We are thinking about going white water rafting in the Cairns/Great Barrier Reef area...any suggestions on whether to go for the Tully River or Barron River? This would be our first time, looking for something exciting and adventurous to do. Any good companies that take you out there?

We did that back in 1996 when we went to Cairns. I don't remember the name of the company (even the river), but it was really a lot of fun. It was definitely exciting! The rafts were 2 man rafts - that was rather scary since neither my husband nor I had any rafting experience. While I don't remember the details, I definitely remember the day.

Tully is the place to go, it's one of the wettest spots in Qld which makes for good rafting. There are 2 main companies that I'm aware of, they both go from Cairns but will pick up in Townsville, also along the way if necessary. Raging Thunder is one, can't remember the other, similar name I think. Both groups have rubber rafts for 6 paying customers and 1 guide. They give you a safety spiel before you go. I would suggest you wear shorts over your bathers and old runners/gym shoes if you have them. Usually there is a stop half way for a BBQ lunch which is great as people are ravenous after all that water and fresh air. Expect to get wet. You can buy a video of the day or a photo if you want (no pressure when we did it) but you can't take a camera on board - you need both hands for the paddle anyway!<BR>Kay

Hello all,

Thanks a lot for thoses explanation. Do you know some other rafting companies which could offer us a great experience for the tully or the barron ?

Thanks,
Olivier

Hi Nack,
We got back from Australia at end of April, where one of the things we did was a white-water rafting trip on the Tully river with Raging Thunder. We checked with a couple of locals, and the Tully was recommended over the Barron, but I can't scientifically say which is best. I remember doing a search on google and coming up with a few companies before we went to Oz, can't remember the names.

We really enjoyed the day. The waters weren't at their highest, and Grade 4 rapids is as difficult as they can take you over, but it's great fun. In all, I'd say we were on the water for 4-5 hours, with lunch breaking that up (great BBQ, starving!), and we negotiated about 20 different rapids,some little, others bigger. We lost a couple of people out of our boat and had to fish them back in, but noone was really in any serious danger, I could even have coped with a bit more adventure, but that's probably just stupid. Enjoy your trip,

Anna

Hi there, Raging thunder and R&amp;R rafting do the Tully and the Barron, which are both rivers that feed hydro electric schemes. i have been on both. They are very large companies and take up to 20 rafts down the river at one time.
My fave rafting is with Foaming Fury, they are the only operators that use the Russel River, which is closer to Cairns and a natural river.
they are a nice small company and the rafting is excellent.
Enjoy!