A raft full of paddlers in helmets crashing through a grade 5 rapid on the Zambezi

Compare by activity · 12 rivers · 11 grounds · grades from the operators

Whitewater rafting rivers compared by class

Rivers do not have a height. They have a class, and class 5 is the end of the commercial scale.

Whitewater is graded on the international scale from class 1, moving water, to class 6, not run commercially. Class 5 is the top of what you can book: long, violent rapids with mandatory moves. This page ranks every rafting river on Thrillgrounds by the highest class the operator runs, and says who can come – because the minimum age is the number that changes most from river to river.

Ranked by class

Highest class of rapids the operator runs · 12 entries

01
Class 5
Zambezi, Batoka Gorge
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe & Zambia · Ground 18 · Victoria Falls
Pulse 4/5
“The biggest Grade 5 rapids in the world” by the operator's claim: rapids 1 to 19 from the Boiling Pot directly under the falls at low water, roughly August to December, and a seven-storey climb out of the gorge afterwards.
Who can: 15+
Source: shearwatervictoriafalls.com
$140Book · ★ 4.9 · 100
02
Class 5
Kaituna River
Rotorua, New Zealand · Ground 14 · Rotorua, Taupō & the North Island
Pulse 5/5
Fourteen grade-5 rapids in a short run, and the seven-metre Tutea Falls – the highest waterfall rafted commercially anywhere. Half a day, all year, from thirteen.
Who can: 13+
Source: Operator figures, see the North Island page
$63.63Book · ★ 4.9 · 1,550
03
Class 4
Kicking Horse River
Golden, Canada · Ground 17 · Banff & the Rockies
Pulse 3/5
Twelve kilometres of class 2 to 3 with a one-kilometre stretch of class 4 – the highest class any company may raft commercially in Canada. Roller Coaster, Man Eater and Shotgun are the named rapids.
Source: glacierraft.com
$107.70Book · ★ 4.8 · 315
04
Class 4+
Stranda and Raundal rivers
Voss, Norway · Ground 20 · Fjord Norway
Pulse 4/5
Eight kilometres and nine rapids on the Stranda at class 4+, or the seven-kilometre Raundal canyon when the Stranda runs low in late summer. About two hours on the water.
Who can: 15+
Source: visitvoss.no, Class 4 White Water Rafting with Voss Active
Sold direct
05
Class 3–4
Elaho and Squamish rivers
Squamish, Canada · Ground 16 · Whistler & the Sea to Sky
Pulse 3/5
The Elaho Exhilarator runs class 3 to 4 glacier water in the Coast Mountains; the Cheakamus Splash on the same base is class 1 to 2 for families.
Source: canadianoutbackrafting.com
$172.07Book · ★ 4.9 · 80
06
Class 3–4
Pacuare and Upper Balsa
Costa Rica · Ground 02 · Costa Rica
Pulse 3/5
The Pacuare is the famous one – 18 miles of class 3 to 4 through rainforest gorge – and the Upper Balsa near La Fortuna runs the same grades in half a day. The lower Balsa is class 2 to 3.
Source: Operator figures, see the Costa Rica page
$65Book · ★ 4.9 · 779
07
Class 3–4
Pigeon, Ocoee and Nantahala rivers
Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee and North Carolina · Ground 05 · Smoky Mountains
Pulse 3/5
Sixty rapids of class 3 to 4 on the Upper Pigeon on dam-release days, the Olympic Middle Ocoee at class 3 to 4 an hour south, and the class 2 to 3 Nantahala for beginners. The Lower Pigeon is a class 1 to 2 float from age three.
Who can: Upper: 8+, 70 lb; Lower: 3+
Source: Operator figures, see the Smoky Mountains page
$64Book · ★ 4.8 · 53
08
Class 3–4
Westwater Canyon and Fisher Towers
Moab, Utah · Ground 09 · Moab & Southern Utah
Pulse 3/5
Westwater Canyon on the Colorado is the big water here at class 3 to 4; the seven-mile Fisher Towers stretch is six named rapids at class 1 to 3 with the red rock standing over you.
Source: Operator figures, see the Moab page
$97Book · ★ 4.6 · 501
09
Class 3–5
Shotover River
Queenstown, New Zealand · Ground 21 · Queenstown
Pulse 4/5
Rafting through Skippers Canyon on the river the jetboat cannot run; operators grade it 3 to 5 depending on flow, and publish no fixed class – which is why it sits low here despite its reputation.
Source: See the Queenstown page
Sold direct
10
Class 2–3
Snake River Canyon
Jackson Hole, Wyoming · Ground 08 · Jackson Hole & Yellowstone
Pulse 3/5
Eight miles of class 2 to 3 with the Big Kahuna and Lunch Counter waves, about 90 minutes on the river, from age six – the friendliest whitewater on this page with real waves.
Who can: 6+
Source: Operator figures, see the Jackson Hole page
$120Book · ★ 4.9 · 315
11
Class 2–3
Soča
Bovec, Slovenia · Ground 01 · Soča Valley & Bled
Pulse 3/5
Ten kilometres of the clearest whitewater in Europe, class 2 to 3, from Log Čezsoški to Trnovo. The river is the reason the valley is a ground at all.
Source: Operator figures, see the Soča Valley page
€54Book · ★ 4.9 · 618
12
Class 2–3
Ayung River
Ubud, Bali · Ground 04 · Bali
Pulse 3/5
Two hours of class 2 to 3 through a jungle gorge below Ubud, from age seven – and the most-booked rafting trip on Thrillgrounds by a distance. The Telaga Waja in the east is faster.
Who can: 7+
Source: Operator figures, see the Bali page
$16.37Book · ★ 4.8 · 7,180

Beyond these grounds

Records we have not measured ourselves – because the ground is not built yet or the operator publishes nothing we can check. Listed so the ranking is honest.

Futaleufú, Chile

Class 5

Turquoise class 5 in Patagonia, usually named alongside the Zambezi as the best big water on earth. Chile's south is in our ranking as “Anden Süd” and has not made the cut yet.

Colorado through the Grand Canyon

1–10 scale

Multi-day, on its own 1 to 10 rating scale, permit-limited. Not a day trip and not on these grounds; Moab's Westwater is the nearest entry.

White Nile at Jinja, Uganda

Class 5

Big-volume class 5 at the source of the Nile. Uganda is not a ground.

Before you go

What do the rafting classes mean?

The International Scale of River Difficulty runs from class 1 – moving water with small waves – to class 6, which is not run commercially. Class 3 is where you get wet and have to paddle on command; class 4 has big waves and holes that need precise moves; class 5 is long, violent and continuous, with real consequences for a swim. On this page class 5 is the Zambezi and the Kaituna, class 4 the Kicking Horse and the Voss rivers.

Where are the biggest class 5 rapids in the world?

The Zambezi below Victoria Falls is the usual answer, and the operator there calls them the biggest commercially rafted grade 5 anywhere: rapids 1 to 19 at low water from the Boiling Pot under the falls. The Futaleufú in Chile and the White Nile in Uganda are the other names in that sentence; neither is a Thrillgrounds ground yet.

How old do you have to be to go rafting?

It is the number that varies most on this page. Class 5 starts at fifteen on the Zambezi and thirteen on the Kaituna; class 4 at fifteen in Voss. Class 3 to 4 on the Upper Pigeon takes eight-year-olds over 70 lb. Class 2 to 3 floats take children from six on the Snake, seven on the Ayung and three on the Lower Pigeon.

Is white water rafting dangerous?

Class 2 and 3 trips with a guide have a safety record comparable to any outdoor activity, and every operator here runs them daily. Class 4 and 5 are different: swims happen, and the Zambezi trip ends with a seven-storey climb out of a gorge. Operators publish age and health limits rather than accident figures, and we do not invent the latter. Wear the helmet and listen to the guide; that is most of it.

When is the rafting season?

It follows the water. The Zambezi's full run needs low water, roughly August to December; the Kaituna and the Ayung run all year; the Alpine and Canadian rivers run on snowmelt from May to September, and the Voss rivers swap from the Stranda to the Raundal when levels drop in August. Dam-release rivers like the Pigeon run on fixed days.

What does rafting cost?

On GetYourGuide on the date at the foot of this page: the Ayung in Bali from about $18, the Ocoee and the Nantahala $47 to $64, the Soča €54 to €68, the Kaituna $64 to $77, the Upper Balsa $84 and the Pacuare $125, the Snake $115 to $130, the Kicking Horse about $133, the Zambezi $138 to $175, the Elaho $172, Voss €170 to €178 and Westwater Canyon $237.