Tully River Full-Day Rafting: Cairns, Mission Beach or Self-Drive
Description
Brace yourself for one of the most intense and exhilarating experiences in Tropical North Queensland— white-water rafting on the mighty Tully River. This full-day adventure plunges you into the heart of Tully Gorge National Park, where fast-flowing water, rugged terrain and rainforest collide to create the ultimate rafting challenge. Led by expert guides, you’ll spend up to 3 hours charging through powerful Grade 3-4 rapids, tackling steep drops, and navigate swirling currents that will keep your adrenaline pumping from start to finish. After conquering the river, wind down with a well-earned pub dinner, swap stories with your crew, and relive the day’s epic moments. If you're chasing serious thrills, this is the adventure that delivers. All gear is provided, and hotel pickup and drop-off from Cairns or Mission Beach, or self-drive (Selected at the time of booking), making it easy to jump straight into the action. River Levy: $35AUD per person is payable on the day of travel
Tour Options
Itinerary
Spend up to 3 hours on the mighty Tully River.
Enjoy a hearty pub dinner at El Arish.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
We pick up from limited hotels and accommodations in Cairns or Mission Beach (If option is selected). A self-drive option is also available (If option is selected).
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Travelers should have a high level of physical fitness
- Children aged 13-17 years require a parent or guardians counter signature on the waiver form
- Minimum age: 13 years to participate in Rafting
- IMPORTANT: Please note that all participants must have a competent swimming ability and be able to understand and follow River Guide instructions in English to take part in Tully River rafting. This is essential for your safety. English speaking and comprehension will be assessed by our River Guides at the time of pick-up. If there are any concerns regarding a guest’s ability to understand instructions or communicate effectively with the guides, participation may not be permitted.
- Not suitable for suitable for pregnant travelers
Reviews(687)
Great fun on the water! Rocky kept the vibe going from the minute we got on the bus and all the way down the river. Endlessly entertaining and his knowledge of the local ecosystem was surprising in its detail. Rocky was proactive with safety, including radioing ahead for an extra thermal layer as my friend was really feeling the cold. Highly recommended. Great fun! Bribe someone to get into Rocky’s raft. You’ll thank me later.
Thanks heaps for these awesome words, Gavin! Nothing we love more than happy adventurers. See you next round!
We received confirmation of the excursion again at 9:00 AM the day before and then traveled to the vicinity of the starting point. At 3:00 PM, we unexpectedly received an email canceling the excursion. Although other options were mentioned as alternatives, they were several hundred kilometers away and therefore not feasible for us. That was absolutely impractical for us and very disappointing. Overall, the last-minute cancellation after we had already traveled there upset us greatly and severely disappointed our expectations. We would have wished for significantly more reliability and better communication here.
Thank you for taking the time to share your experience with us. We’re very sorry to hear about the late cancellation and the inconvenience this caused, especially after you had already travelled closer to the departure point. We completely understand how frustrating and disappointing this would have been, and we sincerely apologise for the impact it had on your plans. While cancellations are always a last resort and can sometimes occur due to operational or safety reasons beyond our control, we recognise that better communication in these situations is essential. We also appreciate your feedback regarding the alternative options offered, and we understand that these were not practical for your itinerary. Please be assured that your experience has been shared with our team so we can continue improving both our communication and processes in the future. If you would like to discuss this further, we would very much welcome the opportunity to speak with you — please feel free to contact us at info@cairnsadventuregroup.com.au. Once again, we sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused and thank you for your feedback.
What an amazing experience on the Tully River! The rafting was so much fun from start to finish. The guides were highly trained, professional, and made everyone feel safe and confident while still keeping the adventure exciting. The scenery along the river was absolutely stunning, with beautiful rainforest views and crystal-clear water adding to the experience. The whole team was friendly, organised, and passionate about what they do. If you're looking for an unforgettable adventure in Far North Queensland, I highly recommend Tully River rafting. A fantastic day out and definitely a highlight of our trip!
We’re grinning from ear to ear reading your review! The whole crew puts a lot of heart into creating epic days out, so it means a lot that you had such a great time. Thanks for choosing Cairns Adventure Group — see you for another adventure soon!
Well organised, great fun and excellent guides with a lot of attention to safety. The meal at the end was subpar. I would have preferred they distributed snacks and got back to Cairns earlier as it's a very long day. (Of course, this is where they pitch the ($59!!) photos.) The river fee should be included in the price not collected on the bus with a surcharge. I imagine they don't want to include it as it would make the price too expensive.
Thank you for your detailed review, we really appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts 😊We’re so glad to hear you had a great time overall and enjoyed the experience with our guides. We’ll definitely pass on your kind feedback about their organisation and focus on safety, that’s something we place a very high priority on. We’re sorry to hear that the meal didn’t quite meet your expectations and that the day felt a bit long. We understand that it can be a full day, and your suggestion around snacks and timing is really helpful, it’s something we’ll take on board as we review how we structure the experience. In regard to the river fee, it is a mandatory national park fee. Collecting it at the time of booking is our preference, but this is dependent on which agent you book with :) We also appreciate your feedback on the photo offering and overall timing — it’s all valuable in helping us improve the experience. Thanks again for your honest feedback, and we hope to welcome you back for another adventure in the future
Jack was our guide, he killed it! Great trip, best white water rafting trip I have ever been on! 2 hr ride was so worth it. Food and watching the slides afterward at the pub, great way to end the day!
Cheers for this, Chris! Join us again soon :)
Amazing and thrilling rafting, great amount of rapids to paddle through Erin was a great guide, made us feel safe in the raft , but made the whole river journey so much fun, this tour is the one thing I would definitely rebook
Cheers for this awesome review, Hilary!
My husband and I decided to do White Water Rafting rather than a trip to the Barrier Reef as the weather was a little unsettled. We had a fantastic day with Raging Thunder Adventures. Everything was well organised and the staff were very friendly and professional. This was our 2nd time White Water Rafting, the first was in Nepal. We would highly recommend the Tully River as the water is beautiful, the rapids are so much fun and the scenery down the river is spectacular. We were blessed to have Dazza as our guide and we thoroughly enjoyed our experience with him, he was so knowledgeable, personable and professional. After the day’s adventures we had a meal at a country pub on the way back to Cairns. We thoroughly recommend this experience.
Thankyou for your review! We love to hear that you had a fantastic day getting to raft the Tully River with Dazza :)
We had an absolute blast. Our guide, Julian, was a gem! Funny, confident, and knowledgeable! My dad (81) loved it too. Would do it again in a heart beat!
We absolutely love to hear that you and your dad had a blast out on the river with Julian :)
The best rafting trip I have ever booked. The rapids were very challenging giving us an adrenaline rush every few minutes. The scenery is beautiful, the water temperature was cool but not that cold that you cant swim. Our guide Jack gave us almost military training before we left which provided us with the skills to challenge the very strong 13km river currents. Great battered fish and chip meal at the pub. An another big plus capturing all the moments for us in the pictures they sold. Well done guys we really had a good time. Highly recommend it.
Thankyou for your review, Denise! It is wonderful to hear that it was the best rafting trip you have ever booked! We hope to see you back out on the river soon :)
Glad to have Paul as our guide, he is not only professional, but also very encouraging and funny. We were pretty nervous the day before but everything went smoothly! Overall an exciting but safe raft ride! Would recommend everyone to try
That makes us so happy to hear that Paul was an encouraging and professional guide and that you had an exciting tour :)
