Family Adventures
Family Adventures
5
About
A gentle scenic excursion packed with family fun for everyone from 3 to 103 years old. We take a unique 45 min drive into Skippers Canyon, an iconic area steeped in gold mining history, then float down gentle grade 1 and 2 rapids on the famous Shotover River in either guided rafts or inflatable kayaks. See gold mining relics and sheer canyon walls as we navigate the river with rapid swims and rock jumps.
Queenstown, New Zealand

Awards
Travellers' Choice
2023

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Tours and Tickets by Family Adventures
Travellers talk about
(16 reviews)
(17 reviews)
(16 reviews)

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

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5.0
5.0 of 5 bubbles558 reviews
Excellent
528
Very good
27
Average
2
Poor
0
Terrible
1

Julia H
6 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Simon was fabulous. Had hoped for more difficult rapids and with 2 young adults in tow, he put a smile on their faces and made everyone’s day hugely enjoyable. Scenery was stunning. Rafting perfect for young families.
Written 9 March 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Cat W
2 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2024 • Family
This is a must for all ages!!

Holly was great while we travelled to our base. Gave us interesting facts, and she has a lot of knowledge of the local area.

Both Simon and Holly were fantastic when we had to get ready for an afternoon of rafting.

Once we were on the raft, Simon made everyone feel comfortable. He was kind, caring, and full of knowledge. Simon included everyone and made sure people gave everything a go. Best tour guide by far!!

I'm so glad I picked this adventure whilst visiting QT. Thank you for the great experience.
Written 1 March 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Nick
4 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2024 • Family
We had a fantastic day with Marc, Holly and Simon, who are probably the most funny people we met in New Zealand! We had a great time and loved the rafting experience with our family. Our boys were taken care of very well!
Written 1 March 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Climber55976791342
1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2024 • Family
Captain Simon is the man! Had a great time with wife n kid n parent. Loved the rock jump, lost the camera during the jump tho but Simon the man caught it like a fish in the river, unbelievable!!!
Written 29 February 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Susanne H
1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2024 • Family
Fantastic 🤩 Holly and Simon was great. the told story, witch our kids remember.
The nature and exciting road will we all remember.
We all loved the trip Really much.
Written 29 February 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Sanford F
4 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2024 • Couples
Highly recommend this family friendly adventure. If you want to enjoy a spectacularly beautiful river rafting experience that even a non swimmer will feel safe on, this is the one! From pick up to drop off, the staff are first class -- professional, informative, friendly, funny and energetic. Holly and Simon treated our van-load of rafters like best friends. They do this trip one to two times a day all summer but from their enthusiasm, and joyfulness you'd think they were experiencing it for the first time, just like you. There were several young kids in our group, teens, and adults and the staff made everyone feel welcome and cared for. They provide everything you need for rafting including quality wetsuit, booties, wind jackets, fleece, life vests and helmets in all sizes to suit all ages and sizes. The outing starts with pickup from the middle of Queenstown. There's about an hour long drive -- the last 40 minutes or so of which are on a winding, narrow gravel mountain road with steep drop offs at the edge of the road in places. They navigate this very safely but if you are afraid of heights or prone to car sickness, do be forewarned. One family who knew about the road and didn't want to endure it arranged to flown right to the mountainous base camp by helicopter, as there is a landing pad right on site -- so you may want to inquire as to how to arrange that if the road doesn't sound like your cup of tea but you want the rafting adventure. As the staff said, "It's a class II river but a Class V road!" All that said, most of us found the drive both exhilarating and beautiful and we wouldn't hesitate to do it again After getting outfitted with gear and a safety talk at the vacation there is a 5 minute drive to the rafts and you'll be on the water for about 2 hours of incredible fun. It really is Class I and II -- never scary. It's more exciting than a float with many areas of ild rapids but nothing that will be scary, even for very young children. There are spots you can take a swim in the river and where you can jump off rocks -- all carefully supervised by these highly qualified guides. They take great photos of you, too and sell them for a modest extra charge. Bathrooms available at base camp and water, an apple before the rafting and a huge cookie reward after rafting. The drive back seems more tame than the drive up -- not because the road is any different but because you know you survived it the first time and because you know these guys really know what they are doing. This was our favorite activity in Bew Zealand and we did a LOT of activities from North to South. It didn't hurt that we lucked into a perfect, warm, sunny, windless summer day. We highly recommend this experience and are very impressed with Family Adventures' people and operation. Have Fun!
Written 21 February 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

UP212
Hong Kong, China14 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2024 • Family
Our family have a great fun white water rafting trip with Family Adventures. The host Holly and Simon are lovely, professional and also have a sense of humor. We had a morning session with another family from the U.S. so we have 8 people in our group which is perfect. We have 2 kids of 10 and 6 years old and this is the first time they had white water rafting. They enjoyed it a lot and the view of the trip for both road and rafting trip is simple gorgeous and breathe taking. Totally agree with what Holly said that Simon got the 5th grade skill on driving as the road is so tough and Simon could handle it very well. We had a very safe trip and thanks a lot to Simon and Holly. We also purchased the trip photos from them as we don’t wanna drop of cell phone to the water and lose it! So we do find it worth to purchase the photos too! I have a very memorable trip with my kids. I would recommend family with younger kids to join this safe and fun water rafting as Family Adventures provide such cool trip for little kids as well. If my 6 yrs old can’t join, we will scape rafting in Queenstown as no one could help us to look after him.
Written 20 February 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Maps825952
1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2024 • Family
This was the highlight of our trip in Queenstown. First greeted by Simon and Holly who are very friendly and fun. We then had about 50 mins drive to the destination and the road is scenic and amazing. This is already worth half of the price just the drive to the base camp. The river isn't rough as the chosen route is suitable with young children. We also got a chance to jump into the river and swim a bit. I would highly recommend this to everyone who has young kids while also wanting to experience a bit of white river rafting.
Written 16 February 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Olaf K
1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2024 • Couples
It was an absolutely fantastic tour. First of all, the stunning views as we drove along Skipper Road. Then the rafting adventure. This was absolutely professionally organized. The team took great care to ensure that all questions were answered and that everyone got along. And in the end, everyone had fun, whether child or adult.
Written 6 February 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Far2024
1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2024 • Family
Staff was amazing! Very easy to talk to, knowledgeable about the area and made the trip easy and fun with our 4yo. Would definitely recommend to families. The drive into the canyon is beautiful but a bit scary just an fyi
Written 5 February 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you for your kind words, we are happy to hear you had a good time :)
Written 6 February 2024
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

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FAMILY ADVENTURES (Queenstown) - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go