Queenstown Travel Forum

Has anyone taken small children (ages 4 & 6) river rafting on the Shotover river with Family Adventures?

Your 4 year old, and probably your 6 year old, will almost not be able to do this trip - for safety and insurance, these river rafting trips usually have a minimum age/height requirement that precludes such small children.
leyle

If it's the jet-boating you're referring too, I agree, it would not be suitable for children of that age. I've been on it, and it's "hang-on-for-dear-life", while the driver does scary spins, etc. I don't know about Family Adventures, and perhaps they have a slower, and possibily different type of craft, that is designed for families/kids? You need to find out their rules and regulations. It's a beautiful river!

River rafting is different to jetboating. Rafting is in those inflatable boats, and all the passengers have to paddle. I have checked the website of the company and obviously they do the rafting on black water which should not be a problem. Whitewater rafting, however, would not be suitable for children, as even grown-ups have already drowned doing this on guided tours. As far as I know, the whitewhite rafting is on a river that flows into the Shotover. The Shotover itself is not rough. The rough thing of the Jetboating is the way the jetboats are driven, not the river.

I agree with Sissi (Kakapo) that the jetboats are a bit more, umm, "adventurous," and I'm a pretty brave person, who has done lots of adventuring and ocean sailing. So, be careful in your selection of types of boats, particularly if children are involved. On our excursion with the jetboat, a lady seated in front broke her ankle just from the impact of the boat swirling around, and she had to be taken to the hospital, and that ended her NZ holiday. But everyone else enjoyed it, with the adrenalin rush, I suppose. River rafting is different, and would be more suitable, if they allow young kids, and if it's not a real white-water-type experience. Good Luck!

I did the Shotover jetboat with my 5 year old son and it was perfectly safe. He had the time of his life. Rafting is as safe. It's a grade II rapid river, so that should be smooth. We did a II to III grade river with him in the US last year (he was 6) and it's was fine. He loved it.
This is really done for families, they know what they are doing.
I bet they'll have a lot to tell their friends at school. Have fun!

I was just in Queenstown and the age limit for kids with Shotover Jets is 3 years old. They get life jackets and don't need to be very big. They must be able to hang on to the handrails though, and with an adult.
When the river is high and conditions perhaps rougher than normal they raise the age depending on the day. Hope this helps anyone reading this question :-)

Hi Kiwi!
You did the Shotover?
Next time I want to do the Dart River too. There's so much to do in Queenstown! So much fun and such a gorgeous scenery!
Have a great time!!

LOL, well there is no snow, unfortunately :-)

I heard that it is snowing right now, and they expect a real lot LOL

Yes, that's good for the Winter Festival starting on Saturday. Too bad for my visit, but at least I wasn't cold LOL.