Best (first) rafting experience ever! You don't get a first ever again, am I right? So why not…read moretreat yourself right to some glamping as well. WHAT IS GLAMPING? I'm embarrassed to say that my parents knew before I did. Glamour + camping, just imagine all the hassle of camping from when you were younger--hauling the tent, eating spam by the fire, potty breaks behind the trees--gone. I know what you are thinking, "WEAK. THAT'S NOT CAMPING!." Well if you are just going to stay at some shoddy hotel 30 minutes away instead, might as well live by the river at this resort in some fancy tents with restrooms + showers and dining hall meals.
My parents and I did the rafting + 1 night glamping package. It'll cost you quite a chunk of your wallet at around 300 CAD each. If you aren't the biggest fan of camping, it might not seem worth it at first, but this place definitely did come around to me.
You can either do the afternoon rafting option, where you come early afternoon, raft, and then stay the night; or you can come in the late afternoon, stay the night, and raft in the morning. We chose the latter.
We checked in around 5pm, got shown to our tent (ours was conveniently, or unfortunately, located right next to the bathrooms), and settled down on the rocking chairs overlooking the river.
Dinner was served at 7pm. There's an open dining hall area, and the patrons as well as the staff both eat here. The food is cafeteria style, as in there are huge trays of food brought out and they serve everyone first so that there is enough food to go around. You can then go serve yourself after. The food isn't fancy, but it also isn't bad.
Another necessity served at the dining hall area are outlets! Since the tents don't have any outlets, you'll have to bring your phone chargers here. Oh, there is wifi throughout the whole resort too. They know we all can't live without these things.
The showers are located farther away from the tents, up a small flight of stairs. The water is nice and hot though, and they keep the shower rooms fairly clean. Towels and bath mats are provided, but shampoo/soap and other toiletries aren't. So make sure you bring those from home!
There's also a hot tub area right next to the campfire area, which is right next to the yoga area, which is right next to the dining halls. You get the idea. We didn't chill around the campfire that night, but we saw some people roasting smores. Classic.
Lights go out at 10pm, but they do give you a small lantern for light. You can hear the river rushing right outside, drowning out any other noise like one of those "nature soothing sounds" some people put on at night to help them sleep. Knocked me out fairly quick.
Breakfast was at 8:30 am. Bright and early. Our rafting guide, Dylan, introduced himself to us then. Spoiler: having a great, experienced guide is important.
Rafting was at 9:30. We wetsuited up, lifejackets on, helmets tightened, booties on our feet. They took us on a bus down along the old logging road that runs by the Nahatlatch River.
Our group was a bit special because it was just us 3 patrons since I guess another group didn't make it. Usually they bring 6-7 people in each raft. That just meant more room on the raft. Dylan taught us all some important commands like holding on to the rope and crouching down in the raft. We practiced this out in a lake area, and then we were off on some rapids. I was slightly frightened after seeing a trainee fall out of another raft. For better or for worse, I treated every command from then on almost as if my life depended on it. I definitely did not want to fall out along some of these rapids with rocks and branches in the water.
The second stretch, Dylan said was a grade 4 (and optional), which meant it was a bit more difficult. We ended up opting out of that, and hopped onto the bus to the stretch after. Dylan said something about a rapid called the Meat Grinder. No thanks.
They had snacks waiting for us at that point, which I thought was a nice touch. And after our snack break it was back into the water. The rest of the river all the way back to the resort was about 11km long. After the initial shock was over, and after getting a hang of the commands and trusting Dylan as he guided us between rocks and telling us to hold on before bigger falls, the rest of the river was quite the experience. Drenched and battered by the river, we made it through some real breathtaking views and felt a visceral power of the rushing water.
The whole experience was about 3 hours long. The hot tub felt amazing right after.
After lunch and an easy checkout, we were on our way back to Vancouver. Without a doubt, Reo is definitely a great place for beginner rafters!
