Sebago Lake Outfitters

Important White Water Rafting Tips for Beginners

If you and your friends and family are planning on spending your next vacation or holiday outdoors, why not do a little white water rafting? This activity is great for groups, and is ideal for people who enjoy being outside or in the water. If the idea sounds interesting, and you’re not quite sure where to start, here are some white water rafting tips for beginners that will help you feel more at ease during your first trip.

First of all, you’ll want to select a white water park or white water river that caters to beginners. This way, you’ll feel comfortable in the raft with your instructor, and you’ll know that you’ll have someone there to give you white water rafting tips every step of the way. If you can’t swim or haven’t gone swimming in a while, you can take what are called class III courses for whitewater rafting, which are safe for everyone, even children.

Kids as young as 6 or 7 can go on most white water park excursions, so you won’t have to worry about not including everyone in your trip (unless you can toddlers or infants in tow). If you want to go on a more intense whitewater rafting trip, you’ll need to enroll in a class IV or class V class, but you have to know how to swim well.

If you have any health conditions, such as asthma or heart problems, you should definitely talk to your doctor about the safety of going whitewater rafting. There are lots of sharp turns and intense twists depending on the course you take, and you should be prepared for this before you and your family book your trip. Pregnant women are advised not to go rafting, but you may be able to do so if you are in the first trimester; however, any time after that may pose a threat to the health of the baby.

Once you’re in your raft, be sure that your life jacket is fastened securely before the raft starts to move. Be sure that you are seating correctly so that the weight is evenly distributed, and keep young children near you at all times. Your raft should be able to fit up to 8 people, so if your group is not quite that large, be sure to sit in the raft evenly so that you don’t tip over.

Always listen to your guide. Your guide with be in the stern of your raft calling orders to you as the paddlers. Don’t be afraid to tell your guide to speak up if you can’t hear him/her. There are many versions of the same basic rules that your guide might use. Here are some examples.

“All Ahead”: both sides of the raft paddle forward, in sync with each other
“All Back”: both sides of the raft paddle backwards, in sync with each other
“Left Side Ahead”: the left side of the raft paddles forward while the right side paddles backwards
“Right Side Ahead”: the right side paddles forward while the left side paddles backwards
“Take a Break”: both sides of the raft stop paddling
“Hold On”: everyone lean towards the center of the raft and find something secure to hold on to
”High Five”: everyone lifts the blade end of their paddle into the air over the raft in a ‘high five’

Not all of the dangers are outside your raft. Always wear a helmet if one is offered. Never let go of your T-Grip! This is a very important rule. The T-grip is the end of your paddle that doesn’t go in the water. When a large rapid comes and everyone in your raft dives for the center of the boat or a “Hold On!” is called by your guide, most people instinctively let go of the T-grip to use that hand to hold on with. That means there are up to 8 T-grips flying around in your raft uncovered and could knock anyone in the head. Wear your helmet and hold on to your T-grip.

There are two main types of rafts. One is a self bailing raft. The waves crashing into the raft and water can flow out through holes in the bottom of the raft. These are the most common type. The second type is a bucket boat. These rafts do not have self bailing holes in the bottom and someone must always be bailing out the raft with a bucket or the raft will fill with water and sit too low in the river.

Be sure to wear the correct clothing. Do NOT wear any cotton. Cotton will get soaked quickly and will make you cold. It will also most likely stretch and ruin. Wear your bathing suit and shorts or a shirt that is meant for water sports. Also, wear comfortable shoes that you don’t mind getting soaked. Shoes will protect your feet from a rocky bottom while you are loading, unloading or if you fall out. If you are rafting in a colder environment or water, rent a wetsuit and it will keep you much warmer.

If you fall out of your raft, always point your feet down river and keep your toes above the water. As long as your toes are visible above the water surface, they aren’t stuck on the bottom under a rock. If your guide throws you a bag of rope, do NOT grab the bag. Grab the rope. Turn your back to the raft and hold the rope over one shoulder with both hands pulled to your chest. This keeps the water from getting in your mouth and nose as you get pulled to the raft. Remember, anyone call fall out of a raft for any reason and it’s not a big deal. Your whole raft will be there waiting to help you.

Always have fun and take a few moments to take in the scenery around you. You can even start splashing wars with other rafts on the river. That is always fun.

After your rafting trip, you may want to try other water activities such as kayaking or canoeing, so be sure to schedule other classes at your water park before your trip is over. Enjoy!