How do I choose a rafting company for the Grand Canyon?
Jul 20th, 2011, 07:11 AM
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How do I choose a rafting company for the Grand Canyon?
20 years ago my husband & I took an O.A.R.S. 7 day trip down the Grand Canyon. It was Incredible. Now we would like to bring our kids, but I'm have a hard time choosing which rafting company to use. O.A.R.S. is so much more expensive then the others. Is there something that makes this company stand out?
How have others experiences of other raft companies been?
They are filling up fast for next year & I need to make my decision soon.
Thanks!
How have others experiences of other raft companies been?
They are filling up fast for next year & I need to make my decision soon.
Thanks!
Jul 20th, 2011, 08:35 AM
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OARS is a top-notch rafting company but the prices do look really high. Of the 20 or so companies doing full-river trips maybe the top 5-6 are pretty similar, I feel.
Maybe look at AzRA (Arizona Rafting), we've gone with them several times and their reputation is similar to OARS (except for the wooden dories that OARS has): http://www.azraft.com/gc_datesprices.cfm ... prices for the basic 13-14 day non-motorized trip are about 25% less than OARS trips.
As for why some companies charge more, some pay their employees more and some spend more on equipment. Some of the key AzRA guides, for example, were kept on full-time while many companies just hire seasonals with limited experience, and some guides were paid profit-sharing (I'm guessing OARS is similar). On one of the AzRA trips four of the guides were running the river for over the hundredth time (two guys had over 150 runs); this makes a difference in the quality and safety of a trip, I feel.
Someone usually says the Park Service regulates these companies carefully, which is true, so therefore they are basically the same, which is not necessarily true. The PS sets minimum standards but, just as some airlines are better than others, some companies go beyond the minimum.
Maybe look at AzRA (Arizona Rafting), we've gone with them several times and their reputation is similar to OARS (except for the wooden dories that OARS has): http://www.azraft.com/gc_datesprices.cfm ... prices for the basic 13-14 day non-motorized trip are about 25% less than OARS trips.
As for why some companies charge more, some pay their employees more and some spend more on equipment. Some of the key AzRA guides, for example, were kept on full-time while many companies just hire seasonals with limited experience, and some guides were paid profit-sharing (I'm guessing OARS is similar). On one of the AzRA trips four of the guides were running the river for over the hundredth time (two guys had over 150 runs); this makes a difference in the quality and safety of a trip, I feel.
Someone usually says the Park Service regulates these companies carefully, which is true, so therefore they are basically the same, which is not necessarily true. The PS sets minimum standards but, just as some airlines are better than others, some companies go beyond the minimum.
Jul 20th, 2011, 10:15 AM
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Don't know(I have only been down it once on a short trip), but food might make a difference in price. We used Arizona River Runners and they were very good, but I have nothing to compare it to. We had meals like spaghetti, salad, french bread. Basically they browned some hamburger meat and dumped a can of ragu in it. I'm not complaining, it tasted pretty darn good considering where we were at and how we got there. We had french toast one morning. I don't really remember the other meals. I know that one meal for lunch was what I thought was very creative sandwiches. They actually took the time to make chicken salad and tuna salad along with a selection of lunch meats. And they had every condiment and pickle under the sun. Im talkin southwest chipotle mayo, if thats what you wanted. They had 3 or 4 varieties of mustard(hot, honey, etc) I suspect that perhaps some of the meals might be better or worse with various companies(price might make a difference). I don't remember the other meals being steak or anything like that is what I mean. I'm sure the shorter trips probably do a little less meal preperations as well.
Our trip also included an extra interpretive native american guide. He struck me as a little different because he had his fingernails and toenails painted. We were in a party with two boats. He would ride in one boat for an hour or two and then in another. In addition, each boat included a guide and a driver(what do you call someone who drives a boat? idk lol--helmsman, captain).
Our trip also included an extra interpretive native american guide. He struck me as a little different because he had his fingernails and toenails painted. We were in a party with two boats. He would ride in one boat for an hour or two and then in another. In addition, each boat included a guide and a driver(what do you call someone who drives a boat? idk lol--helmsman, captain).
Jul 20th, 2011, 10:56 AM
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What kind of trip are you planning on doing? My choices were narrowed significantly since I knew I wanted to do an all-paddle trip. If you want to do a dory trip, I think the choices are even fewer. I went with Canyon Explorations/Expeditions (CanX), a company that is very similar to AzRA except that it doesn't do any motorized trips and uses smaller (14") paddle rafts with no gear in them. The 14" rafts are more maneuverable than the larger paddle rafts used by AzRA. I had a fantastic experience with CanX.
OARS plays up the "luxury camping" aspect more than most other companies--personally, I wouldn't think there'd be enough of a difference to warrant the high prices unless I wanted to do an upper half trip. I believe (not sure) OARS includes a night at Phantom Ranch and duffel service on their upper half trips--I would imagine that these amenities would be very welcome for the hike up.
From what I could tell, you would get less interaction with the guides on a motorized raft since there are fewer guides per participant on those trips and it seemed to me one of the guides (the "driver" in spirobulldog's post) was always next to the motor. The motors were annoyingly loud to those of us on the paddle rafts, but I haven't really heard complaints from people who have done motor trips. On our trip, we had 7 guides (1 each on 3 paddle boats where all the guests paddled and 4 oar boats carrying gear). Since the lower half of the trip was not fully booked, we also had 2 assistants on the trip. For CanX's "regular" hybrid trips, they have 1 paddle boat, 5 oar rafts, and 2 inflatable kayaks, so I believe there are 6 guides on those trips. On our trip, there was a very good mix of experienced guides along with younger guides who provided a lot of enthusiasm and positive energy. The food was very good, no complaints there.
I would think that most people probably choose based on trip type and logistics. Several companies offer specialty trips. CanX's string quartet trip sounds amazing--I believe the quartet is composed of members of the Seattle Symphony and they give performances in side canyons. On the trip that I took, we encountered another group that had a geologist on the trip with them. I would imagine that there's probably trip(s) out there with a photography emphasis as well as trips for other specialty interests.
I did a 13-day trip to Diamond Creek, which was about the right trip length for me. If you're really keen on doing lots of hiking, I would suggest going on a 15 day or longer trip if you're going to Diamond Creek. I guess that would probably translate to about 13 days or more if you're getting out at Whitmore Wash? No idea what the equivalent would be if you're going all the way to Lake Mead.
Oh, and I think the minimum age was 12 for the CanX trips. Younger kids are allowed on motor trips, but I don't know the minimum for those.
OARS plays up the "luxury camping" aspect more than most other companies--personally, I wouldn't think there'd be enough of a difference to warrant the high prices unless I wanted to do an upper half trip. I believe (not sure) OARS includes a night at Phantom Ranch and duffel service on their upper half trips--I would imagine that these amenities would be very welcome for the hike up.
From what I could tell, you would get less interaction with the guides on a motorized raft since there are fewer guides per participant on those trips and it seemed to me one of the guides (the "driver" in spirobulldog's post) was always next to the motor. The motors were annoyingly loud to those of us on the paddle rafts, but I haven't really heard complaints from people who have done motor trips. On our trip, we had 7 guides (1 each on 3 paddle boats where all the guests paddled and 4 oar boats carrying gear). Since the lower half of the trip was not fully booked, we also had 2 assistants on the trip. For CanX's "regular" hybrid trips, they have 1 paddle boat, 5 oar rafts, and 2 inflatable kayaks, so I believe there are 6 guides on those trips. On our trip, there was a very good mix of experienced guides along with younger guides who provided a lot of enthusiasm and positive energy. The food was very good, no complaints there.
I would think that most people probably choose based on trip type and logistics. Several companies offer specialty trips. CanX's string quartet trip sounds amazing--I believe the quartet is composed of members of the Seattle Symphony and they give performances in side canyons. On the trip that I took, we encountered another group that had a geologist on the trip with them. I would imagine that there's probably trip(s) out there with a photography emphasis as well as trips for other specialty interests.
I did a 13-day trip to Diamond Creek, which was about the right trip length for me. If you're really keen on doing lots of hiking, I would suggest going on a 15 day or longer trip if you're going to Diamond Creek. I guess that would probably translate to about 13 days or more if you're getting out at Whitmore Wash? No idea what the equivalent would be if you're going all the way to Lake Mead.
Oh, and I think the minimum age was 12 for the CanX trips. Younger kids are allowed on motor trips, but I don't know the minimum for those.
Jul 20th, 2011, 11:25 AM
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No, we had a driver and a guide and about half the time the interpretive guide. Sometimes as many as 3 people on the raft. The driver did the least amount of talking. All of them would pitch in to cook and do the dirty work.
Jul 20th, 2011, 04:42 PM
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Canyon Explorations/Expeditions (CanX) ... uses smaller (14") paddle rafts with no gear in them.
hfechick, that sounds like great fun if you're after excitement in the whitewater! We had the 16 ft paddle rafts with probably 1,000 lbs of gear keeping them stable and even at that we almost flipped at Lava Falls. Probably should have flipped since we did the last half of the rapid facing upstream with most of the people sprawled out across the raft and scarcely a paddle in the water
I watched several 14 ft rafts flip at Granite (Monument) rapid while camped there on a backpacking trip, but I think they were private instead of commercial.
hfechick, that sounds like great fun if you're after excitement in the whitewater! We had the 16 ft paddle rafts with probably 1,000 lbs of gear keeping them stable and even at that we almost flipped at Lava Falls. Probably should have flipped since we did the last half of the rapid facing upstream with most of the people sprawled out across the raft and scarcely a paddle in the water
I watched several 14 ft rafts flip at Granite (Monument) rapid while camped there on a backpacking trip, but I think they were private instead of commercial.
Jul 21st, 2011, 07:40 AM
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Thank you for all of your suggestions!
We are planning on the 13 day trip & the youngest will be 13, so we're all good there. I talked to a travel agent who told me that the more expensive companies like OARS are corporations and heavily advertise. Don't know about the "luxury camping" though. When looking at sites, I found 1 company provided cots while OARS charges you $50 for a sleeping kit which only has a self inflating pad as opposed to a cot.
I will write more as I get more information.
We are planning on the 13 day trip & the youngest will be 13, so we're all good there. I talked to a travel agent who told me that the more expensive companies like OARS are corporations and heavily advertise. Don't know about the "luxury camping" though. When looking at sites, I found 1 company provided cots while OARS charges you $50 for a sleeping kit which only has a self inflating pad as opposed to a cot.
I will write more as I get more information.
Jul 21st, 2011, 02:06 PM
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LOL Bill_H, it was incredibly fun in the little paddle rafts, I had the time of my life! I've never paddled in a boat loaded with gear, so can't say what the difference would be, I'm sure any paddle boat trip through Grand Canyon would be wonderful. Our trip leader said the main difference was that with the heavier raft, he would have had to broadcast instructions to the rest of the boat whenever he wanted to steer, but with our light little rafts he could just do it himself.
The most dramatic event on our trip was one of our heavily laden oar boats flipping in Hermit rapid, which was enormous on that day. I don't think the guide did anything wrong, it was just the mighty Colorado deciding to show its power. Getting the boat back upright was quite a production. It involved getting ropes tied around the boat, multiple attempts with more and more people climbing on to pull on said ropes, and a chilling operation by the trip leader to extract our tent bags from the boat (to reduce the weight of it). The guides were total pros, it looked like exhausting work to get the boat flipped back over, but afterwards they just carried on with just as much apparent energy and good cheer as ever.
redwoodcitymom, I wasn't aware of any company that provides cots on human-powered trips, I've only seen that advertised on motorized trips. Seems like cots would be too heavy to schlep around on oar rafts in addition to everything else, but what do I know. On the trip that I took, a sleeping kit was included in the cost of the trip. They provided Thermarest BaseCamp Large sleeping pads. I think they're advertised as "self inflating," but we had to blow into them.
The most dramatic event on our trip was one of our heavily laden oar boats flipping in Hermit rapid, which was enormous on that day. I don't think the guide did anything wrong, it was just the mighty Colorado deciding to show its power. Getting the boat back upright was quite a production. It involved getting ropes tied around the boat, multiple attempts with more and more people climbing on to pull on said ropes, and a chilling operation by the trip leader to extract our tent bags from the boat (to reduce the weight of it). The guides were total pros, it looked like exhausting work to get the boat flipped back over, but afterwards they just carried on with just as much apparent energy and good cheer as ever.
redwoodcitymom, I wasn't aware of any company that provides cots on human-powered trips, I've only seen that advertised on motorized trips. Seems like cots would be too heavy to schlep around on oar rafts in addition to everything else, but what do I know. On the trip that I took, a sleeping kit was included in the cost of the trip. They provided Thermarest BaseCamp Large sleeping pads. I think they're advertised as "self inflating," but we had to blow into them.
