessible
Not recommended for travellers with back problems
Children aged 12-18 years require a Parents or Guardians counter signature on waiver form

Minimum age is 12 years
No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
Travellers should have a moderate physical fitness level
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 50 travellers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s cancelled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.

Traveller Photos

Featured review

Sam_O

We were lucky enough to be placed with Jack M as a tour guide. The experience was amazing, not only the rafting but Jack allowed us to hop out of the boat twice and float down the river. He was awesome enough to allow us to purposely tip the boat and jump off some rocks in our waiting time. This tour was off the chain, we would 100% recommend doing it and if you can, go with Jack M.

Reviews

4.5

120 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travellers.

Showing 1-10 of 120 reviews

Great Rafting day

Craig_B, May 2023

This was the best rafting experience I have had to date. Mitch our guide was great and made sure we all were safe and had a great time!

Response from Host, May 2023

Thanks for the fantastic feedback Craig, we're chuffed to hear this was your best rafting experience to date, woo hoo! 😃

Fantastic fun white water rafting

Michelle_S, Jan 2023

Jake our guide was excellent. First time rafting and it was alot of fun. Lots laughter and getting wet. Very safe, wish it went longer.

Response from Host, Jan 2023

Thanks for choosing us to experience your first rafting experience! We couldn't be happier to hear you enjoyed it!

Too many ppl

Karina_R, Jan 2023

Too many people. 120 in fact on 21 rafts. Best if less people and rafts. Held up all the time in and out of the water. The bummer is that we did book thru a small tour but they meet up with all other tours. Nice trick

Response from Host, Jan 2023

Hi Karina_R thanks for taking the time to write a review. Sorry to hear you were disappointed and unhappy that the tour was full on the day you travelled. We are currently in the middle of one of the busiest times of the year being school holidays and we are operating at full compacity. We apologise if this impacted your day and experience. We never like to leave anyone feeling dissatisfied however we also want to allow guests the opportunity to experience our rafting tour. Thanks for traveling with us and we hope you enjoy the rest of your trip.

Awesome adventure

Archie_C, Nov 2022

Excellent guides and awesome landscape, hightly recommended for everyone, will definitely be back next time

Response from Host, Nov 2022

Thanks for the review, Archie_C it's wonderful to hear you enjoyed rafting and can't wait for you to join us on another awesome adventure!

Jack M is awesome!

Sam_O, Oct 2022

Response from Host, Oct 2022

Whoo hoo :-) we are stoked to hear you had an awesome experience! Thanks for traveling with us and for taking the time to write a review!

Best experience!

Lauren_K, Oct 2022

Carlos was an excellent tour leader! We had the best experience with him and felt extremely safe due to his high level of experience.

Response from Host, Oct 2022

Thanks Lauren_K we are thrilled to hear you had a great experience! Thanks for joining us and for sharing your experience! We hope you can join us on another rafting adventure!

Excellent family fun

Alison_P, Aug 2022

An excellent afternoon at Baron River Rafting. A great experience for the family. Rapids were pretty mild but a great first experience for novice rafters. Max was a brilliant guide who made it enjoyable, informative, fun and kept us safe!

Response from Host, Aug 2022

Thanks AlisonP for sharing your experience! It is wonderful to hear you and your family had an excellent time! We hope you enjoy the rest of your time in FNQ!

Fantastic

Izzy_H, July 2022

All the guides were super enthusiastic, there was a great atmosphere within beautiful surrounding. The experience was very fun and I would definitely do it again.

Response from Host, July 2022

Hi Izzy_H Thank you for the review. It's wonderful to hear you had such an amazing day! Thanks for traveling with us.

Ripper fun

Mark_R, July 2022

We had Dan the Bush Chook as our guide. He did a great job of keeping us safe with maximum fun. We Shared a boat with lovely people that made a great team. Rapids we perfect for a mixture of participants with different levels of experience.

Response from Host, July 2022

Hi Mark_R thanks for the review!! It's great to hear you had a RIPPER day! We will pass on your kind words to Dan the Bush Chook :-)

Horrific

Brendan_B, May 2022

This experience was absolutely horrific and very disappointing!! We flipped the raft 2 times we had 2 males in the middle weighing about 130kg each which made me question weight limit .We got stuck on rocks the whole time both the males landed on my back pushing me down for about 30 seconds. The only raft this happen to !! The was more I’d love a phone call to discuss

Response from Host, May 2022

Thanks for your feedback Brendan although it's disappointing to see your review when we've addressed your concerns privately.

The rafting was amazing....

Kieren_M, May 2022

The rafting was amazing. But it would of had to been our tour guide (Tom)He was very easy to understand and made it very clear with the instructions plus he provided us with some background information

Response from Host, May 2022

Thanks for letting us know you had an amazing time rafting on the Barron River with Tom and the crew, great to hear! Thanks for traveling with us :-)

Very memorable experience, glad we did it.

Marcus_V, Apr 2022

The thrill of the rapids, the Guide's (James) witty character, and the serenity of the rain forrest.

Response from Host, Apr 2022

Thanks for letting us know how much you enjoyed your white water rafting adventure with James, thanks for traveling with us! :-)

Highly recommend

b6hbc9bswp, Apr 2022

Was one of the greatest experience I’ve had. Our guide Jack was just wonderful- explained everything. He made day so much fun. Would highly recommend this and definitely doing this again.

Response from Host, Apr 2022

Thanks very much for your recommendation and for letting us know what a great time you had rafting with Jack, wonderful to hear! Thanks for traveling with us, we look forward to seeing you again some time! :-)

Best reason to get wet.

t8sbdxmsrp, Apr 2022

It was a great activity for the four of us (12 &16 yo). Justin was a safe and knowledgeable guide. Highly recommended trip. Ps take gummy bears, you can have them on the half way point of the tour.

Response from Host, Apr 2022

Great to hear what a fantastic time you all had rafting with Justin! Thanks for traveling with us and sharing your wonderful feedback! :-)

A must have experience

AnneMarie_C, Mar 2022

The lower rapids which were a bit more exciting . Lovely guides a d friendly people and beautiful scenery . Ok to do even as solo

Response from Host, Mar 2022

Thanks for letting us know you enjoyed your Barron River Rafting trip with us, great to hear! :-)

Had a great time and the...

Christopher_D, Mar 2022

Had a great time and the instructor was great. Bit disappointing that we had to get out half way and climb very high rocks due high water level. It kinda killed the fun of it.

Response from Host, Mar 2022

Thanks for letting us know you had a great time rafting with our crew although we're sorry having to portage one of the rapids dampened your experience a little, this was the safest option available on the day due to high water levels. Thanks for traveling with us, we hope you enjoy the rest of your time in the region :-)

Whatcha know about rafting

Vincent_S, Nov 2021

Seeing that old bloke slide down the rock and scrape his arm it was hilarious. Carlos has a ripper moustache

Response from Host, Nov 2021

Thanks for traveling with us and for your 5 star rating!

Laughing, screaming and having enormous fun!

Erin_K, Sept 2021

What a fabulous afternoon!! I’d only rafted on the Tully previously, and went for the Barron River as it was a lower grading and I was going with my 13 year old son. Wow!! It was SO much fun! Would highly recommend- though be prepared to maybe get wet/tipped into the water. Not for the faint hearted - but not as adrenaline inducing as the Tully.

Response from Host, Sept 2021

Great to hear you had a fab time white water rafting on the Barron River! Thanks very much for traveling with us and for your wonderful feedback! :-)

Heart pumping rapids - lots of laughs!

Katrina_C, Sept 2021

Easy booking online. Great communication on where and when to meet. Great equipment and safety briefing. Experienced guides. Amazing rapids.....so much fun for entire family. Very impressive experience - would definitely do it again.

Response from Host, Sept 2021

Thanks for your wonderful feedback, we're stoked to hear what an awesome time you had rafting on the Tully River! Thanks for traveling with us, we hope to see you again some time! :-)

5 star

Kim_S, Aug 2021

Was an unreal experience and had the best time Christian the guide was so much fun and had heaps of knowledge

Response from Host, Sept 2021

Great to hear what an unreal time you had rafting with Kristian! Thanks for traveling with us and sharing your awesome feedback! :-)

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