Canadian Outback Rafting

I was lucky enough to be treated to a day of whitewater rafting for my recent birthday.
Our booking was for 9am on a Sunday, which meant a very early morning waking up and driving to Squamish. We booked a few weeks in advance and even at that time they were a little short on time-​slots, so it was understandable.
We arrived as instructed for about 8:30 on the morning of and parked in the lot at the Executive Suites. We found the lobby area overwhelmed with would-​be rafters, and so after filling out a waiver each we walked around for a bit.
At about 9 we met the instructors around the side of the hotel where we were shown how to put on all the gear. They recommended keeping swimming trunks on and nothing else as wetsuits, helmets, lifejackets and boots are all provided. They have separate changing rooms which are locked up while participants are out on the excursion, however I wouldn’t recommend keeping valuables there. I left a few items of clothing to change into and that was it. They recommend that you leave your hats, sunglasses, cameras, etc behind because they can and will get lost along the river. If you must, wear some cheap sunglasses and they will tape them to your head for the duration of the trip.
We were loaded onto the bus and left shortly thereafter. The bus was jam-​packed with nary a seat to spare. The guides occupied the front of the bus. They were full of enthusiasm and seemed to love their job, and their enthusiasm was infectious. They asked us each to stand up, introduce ourselves and tell everyone else what we had done this summer and what we planned to do with the remainder of the summer. That alone took up most of the hour or so of the bus drive. Speaking of which most of the trip was ‘off-​road’ with the bus meandering along slowly next to the rapids. It was a bit bumpy but not uncomfortable, and besides I was focused on what lay ahead!
When we arrived the guides unloaded everything quickly and encouraged us to ‘water the trees’ as this would be our last opportunity for awhile. It’s not so easy to wriggle out from all those layers! Next we were divided up into teams and assigned guides for the various rafts. We pushed off and with a little instruction and encouragement, after a few minutes we were paddling as a team. The rapids on this journey were class 3 and 4, about the most a beginner can comfortably handle. I had rafted a few times in the past but over much tamer waters. The Elaho river rapids were challenging but not overly dangerous, provided you’re keeping your wits about you.
Our guide was superb with his instructions. He had clearly experienced it all before and knew what routes to take, and what maneuvers to do when. In the couple hours we were on board he never hesitated. He was friendly but not overly chatty and let us switch positions on the raft and have a good time so long as we weren’t goofing off. He also pointed out some of the sights along the river and knew all the significant rapids by name. Safety was never an issue.
We stopped about halfway to two-​thirds down the river for a quick snack and some iced-​tea. It was only a ten or fifteen minute stop but really hit the spot. We had brought our own water and snacks on the bus but left them there for the ride back to the hotel — I’d recommend doing the same.
The return trip was a lot quieter, and upon our return to hotel there was chips and salsa waiting for us. Members of each raft had their own table with their designated guide and they took this opportunity to show us the photos that their professional photographer had taken. I believe if you buy them they are $ 30-​$ 40 and come on a 3GB USB stick which is yours to keep.
Overall, this is well worth checking out. Certainly worth the cost of admission!

The guides were really entertaining and made the trip super enjoyable. Felt safe the entire time and had a lot of fun!

I went white water rafting for the first time a few summers ago with this company. My friend and I drove from Vancouver to Squamish and parked at the Executive Suites Hotel. We waited outside the hotel for the rest of our tour group to arrive. Once all assembled, we were provided with safety gear (life jackets and helmets) and the option of wetsuits. The outback staff transported us to the river on a school bus. The guides were friendly and made the experience enjoyable. They took the time to find out everyone’s rafting experience level and to teach those us of who were new to rafting. Given this was the first time rafting for both my friend and I, we signed up for the Cheakamus River day trip. The excursion we went on was lower grade rapids but they have class 3 – 4 rapid trips for those of you looking for more excitement.
I had wanted to bring my camera but didn’t want to loss it in the river, so decided to leave it at home. The company has someone taking pictures from the shore and copies of the photos can be purchased at the end of the tour. Luckily, I had a gift certificate for the trip that included the photos, otherwise I don’t think I would have paid extra to purchase the pictures.
Overall, we had a great time and I’d raft again with this company. The time on the river was fun and the scenery was beautiful.
Advise: wear sunscreen, bug repellant and clothes that dry quickly. I’d also recommend bringing a change of clothing for afterwards, a water bottle and snacks. The company provides a light snack on the raft but nothing substantial. If you are traveling from Vancouver like I was, plan for it to be a full day outing.

I really liked our tour! It was so much fun! Our guide Ash was awesome! Really beautiful tour and rapids were perfect for my husband and I that were beginners!

Wow I haven’t written a review in a longggggggg time. Anyways, I felt that I really needed to for Canadian Outback for the good and the (gasp) bad things I experienced with them.
Lets get the bad review out of the way, shall we?
My friends and I travel to Whistler quite often and do activities. (Love love whistler). Last weekend we decided to do ATVing and rafting. So we had ATVing booked on the Saturday and rafting on the Sunday. We showed up about 20 minutes to 2PM (our tour was booked for 2PM) and we were so pumped to go because this was the first ATV experience for some of us (we had a group of 4). After we signed in, we were told to wait outside the office for our guide to show up, so we waited. and the guide was LATE!!! At first we though maybe we were standing at the wrong place, so I ran inside to check and the girl at the desk simply said «he’s running late, just wait outside. He didn’t even come pick up his package yet (no idea what she meant by this but I guess guides are supposed to pick something up from the desk before they grab us?)» anyways she wasn’t being rude or anything but it kinda annoyed me that she didn’t even make an effort to find out where our guide was or apologize or anything. I guess to be fair it was only 5 past 2 at this point, but considering companies always tell us to be 15minutes early and emphasize no refund policy for lateness, I found it a bit unprofessional. Anyways so we waited and we noticed that other people that booked the same tour were starting to become a bit annoyed too. It wasn’t until AFTER the 2:15 zip trek eagle tour had left that our guide showed up looking as unenthusiastic as ever. Someone in the group, pretty annoyed at this point said you are late out loud to which he replied «yes I am». If he noticed our entire tour group go completely silent at this point, he totally ignored it. No apologies whatsoever. He wandered off to find some other ppl who had grown tired of waiting n when he was gone some people said «I don’t want to go on this tour anymore» my friends said «he can’t be the only guide… There are so many of us. Let’s see if the other ones are nice» so off we went.
By the way if any managers are reading this, he was the one driving the bus for the July 20^th 2pm atv tour. You guys are lucky your other guides were nice because I, as well as several other ppl, would not hv gone on the tour if that guy was our guide. I forget the name of the guy that actually took us around (we did the easy tour) but he was awesome. I ended up having so much fun.
On Sunday we went rafting on elaho river and before I continue I hv to say something first. I booked both tours through Mick over the phone and he was so so helpful! He had a British? Accent. Anyways wonderful guy. He even told me about the $ 10 for booking two tours w them. He helped me book my rafting trip even tho it was fully booked at first but he was able open up a later time.
Anyways I love rafting! This was my second time and I had so much fun. Elaho river was beautiful, longer and had more waves than the green River I tried on whistler. Their base is about 45 minutes away from whistler tho becuz they r located in Squamish. We booked it on the day we were going bk home to van so it worked out for us. We enjoyed our trip fully — I forget our guides name I’m sorry but he was fantastic! We prob had more fun than the other raft for sure because he let us do different things like spin around in circles, stand on the raft n hold on with a rope and jump in the water n swim etc. He was also so knowledgeable telling us different names of parts of the river and pointing out different things to look at. The only thing was that the river was so cold but it was still fun regardless. They also provided us with a fleece blanket cuz I was cold. Oh and they also gv us energy bars that tasted like peanut butter and omg they were so good. I wish they offered the pictures for free like wedge rafting does. You have to buy them for $ 45 and I kind of felt like we were being pressured to buy them because they offer u free nachos n make u look at photos and encourage you to buy them.
Overall they get 3. 5stars. They are good but needs improvement.