Serious Fun River Surfing

Address: Base Shop: 39 Camp Street     Queenstown          Summer only activity - September to May only     Hours: 9.00 am and 2.00 pm trips      Telephone: NZ Only 0800 737 4687 Fax: +64 3 442 5265

"The experience was great, the guys were super friendly and helpful, felt totally safe the whole time. Awesome!!!"
Sybil - Canada

"Fantastic but exhausting. Very glad we went again the second time. Great people. Heaps of fun. Thank you."
Laura - Australia

Some of the feedback on this SERIOUSLY unique New Zealand experience you just have to partake in.

Chinese Dog Leg
Serious Fun is the only company to board the infamous Chinese Dogleg section. This section takes you through some of the most beautiful and enchanting scenery on the Kawarau River. The Trip is up to 2.5 hours on the water.

After an introduction in calm water on the basic riversurfing techniques we go around a couple of corners to come to our first rapid Smith Falls. This is an 80m long class 3 rapid where everybody gets their hair wet. Its also great opportunity to try your first barrel roll!

After Smith Falls, the group will float through the ‘Pillars of the Kings’ from The Lord of the Rings. Next stop is the first commercial bungy jump of the world the historic Kawarau Bungy bridge. Here we stop for a rock jump and get a nice fish-eye view of the jumpers when we float underneath the bridge.

Our next rapid is Twin Bridges, a small class 2 rapid where clients are given the chance to win beer vouchers. A few hundred metres downstream and we come to Do Little Do Nothing, our main surfing rapid. We stop here for about 30 minutes and give everyone several chances to surf the wave.

Once fully exhausted from the surfing, we have a 10 to 15 min break floating in the calm water before we come to our grand finale: the Chinese Dogleg rapid; New Zealand’s longest commercial rapid, 800m of whitewater!! The first 100m is class 4 whitewater followed by the 700m class 3 Puppy Leg rapid. Just a short float down and we exit the river at Rafter’s Road takeout.

Roaring Meg
The Roaring Meg is a 6 km section of continuous whitewater, graded 2-3 because of its fast flowing, mind-blowing intensity. Is once not enough? We go and do the run again for free!
After an introduction in calm water on the basic riversurfing techniques we start our trip just below the power station at The Elbow. After meeting the river gods in the waves of The Gap we come to our first main rapid, Man Eater, named after the first big wave, which is the largest on the sectior!

The next rapid we come to is Rollercoaster, a 180 m long wave train graded class 3 whitewater, the perfect spot to try out your barrel rolls. Not too long to catch your breath cause the next rapid is not far away: Dead Cow. This rapid got its name from some kayakers who found a dead cow stuck on a rock. The cow is not there anymore but the name of the rapid has stuck.

Dead Cow is the best place on the river to try some squirting (flying under water)- take a ride on the “Elevator to hell.” This squirt takes you down a couple of metres into the darkness before shooting you back up to daylight, all in a matter of seconds! Just before the take out we offer you the chance to do a rock jump.

Backflips and swan dives are encouraged! After this first training run, we take you back to the top, and sometimes a bit further, and take on the entire 6 km section all over again. Now that you know what to expect, you can try to catch every surfing wave, squirt and whirlpool you missed in the first run.

Serious Fun is the only River Surfing company in town taking kids under 12 on the river. We bring an extra guide for under 12 year olds.

Safety: 100% Safety record since 1989. Maximum of 10 clients between two guides. Large groups can be easily catered for. Serious Fun will take you wherever the best on-river conditions are, on the day of your trip.