Breathtaking Dart River: Queenstown Jet Boat & Funyak Adventure

Great experience to celebrate retirement of Sydney mum & 2 adult sons! Guides were enthusiastic, skilled and safety-conscious. Their knowledge of indigenous heritage mindfully conveyed & admiration for natural beauty of area infectious. We found Rob & Wolfgang particularly interactive and felt confident in their leadership.

This was a wonderful experience all round and great way to get amongst the spectacular scenery. Dart River Adventures made the day easy with their organisation and professionalism. A big thank you to our jet boat driver Jordan, our Funyak guides Lennox, Rob, Anna, Wolfgang and the shuttle drivers who got us where we needed to be (sorry I couldn’t remember everyone’s name) A must do experience if you’re in Queenstown.

This adventure was really meaningful and so much fun! The scenery was absolutely amazing – my friends and I were in awe of the views of Paradise. On December 2nd, our Funyak coach was a female instructor who guided us throughout the trip. She was very patient, friendly, and brave, always encouraging us and even helping our team push the Funyak multiple times. This adventure was truly unforgettable. All the coaches worked hard, were very enthusiastic, and took great care of everyone. We had an amazing experience!

This was an amazing experience! Every employee was kind and professional. We felt very safe the entire time, and the views are absolutely spectacular. You don’t have to be an adrenaline junky to love this tour. I am prone to motion sickness, but I didn’t get sick at all (just take some medicine or wear a patch and you’ll be fine). Georgia was our guide, and she went above and beyond. We loved it and will definitely recommend this tour to our family and friends.

We had an amazing time on dart river, with the highlight being the gorge, which is apparently only able to be entered on 50% of trips. The scenery was incredible and we wouldn't have been able to see it any other way. It was one of the best things we did on our NZ trip. Bring a bottle of water with you. If you think this is going to be a calm kayak ride, it's not. There are strong currents and the water is quite deep at points. We were tipped out of our funyak when another couple's funyak pushed us into a rock. We were in the glacial waters holding onto the rope on the outside of the funyak being pulled along rapidly down the river by the current, unable to see where we were going because the funyak was in front of our faces. After a while the guide realised we were screaming and came to help us get back into the funyak. It was freezing/terrifying and I lost my glasses, but we were ok after we were back in the funyak, because amazingly the wetsuits kept us from being too cold. The lunch is a bread roll each with a variety of fillings that you select yourself, and some fruit/cake. Given that they bring a chest with the food on it, in the kayak, it’s impressive. The guides were friendly and in the last part our guide kindly tethered 3 of the kayaks together in our group, then gave us instructions on when to row. It was much better in the second half, as we didn’t need to worry about missing the turns/ stops because the current was too strong, nor being tipped out again.

Worth the price. Great and enjoyable experience. The tour really takes care of you and insures you are happy.

Just do it! I was reluctant thinking I wasn’t fit enough but it was the best day ever. Nikki our jet boat driver was very experienced and made our ride out to the start of our funyaks journey exciting, stopping along the way to give us interesting information. We met our guides Brandon and Rob and after a short brief we were in our way down stream to our lunch spot. Lunch was delicious. After lunch we entered the chasm which was the best experience of the day apart from everything else. I cannot recommend this day highly enough. And if you are a Lord of The Rings fan you will like it even more. 10/10. Thank you Mac our bus driver, Nikki, Rob and Brandon.

-The flow of the dart river and its level were high. So we didnt enter the Chasem - what I was waited for, also we had been tight up as a raft instead of indeviduall cannoe option - this diminished the hype from the adventuere. - Food for vegeterian is so-so. - Some of the guides was not very nice - we felt like we owe them something . The Jet boat was also very mild ... The positive points are that at least they gave us a chance to decide wether we want to change or cancel and receive a refund in real time. But pitty that they didnt offer a rebook voucher on top of the partial experience. I think that was a better idea if they had think about it.

Best fun we've had in years. So well organised and the guides Matt and Rob were fabulous. Ages from 11 to 80 and all had a great experience not to mention the stunning scenery. Highly recommend this experience to anyone, especially if you love peace and tranquility.

We had a fantastic experience from start to finish. Scenery, weather, coupled with caring and helpful staff who were very professional in what they did made for a memorable experience.