White Water Rafting - Kaituna Cascades, The Originals

Overview

Available languages

Korean

Japanese

English

Spanish

2 hours

Mobile ticket

Kaituna Cascades was the original company to explore and start rafting the Kaituna River, and is still locally owned and operated by two current raft guides - so you know you'll be in great hands!!

No where in the world can you raft down such a beautiful river that drops into a vertical walled canyon filled with raftable waterfalls and countless playful rapids. The water is deep and warm (most of the year) and is usually a highlight of peoples visit to NZ. All of our guides are handpicked, highly skilled professionals that come from an extreme whitewater background in Kayaking and Rafting. We will give you the safest and most entertaining trip on the river!

This is also most definitely the best value for money rafting in NZ too.

Our aim is have FUN, So come join us for this EPIC once in a lifetime experience.

Cheers & see you on the river - Pete & Blue

Additional Info

Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries

Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller

Service animals allowed

Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health

Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness

Availability is all year round - Warm water in the summer and cooler in the winter (more gear provided)

MUST be under 120 kgs

Not recommended for non swimmers

NO expectant mothers

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

What To Expect

Join us for the most unique and beautiful whitewater rafting experience in New Zealand! The famous Kaituna River is a rafters dream – a 50 minute action packed ride down 11 epic rapids, 3 wild waterfalls – One of which is the highest rafted waterfall in the world at 7 meters. All of this in a deep, usually warm water jungle canyon! All this with our legendary guides & you’ve got yourself the perfect day out! This is an exciting GRADE 5 RAFTING EXPERIENCE. We have a weight limit of 120 kgs and minimum age of 13yrs old - up to 65 years of age Our sweet Rafting Base in Okere Falls is in an awesome sunny location, surrounded by a scenic reserve and backs onto the shores of the Kaituna. We are the closest and most accessible company to the river. The native scenic reserve has a beautiful walking trail which you can view many rapids of the Kaituna River & there is even an amazing café around the corner. This makes for a great half day trip out to this stunning region of Rotorua. Also please note – This is an exciting GRADE 5 RAFTING EXPERIENCE and is NOT SUITED FOR OLDER OR BIGGER PEOPLE, or people that aren’t comfortable in the water. We have a weight limit of 120 kgs.

What‘s Included

Local, professional & highly trained guides

Custom built rafts, wetsuits, helmets, lifejackets, paddles, fleece tops, wetsuit booties, and splash jackets

Digital photos (Available to purchase)

Glasses Strap $5

Rent a Towel $5

Go Pro Harness Hire $5

Other Souvenirs (T-shirt etc)

Options

Rotorua White Water Rafting on the Kaituna River

Option 1: Ever wanted to Raft a 7m waterfall? Join the original Kaituna Rafting Company for an unbeatable grade 5 white-water experience on one of New Zealand's most exciting and beautiful rivers!

Reviews

4.98

1,238 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

1222

Best NZ experience
L9385IOjacobe,,Dec 27, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00
Had the best time white water rafting. Pablo was an excellent guide and helped make it such an enjoyable experience. Cannot recommend this enough.
Brilliant rafting experience - highly recommended.
beckyshep2016,,Dec 23, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00
Brilliant afternoon rafting with Kaituna Cascades. Exhilarating experience and we all enjoyed ourselves. Bal was a great guide - we felt in very safe hands!
Great for our end of year work break up
Georgia R,,Dec 23, 2025
- Review from Viator
5.00
The greatest fun, knowledgeable instructors and all round great day. Everyone was talking about this for days afterwards
Amazing memories!
Tammy G,,Dec 22, 2025
- Review from Viator
5.00
Our family, including our three teenage boys had the best time! Malcolm was very funny and professional always ensuring our safety. The boys are still talking about how much fun they had. Thanks Malcolm…and Viator. The booking system and communication was excellent. Highly recommend.
Amazing memories
623tamg,,Dec 22, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00
Our family, including our three teenage boys absolutely loved our white water experience. Malcolm was very funny and professional while always ensuring our safety. The boys are still talking about how much fun they had! Thanks for the wonderful experience Malcolm!
5 stars is not high enough
Curious43900438489,,Dec 14, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00
COULD NOT HAVE BEEN BETTER. Everything about this experience was pure heaven and adrenaline filled. Our river guide Josh was funny and high energy, ensuring that the trip was UNFORGETTABLE. despite the crazy river conditions and various levels of experience in the boat, Josh always made us felt safe and well informed on what to do in case the raft flipped. My wife and I worry that this river may have ruined rafting for us since no where else in the world can match this level of intensity along with the GORGEOUS 360 beauty while floating. I couldn’t imagine being in the area and not going down Kaituna. I couldn’t recommend it enough and hope everyone gets a chance to experience this. We got INSANE GoPro footage but still ended up buying the photos they took of us since they re such high quality and capture the best moments. They could charge double and I would still be happy to pay for this raft. 11/10 vibes and crew.
A Must Do in Rotorua
Sacha T,,Dec 12, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00
A must do in Rotorua ! We highly recommand it. Thank you again Jesper, you made it even better :) Have a nice Rafting Christmas !
Breathtaking scenery and Heart stopping action
Russell T,,Dec 11, 2025
- Review from Viator
5.00
The most amazing bucket list experience of my life with breathtaking scenery and heart stopping action I would recommend it as something to not miss out on
Highlight of our trip
Roving795400,,Dec 10, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00
Wonderful experience from start to finish. Shout out to Flynn for being such a fun guide, Bal for making us feel safe, and Josh for taking incredible photos. If you’re not sure which rafting group to do Kaituna with - choose Kaituna Cascades!! The experience was worth every penny and a highlight of our trip. If you’re moderately fit and up for an adventure, you will have a blast.
Great Afternoon
Go45180621719,,Dec 10, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00
Attended with a family, our guide was Olly. Top guide, made everyone feel comfortable and really made the experience enjoyable for everyone, even the nervous ones. Thanks Ollie!!