Living here in North Queensland, we are blessed with some of Australia’s most impressive white water rafting rivers within an hours drive. In fact there isn’t another place in Australia that can state that they have tourist rafting tours running on 4 local rivers.
The rivers that are located locally are the Barron River, Tully River, Johnston River and Russell Rivers, as well as lots of seasonal creeks that only are possible in the wet season. This definately must make White Water Rafting in Cairns something to write home about. The Barron River Whitewater rafting and Tully River Whitewater Rafting run using whats called scheduled release. This is when the water is set free at a scheduled time from a dam or Hydro Electric Scheme. These two are easily our most popular rivers with both full and half day tours departing daily. The Barron River has grades 2-3 rapids while the Tully has a more exciting grade of 3 to 4 and even 5 after some rain.
The Johnstone River runs after our monsoon season, but offers isolated Rafting extended trips with up to Grade 5 rapids. This activity is quite not for the faint hearted.
The Russel River offers blow up double sportsrafts, although a bit different from the standard inflatable rafts, they are still heaps of fun and easy to learn. This river does however require a short bushwalk in to the commencement point through some tropical rainforest. The Russel River has rapids in the range of grade 2-3 with sometimes a few grade 4′s during the wet season.
All fun happens under the watchful eyes of highly qualified river guides, and all tour operators hold the relevant official certifications and Insurance. So there is nothing to worry about if you want to experience some white water rafting while on your adventure in Queensland.