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Conquer the Rapids on the Spectacular Ovens River
Ready for an unforgettable splash of adventure? Immerse yourself in the stunning natural beauty of Bright with our guided whitewater packrafting experience. Perfect for beginners and families seeking an achievable challenge, this tour guides you through the pristine waters and breathtaking scenery of the Ovens River Gorge. 🌊
Your Whitewater Journey
We begin your adventure at Jenvey’s Swimming Hole, where our expert guides will fit you with premium safety gear and teach you essential paddling skills on moving water. Once you are comfortable, we will navigate a series of gentle rapids before portaging to the faster, more thrilling waters below. You will paddle through increasingly challenging grade 1 and 2 rapids, carving your way through the spectacular Bright Gorge before finishing at Ashwood Avenue. 🚣
Tour Highlights & Details
- The Ultimate Craft: We use highly manoeuvrable single-person packrafts to give you full control of your journey (double rafts are available upon request when booking).
- Expert Guidance: Two professional leaders accompany every trip, tailoring their coaching to your experience level so you feel safe and confident.
- Stunning Location: Explore the beautiful Ovens River in Bright, Victoria, during the gorgeous spring, summer, or autumn months.
- Family Friendly: A wonderful outdoor experience suitable for ages 12 and up in single crafts, or ages 8 and up in a double sports raft with an adult. ✨
Essential Tour Information
- Times: Typically scheduled in the mornings from 8:30 am to 11:30 am (by arrangement).
- What is Included: Two professional guides, packrafts/kayaks, paddles, and all safety equipment (helmets and lifejackets).
- Prerequisites: A basic swimming ability is required. You must be comfortable in moving water in case of an accidental spill. Children under 16 must be accompanied by a participating adult.
What to Wear & Bring
To ensure a safe and comfortable day on the water, please prepare the following:
- Footwear: Closed-toe shoes are mandatory (runners, lightweight boots, or river shoes). Strictly no open-toe shoes, sports sandals, crocs, thongs, or bare feet.
- Clothing: Bathers worn underneath, with shorts and a T-shirt. A wetsuit is highly recommended for those of a slighter build.
- Post-Paddle Gear: A towel, warm clothing, and a complete change of clothes to leave in your car at the pull-out point. ☀️
- Personal Items: Sunscreen, drinking water, snacks, and any personal medication.
Thank you for booking with Adventure Guides Australia.
Please keep a digital copy of your booking to show our instructors on the day of your tour.
Below are some information you might want to know before your tours:
- Car Parking: There will be sufficient parking at the meeting area.
- Mobile Coverage: Good coverage
- For Tour Preparation: Please see our attached tour file.
We are looking forward to seeing you.
Team at AGA
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Children under 16 to be accompanied by a participating adult.
SUITS
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As a complete beginner, I was initially a bit nervous, but the team immediately put me at ease with their friendly and professional approach. They provided a comprehensive introduction to the activity, ensuring I felt comfortable and confident before we even hit the water.
The river itself was stunning, with a mix of calm stretches for relaxation and exciting rapids that added a thrill. Our guides, Trina, April and David, were incredibly knowledgeable and enthusiastic, sharing fascinating insights about the river's ecology, including the habitat of local wildlife like platypuses.
Adventure Guides Australia provided all the necessary gear, so all I had to do was show up and enjoy the adventure. I was truly impressed by their professionalism and the overall quality of the experience. I'm already planning my next adventure with them, perhaps a caving expedition or an abseiling experience.
I highly recommend 'Adventure Guides Australia' to anyone seeking an unforgettable outdoor adventure in or arround Bright.
The river itself was stunning, with a mix of calm stretches for relaxation and exciting rapids that added a thrill. Our guides, David, Trina and April, were all incredibly knowledgeable and enthusiastic, sharing fascinating insights about the river's ecology, including the habitat of local wildlife like platypuses.
The Adventure Guides Australia provided all the necessary gear, so all I had to do was show up and enjoy the adventure. I was truly impressed by their professionalism and the overall quality of the experience. I'm already planning my next adventure with them, perhaps a caving expedition or an abseiling experience.
I highly recommend The Adventure Guides Australia to anyone seeking an unforgettable outdoor adventure in Bright.
David and will, our guides, clearly enjoyed their jobs and were gracious enough to continue this booking, despite only there only being my brother and I who booked for that Saturday. Highly recommended.
Booked in a group of 9 at Beechworth. Only one of us had experience, three of us are scared of heights and age ranged from 7-45.
The communication prior was excellent, and the guide on the day was brilliant. He catered for all our abilities.
Special mention for his gift in coaching all the children, especially our seven-year-old who was petrified, he assisted down the 8 metre, giving him confidence to try the 20m.
Best day. Booking in again!
Booked in a group of 9 at Beechworth. Only one of us had experience, three of us are scared of heights and age ranged from 7-45.
The communication prior was excellent, and the guide on the day was brilliant. He catered for all our abilities.
Special mention for his gift in coaching all the children, especially our seven-year-old who was petrified, he assisted down the 8 metre, giving him confidence to try the 20m.
Best day. Booking in again!
The staff are there with you through the whole experience.
I will definitely do it again.
Brad and Trina guided me down the rock face and I have never felt more safe.
Highly recommend this for anyone and everyone.
I felt safe, and looked after the entire time as I was a little nervous about caving. My family loved it, and seeing the glow worms was awesome. I would HIGHLY recommend going on an adventure with these guys. It was so much fun.
Guides were fantastic. Their knowledge of the river and local area was first rate.
Cannot thank you enough for your time.
Greg Ryan Therese Ryan Harry Ryan Jasmine Kiss
Terrible People Skills [Disclaimer; the camp was a good experience regarding the abseiling, this is only about my experience and interaction with one person. I would also like to say Hannah is extremely good with people and was very understanding and very easy to talk to]When I went to Mt Buffalo with a school camp (26 students) in March 2019, we did hiking and abseiling on the first two days and on the the third day we did caving. We were told the night before to wear long pants that we could fit knee pads under or over. We were to partake in two caving experiences. One dry and one wet. I wasn't too keen on either of these as I am claustrophobic and have very high anxiety. I made this very clear and still went ahead with the first caving/hike experience which was the dry one. I had about 3 breakdowns which ended in my sitting and crying and having a panic attack. I find these sort of things very traumatising especially when panic attacks are involved. I didn't make a scene about the first experience when we got back I just sat down and told the teacher I was not going to do the wet one as i had been told it was a lot tighter and you would be crawling through small spaces on your hands and knees.
When my group got ready to go caving in the wet cave I just went over and sat down (As I was told to do by the teacher). I was then asked by a lady i don't know the name of 'What's your excuse' as to why I wasn't going. At this point I was already getting angry as they had been yelling at my friend because she couldn't get knee pads under her SKINS. Which we were told to wear - long pants. But no, we were told the knee pads had to go under so the man; Les started yelling at her and being extremely rude. So; I responded to the lady that it wasn't an excuse and I actually had a reason. She replied very very rudely with 'well what is it then?'. I knew this wasn't going to go down well so i just said I am claustrophobic and this is where Les jumped in. (Remember Les - he's important) He then told me that I did not have a choice in participating unless I had a medical certificate saying I had been diagnosed with claustrophobia AND I was taking medication for it. At this point I was very very angry. I had never met this man in my life and he was making his own judgements and opinions on my mental health. I told him he doesn't know me or my life and he basically spat back in my face saying 'don't give me that bullsh*t'.
It ended with me yelling at him saying I wasn't going to have another panic attack over a caving experience that i didn't want to do or was interested in doing and since this was OPTIONAL I didn't even need to do it. I was dragged away by teachers and my friend and I broke down again and sat on the floor crying and at this point I was on the verge of another panic attack and couldn't breathe. (As was my friend) It took us about 20-40 minutes to fully calm down.
I was very very disappointed in this man's behaviour, there was so much that happened that I did not explain or mention; other things he said that i will just leave out. He should not be working with people let alone kids, he has no understanding and did not try to understand. I did enjoy the abseiling and everything else we did but these activities were done with Hannah and she was absolutely lovely and I really liked her.
I do recommend the activities even the caving especially if you're not claustrophobic but I am very angry, upset and disappointed with the guide Les. I did not have a good experience with him.















