All of our terms and policies regarding our rafting trips are laid out in our Terms & Policies document on this website. We ask that you give it a quick read before booking to clarify our business’ policies.
Option 1 – Go to the Contact & Booking page of this website. The form there will send us all of your information. We will contact you to confirm all of the details, and make any necessary arrangements.
Option 2 – Email us at info@ecorafting.co.nz with your information. We generally need to know your name, contact phone number or email address, the rafting trip you are interested in, the number of people to be rafting, and the date you are planning to go rafting.
Option 3 – Give us a call at +64 3 755 4254. Or, if you are in New Zealand, toll-free at 0508 669 675. If we’re not around, leave your information and we’ll get back to you as soon as we possibly can. You can also use Skype to call us. Our Skype status is displayed on our contact page, from which you can launch the program and call us.
Guides looking for work – We only hire guides with a senior grade 5 NZ license, we do have training options for overseas guides wanting the best rivers to train on and get a NZ qualafication.
We prefer it when people contact us to book ahead. It guarantees you a rafting adventure. However, last minute bookings are not a problem and can be accommodated.
Our half-day and full-day trips are run daily, and though reservations are not needed, they are appreciated. Our multi-day trips are generally run by booking only. Contact us if you are interested in one, and we can discuss the options and availability.
The International Scale of River Difficulty is a standardized scale used to rate the safety of a stretch of river, or a single rapid. The grade reflects the technical difficulty, skill level required, and dangers associated with the section of river.
Specifically, the grading system for New Zealand and Australia is as follows:
Grade 1 – Small regular waves. Easy passage, but care may be needed with obstacles.
Grade 2 – Regular medium sized waves and generally unobstructed passage.
Grade 3 – Fairly high waves, and the passage may be difficult to recognize from on the river.
Grade 4 – High, powerful, irregular waves, with the passage often difficult to recognize.
Grade 5 – Very difficult rapids; the extreme for commercial operations.
Our rafting season runs from October through April each year. Any moment within those months, these rivers are prime for a good ride. We recieve the highest rainfall in NZ here on the West Coast and it is not uncommon to get hot sun and rain in the same day. Our rivers are fed by Glaciers or Lakes so we do not have low water problems like other operators in NZ – Rain or shine, we’ll be running our adventure trips.
We only cancel in extremely adverse conditions.
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New Zealand is the leading country in the world for rafting safety standards. All of our guides are certified Grade 5, and there is a senior guide and safety kayaker on every trip.
We have never had any serious injuries on any of our trips. We have river specific safety plans and emergency procedures for every river we run. We carry a satellite phone and satellite emergency locator beacon
Before helicopter transport we ensure a helicopter safety briefing is carried out, and before getting on the water we give a comprehensive water and rafting safety briefing and paddling lesson.
We use the highest quality self-bailing rafts, which means that collected water automatically drains out the bottom. We inspect all of our equipment on a weekly basis, and it is inspected once per season by Maritime New Zealand, a government authority on whitewater rafting safety.
Joshua Marcotte, Eco Raftings owner and head guide, is grade 5 senior guide and an Assesor for the New Zealand Rafting industry, rated as the the highest rafting qualification in the world. All of our guides participate in and help run Bi-annual swift water rescue courses.
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We only cancel in extremely adverse conditions, in which case we provide a 100% refund. Rain doesn’t bother us, you’re going to get wet anyway! We provide good quality wetsuits, diving boots, gloves, thermal underwear and splash tops so you stay warm all day, rain or shine.
We are located just outside Franz Joseph, West Coast on the South Island, New Zealand. We provide free pick-up and drop-off from Whataroa and Franz Joseph though if you have your own transport it is best if you meet us at the river. Otherwise, busses run daily – and almost hourly – from the Greymouth and Hokitika information centers.
There are a number of tours and coach lines which run right through Franz Joseph. Find more information about transport around New Zealand on the Links page of this website. The companies listed there all provide lines to Franz Joseph.
We are close to Hokitika and Franz Joseph, we have secure carpark for cars and campervans and there is an excellent campervan site right on the beach at ‘Okarito’ 15 minutes drive from our base.
You should always bring a swimsuit, a towel, and medication for any medical conditions or allergies you may have. Some of our trips are fully catered, others you’ll need to bring a lunch. On our non-catered trips, we’ll generally provide juice and small snacks.
Eco-Rafting provides all of the rafting gear, Warm thermal underwear/wetsuits/drytops/diving boots/gloves/helmets/lifejackets, and – for our overnight trips – we provide all tents and camping gear with the exception of a sleeping bag and mat, which you’ll need to bring. You’ll find all of this information noted in the details of each trip on the Rafting Adventures page of this website.
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The only two rivers that require previous experience are the Perth and Karamea rivers. In these cases, if you have a high fitness level and are a strong swimmer, no previous rafting experience is required.
All the other rivers have walk around options on the bigger rapids, so if someone in your group is not very confident it is not a problem, we will walk them around the grunty rapids and they can cheer the others through
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