O.A.R.S.

Overview - Trip: 3 days, ended up rafting 2 with a layover day in the middle Groups size: 21 people, adults only Guides: Dakota, Justin, Kas, Chris, Jeff, Rich, Becca, and Todd This was by far on of the best vacations I have ever been on!!! I decided to take a solo trip to check this off my bucket list and I was not disappointed. I did a lot of research on what company to choose, and then picked a trip based on drive distance and dates available. I chose then didn't really look into the specifics of this trip besides the recommended packing list. And I am so glad I did. I was blown away by the food options, the organization and skill of all of the guides and the beauty of the location. As a solo traveler, it was awesome that the guides AND the other guests in the group welcomed me as one of their own. And for the guides specifically, it was great to have such a relaxed, fun atmosphere but still feel completely safe at all times. Think surfer chill atmosphere but with military grade organization and precision :) It was AWESOME. I think the things I liked the most about this trip were that we didn't see anyone outside of our group the whole time. We also had a bit of a let down since we couldn't raft the middle day but the guides rallied us and made everyone really happy we ended up with a down day! Lastly, we didn't have to spend all of our time in the group. In that I booked this as a solo trip, it was nice to take a bit of time to myself to sit away from the group and the crew was relaxed enough to trip us like the adults that we are to adventure a bit. Recommendations: - I loved rafting in June because it was warm enough to wear shorts and a tee, but not feel cold when wet all day. - pack less cloths than you think you need. I really only had two sets of cloths, one for the day and one for night for dry cloths - don't worry about the food - there was SOO much of it. I had packed some bars just in case and didn't end up eating any of them. - pack carabiners - for easy access, just hook your water bottle onto the raft rings! - sunscreen, make sure to put it on like 20 minutes before getting into a boat. I kept getting wet right after putting it on and spent more time than necessary worrying it was washing off when I didn't have time to put more on. Shoutout to: Jeff (my board guide, joke master extraordinaire, and for teaching me to "drive") Dakota (you know someone is passionate when they actively seek feedback for improvement) Rich (teaching card games and answering ALL of my rafting questions) Becca (hands up to girls who flip boats! thanks for teaching me! ) This is who I spent the most time with! All of the other guides were also amazing in the time that I spent with them! I just didn't spend as much time so I'll leave it to others to give you more specific praise of their work :)

Be very wary of OARS. We recently did a trip in Fiji (it was fantastic and rated 5 stars for the local company), and were charged 550 FJD per person by OARS where we would have been charged 450 FJD if we had booked with the local company. Not only did OARS rip us off, if we had booked with the local company they donate 20% of the fee to the local village, so they were hurt as well. Stay far away from Jonathan Brunson, he will take all of your money, and then simply direct you to the local company with any questions. No idea they were a broker. Stay away from them and book local.

WOW. Websites, phone/email support, equipment, food and guides. WOW. It was quickly evident compared to the other rafting companies on the same river, how much BETTER OARS was. You could see the longing in the other non-OARS guides eyes as they saw their guide counterparts having so much fun and getting much better food and gear. :D The website and pre-trip information was so detailed and so professional. Our guides were so competent and yet so fun! Teal, son of the famous Eric Hertz (Futaleufu in Chile) was our trip leader and was so serving, and so professional! And great at serving wine! The other guides worked so well together. And Mike was our raft Guide and really made the trip! The 6 of us guys (all husbands and fathers) were so at home between relaxing with delicious food and screaming our heads off on the rapids. It was a blast - and we had a fantastic time! I will definitely be going with OARS again to other places, and definitely recommend THIS trip and THIS company. What a wonderful experience!

Great online experience purchasing tickets and watching training videos and signing waivers. Very easy process. Very good training at the morning meet up. Very good training at the river. Very good lunch. Excellent guides. Fantastic time on the river. Cons: = the actual time on the river is maybe 3 1/2 hours, maybe 4. Meet up was at 9am, didn't get in the water until nearly 11am, got to lunch at 12:45, 60 minute lunch or so, and then done by 3:30. Not sure it's worth $200 for a weekend, but I had a 40% off coupon, the post lunch ride is significantly shorter than the pre lunch ride = if people do involuntary swimming from another raft, your raft might have to help save him/her, which our raft did, so instead of enjoying the river ride, we spent time saving people that fell off their raft. I get it...save them, but it does take away from the fun for others

Dana was our guide for the Tuolumne 2 day trip. She went out of her way to make sure everyone was having a good time and handled every rapid with grace and ease. The other guides on the trip were also fantastic (Gordon, Jack). A great trip and amazing crew!