Wairoa River Rafting

Wairoa River Rafting

190

Take on the mighty Wairoa River in an adrenaline pumping rafting expedition you’ll never forget!

The Grade 5 Wairoa River rafting is renowned for having some of the best white water action in New Zealand. Kaituna Cascades run the whole of the river including the bottom three rapids and the lower waterfall!

After a good safety talk and a few light jokes, your into it.  A few small waves and the first rapid “Humpty Dumpty” will have you nicely warmed up – before heading straight into ‘Mothers Nightmare’ which has a technical grade 4 rock garden entrance followed closely by a sweet 2 meter waterfall.

Then the action doesn’t really slow down for the next hour or two !

Experience the thrill of ‘The Rollercoaster’ –  a long hard and violently fun staircase of whitewater that will get even the hardest of souls going. Feel the rush of ‘The Waterfall’ which has an awesome 3 meter drop into a churning pool of white water!  And then continue down through the rest of the Wairoa Rivers amazing boulder-strewn rock canyon in a combination of awesome grade 3 & 4 rapids and waterfalls.

There are also 2 optional cliff jumps for those that just want more adrenaline….!

The Wairoa has it all – come check it out for yourself 

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.

Book Now

Kaituna Cascades Wairoa River Rafting 2
Whitewater Rafting on the Wairoa River in Tauranga NZ

PLEASE NOTE:
The power company only release water on certain Sundays, 26 days a year over the Spring/Summer/Autumn period for us to go rafting. SO GET IN QUICK

The Flow dates for 2025/26 are:

September 2025  Sunday 28
 October 2025  Sunday 12, 26
 November 2025  Sunday 9, 23
 December 2025  Sunday 7, 14, 21, 28
 January 2026  Sunday 4, 11, 18, 25
 February 2026  Sunday 1, 8, 14/15, 22 
 March 2026  Sunday 1, 8, 15, 22, 29
 April 2026  Sunday 5, 12, 19
 May 2026  None

Check in Time

9.30am - meeting at the river or return transport available from Rotorua leaving at 8.30am.

Duration

Allow 5 hours (leaving from Rotorua) or 3 hours meeting at the river - with around 2 hours on the river.

Availability

Due to Wairoa being dam release, this combo tour only runs 26 days per year, every Sunday during summer months, with some Spring and Autumn releases too.

Location

The river is located just outside Tauranga at 1376 highway 29, 15 minutes from Tauranga or 50 minutes from Rotorua.

Conditions

Age 13 - 65 years. Swimming skills are required. NOT SUITABLE FOR PREGNANT WOMEN or THOSE WITH HEART CONDITIONS. MAXIMUN WEIGHT is 120kgs - must be fit and healthy.

We Provide

The best guides on the river, custom built rafts, wetsuits, helmets, lifejackets, paddles, fleece tops, wetsuit booties, and splash jackets.

Price Includes

Transport available - but self driving is recommended.

What to bring

Swimwear, Shorts & Towel. We are GoPro friendly, feel free to bring yours along. Please bring a chest harness for your GoPro.

Minimum Numbers

This tour requires a total of 4 people to go ahead.

Gallery

design
TA logo primary@1X

Health & Safety

We are taking all precautionary safety measures to give you a safe (and amazing) trip down our iconic Kaituna River, Wairoa & Rangitaiki Rivers. However River Rafting is an adventure activity with a degree of risk which increases with the grade of rapids. Rafts can capsize, and people may fall out of the raft in fast flowing & violent water, people may be injured.
The Kaituna & Wairoa River’s are class 5 rivers and both have waterfalls and hard rapids.
Grade 5 = Very difficult rapids, High-powerful-irregular waves, difficult to negotiate, the extreme for commercial operations. This said – The Kaituna river is an amazing river & is normally good for most fit and healthy people”

PARTICIPANTS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT KAITUNA CASCADES CANNOT GUARANTEE YOUR SAFETY.

Layer 2@1X 1
  • star rating  An amazing afternoon with Ben at the helm. The staff were all amazing, friendly and very professional with many laughs. An absolute fun and challenging couple of hours. Would also... read more

    Lorraine and Lance
    March 1, 2022
  • star rating  Great fun..!! Start to finish, it was an amazing experience. Hamish (hope i spelled it right or atleast close enough) was so fun not only ensured our safety but also... read more

    Vibhay
    January 1, 1970
  • star rating  my three friends and I came down for a weekend and we knew we should do some rafting! i’m absolutely stoked that we chose to do it here, everyone working... read more

    Eden Garside
    January 1, 1970
  • star rating  The river was so fun- the instructors were amazing and it was a great experience. The instructors knew what they were doing and made the whole experience very fun.

    Soapy13
    April 27, 2022
  • star rating  Awesome with funny guides. We went down with only three in the boat but still Managed to make it towards the end. The 7 meter drop was the best part... read more

    Blakey468
    April 22, 2021
  • star rating  loved every minute. crew were really nice and funny especially our guide Hayley - she was super fun + made the experience amazinggg for my friends and i. highly recommend!

    Mia
    January 1, 2022
  • star rating  Bluey and the boys were awesome! Hands down a great experience with friendly and very capable guides. Lots of laughs and thrills! Can’t wait to get back on the water... read more

    Frazbroon
    July 9, 2022
  • star rating  Heaps of fun! Went with my 15 year old son. Contemplated going back for the afternoon booking but will wait for other family to join us next time. Always... read more

    Amber J
    January 1, 1970
  • star rating  I had the most amazing time with these guys, from welcome to exit. Eoin was such a great coach and explained everything to keep us safe (+1 for the beautiful... read more

    Tyson1991
    July 1, 2021
  • star rating  Had boys trip and this was our first stop. Went down the river with Blu, he was awesome and gave us a great experience. Would definitely recommend going with Kaituna... read more

    jasony520
    January 1, 2022
TA logo primary@1X