we had an overall enjoyable time, but there were definitely some issues.

the safety instructions were not totally clear or thorough.

we went in august, when the water is admittedly low. a group of 5 of us had one raft. there were three other group rafts in our flotilla. our raft got stuck on rocks and in mildly dangerous situations several times. the other rafts did not have the same problem.
our guide worked quite hard for us, but didn't have the knowledge of the river or overall experience to keep us all in the boat and off the rocks.

definitely an activity for the adventurous, and not feint of heart (or swimming skill).

They asked us to arrive at 3. Everyone was waiting in a parking lot for 1 hour and 30 minutes, not doing anything. That is not how my family and I wanted to spend part of our afternoon. We finally got in the boat, on the water, a little after 5 pm! No explanations were given about the delay. Kaweah Whitewater Adventures was extremely disorganized and payed little attention to customer satisfaction. After each rapid we had to wait 5-10 minutes for every boat in our trip (~6 other boats) to go through the rapid. We have been on many rafting trips around the country, and have never experienced this kind of wait time. The afternoon took 4 hours, of which 3 were spent waiting and 1 actually enjoying the river. Luckily our guide was great, extremely knowledgeable and friendly.

Scott, our guide, had great knowledge of the area and was HILARIOUS! We were the first out in the 2010 season and had a BLAST! Frank, the owner, was amazing. He answered questions anytime....day or night. Frank was well prepared even though we were three weeks early into the season. We highly recommend whitewater adventures.

Highest recommendations for Kaweah Whitewater Adventures for rafting on the Kaweah River!!

We (my wife and I) went whitewater rafting on the Kaweah in early April 2009 w/ Kaweah Whitewater Adventures. They are THE local company that runs the river, and their knowledge shows. Frank, the owner and our guide, has been running the river for ~20 yrs, both for his own fun, and commercially for the last 10 yrs.

The river itself, when we ran it, was very early in the season and the water flow was not that high. With that said, most of the rapids are class 3-4 (in high water in May, they are 4-5), and scary enough for us! The river is very non-stop (especially the first 2+ hrs), with very short calm sections between the different sets of rapids. Incredible to see (and feel, especially when one falls out of the boat and is carried in the strong current) the power of the water. The river is one of the few rivers in the Sierras where the flow is completely natural--there are no dams upstream releasing water and controlling the flow. Consequently, the season is very short--April-June. Our schedule was tight, so we went in April and were able to see wildflowers in addition to the rapids.

We were happy to go with a local company--as they seem to know the river the best, and their anecdotes about the little town of Three Rivers, Sequoia Ntnl Park and the Kaweah river were great. We ended up in a raft w/ Frank (the guide/owner), and two off-duty guides who were running the river for fun. Great people! Because of the rain, we skipped lunch and made it through to the put-out. [We received a very fair-to-generous refund for the missed lunch. Ended up eating at Super Taco in nearby Woodlake. Great tacos, but perhaps a different post...]

A great way to see the incredible nature of the Sierras and have an exciting time. I would recommend Kaweah Whitewater Adventures to go whitewater rafting on the Kaweah. One of the best things to do in and around Sequoia National Park!