River Rats Raft & Kayak

Experience here was better than expected. Started out well before we'd even arrived as we called up a couple of times at unsociable hours to leave a message with questions for someone to get back to us, and to my surprise someone answered the phone (at 10pm!).We did the daytime kayak across the lake to the hot pools. Our guide Justin was friendly and knowledgeable and all the gear we needed was provided on site. He told us all about the history of the local area as part of the tour too, which was nice.I had anticipated that going in winter would be cold (it was 6 degrees out), but actually found it quite warm after I start paddling hard and ended up with just a single layer on for the return trip.The hot pools were nice and he also showed us inside a cave with glow worms on the way back.Overall, very enjoyable and I'd do it again.

Superb - recently went out to do the grade 4 rangitikei river rafting. What a day, the whole thing was so much fun. If your looking to raft in Rotorua these are your guys!

Really could not fault my experience with the amazing crew from River Rats,was an awesome experience and would highly recommend this to anyone wanting an adrenaline rush while enjoying nature at its best.

I had such an amazing experience on Kaituna. I was a bit nervous going in but Nick was such a great guide and his jokes really helped. We booked this super last minute but luckily there were still spots the day of because this was one of my favorite tours my whole trip. The fall was scary but we all held on and it was very fun.

Amazing service. Justin kept in contact in regard to the river levels, to see if our 11 & 12 year old could raft. We were lucky the river levels had dropped. Great service with pick up from hotel. Very knowledgeable guide Nick. He kept us entertained and it was dead set the number 1 highlight of our trip to NZ. Thank you x Would recommend 100%.

Went on the sunset kayak and dinner trip with Justin. Absolutely perfect trip! Rotoiti was beautiful to kayak on and the hotpools were clean, well maintained, super warm and also enjoyed the pontoon and slide into the lake to cool off! Justin was a friendly and knowledgeable host, told great stories about the area, and cooked a good summery bbq steak dinner! The highlight was the kayak back at sunset. The lake was like glass and so warm. The glow worm caves were beautiful and it was amazing how much they responded to sound, making them glow more! 100% recommend River Rats to all travelling through Rotorua! 22 years in the industry and it shows. Will be back for more trips soon! Worth every penny!

My wife little boy and I did a session on the Rangitikei river with Justin and it was fantastic. Justin made the trip fun engaging and safe which has my little guy ready for another session. Stopped in at some beautiful spots down the river that you would just never get to see otherwise, jumped in the water and floated down a few rapids, even the little guy who's 7!. If you are looking for a fun session on the river I'd highly recommend booking with River Rats, we'll certainly be back for more!

Superb experience from start to finish! Though time on the river was only about 45 minutes, the guides kept us engaged and entertained throughout, sharing snippets of Māori culture and history about the land, flora and fauna.We did the Grade 5 Kaituna River route with them and it was so much fun. You get to go down a 7m waterfall, the highest commercially rafted waterfall in the world! They made us feel sufficiently prepped and reassured, while keeping everyone psyched. They also have a few tricks up their sleeves to keep it interesting leading up to that 7m drop and even after.River Rats also has a roving photographer who captures some great action shots — it cost us an additional NZD49 to get them, which is a bit on the pricey side but still reasonable given the effort, skill and coordination required.Memories for a lifetime! Would highly recommend anyone coming to Rotorua to raft with River Rats.

We booked with the River Rats as part of a bundle deal with the Rotorua Canopy Tours, which meant we had no expectations, but after the Zipline tour was so amazing, we knew we could trust both companies to be excellent! And so it was! We did the rafting and even though we were 5 worried customers the staff took great care of everyone. The guide was authoritative but also funny!There was an extra staff member on a kayak that also made sure we were safe and a photographer that took amazing funny pictures of everyone (the price for all the pictures was 49 NZD).