FUNTASTIC ! This company will supply you with wetsuits and water shoes. Staff was great We had Nora as our guide...THANK YOU Nora for a safe fun trip. Nora was very personable , knowledgeable , and kept everyone safe. River was low but still had some great rapids. read more

SUPERB activity - It should be on your top 10 activities MUST DO LIST! Everything was flawless; staff, parking, wetsuits, various water activities, down to the r/t shuttle. Wetsuit was "suitable" for the water temp! We were an inexperienced family of two adults and two young teens. It's was the perfect combination of weather, river currents to float time. Such a blast with Mason/guide on the Wenatachee River. Thank you for floating the fun & keeping us safe! Seattle Ballard Family! - Next time we'll bring our Wire Haired Fox Terrier on the raft - ha! read more

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We did a River rafting on the Wenatchee river today with Orion. It was absolutely great experience. The crew was great and equipment in excellent shape. The 10 miles route is beautiful and fun. It is well organized. Our raft guide was unconventional in the good sense which made the experience more fun. I recommend Orion River rafting. read more

Had so much fun rafting for my birthday! Dusty was a great guide and made the trip super fun. Definitely will be back and recommend to all my friends. read more

Our group of 6 a blast with our guide Sean! He had good stories and jokes during the downtime between rapids on the river. We went early May and it was a bit chilly, but the wetsuits they provided were perfect. Everyone at Orion was friendly and helpful, and their location was a breeze to find using the directions on their website. read more

Earlier this year, some friends and I made the trip out to the Wenatchee River for a spot of white water rafting. Being my first time (and admittedly, not a very strong swimmer) I was somewhat apprehensive about setting out on the 4 hour expedition, armed with only sunscreen, a life jacket, and an oar. To my relief, the guides at Orion made us feel quite safe with their pre-trip tips, safety talk, and knowledge/familiarity of the river. Although their provided wetsuits and aqua shoes needed some updating, they fulfilled their intended purpose - but know that you're signing up for a no-frills kind of trip. To those who are squeamish about sharing recycled suits/shoes, you can always bring your own (or opt for the first expedition of the day). Overall, it was a great trip, a great workout, and I would gladly use Orion again. read more

Awesome company! Easy booking. Friendly staff. Our group had a fantastic time! And the meetup place was only 15 minutes away from our Airbnb. read more

Loved our trip down the Wenatchee with Orion River Rafting. The guides were very accommodating for our group of 10 and were easy to communicate with pre-trip. Already looking into other trips we could take with them this summer! The river itself is very tame. Rapids are exciting, but pretty calm which is expected given that it's late in the season (July is late to white water raft). We were happy with our choice though because we had about 50/50 new vs experienced rafters. read more

We just went on a 1/2 day trip down the Wenatchee. Even though the water level was low and the river was considered Class 2, our guide - Dawn was awesome! She made the trip so much fun. We got to experience a whole different type of river rafting. read more

Our group of six, 4 adults and 2 teenagers had an amazing time with James as our guide! He is the owner/founder of Orion. We had a couple of people that were a little scared but at the end of the trip, all of us plan on doing more rapids. read more

Loved this trip. We felt like the 3-hour trip down the Wenatchee was a good way to hit about 10 rapids in a moderate amount of time. We even have a member of our family who doesn't like sports that are considered risky - but she loved this trip. It's a testament to their guides. A good guide can navigate rapids to feel exciting without feeling like you took a careless risk with your life. We'll be calling them again when we're up in the area. read more

My friends and I bought a Groupon to go on the Wenatchee river during June. Due to our own scheduling conflicts that came up, we asked if we could use it for July instead. The owner allowed us to still use it, but pay an additional $20 per person. I still don't understand why since the river is lower in July and not really the prime time to go. It seemed a bit tricky to even reserve a date in the beginning. We called, received the voicemail recording, and didn't get a call back. Once I sent an email through the website, I was able to reserve a date for my group. I knocked off a star due to communication difficulty. Other than that, it was still an amazing and fun day! Even though the river was low, there were still exciting rapids. A couple of my friends were first timers and they said it was the perfect intro for them. Amanda was our guide and she was awesome! Friendly, organized, and gave directions well. Bring cash to tip your guides!! We did not.. and were bummed that we couldn't tip her. My last experience (with another company) was completely different (in a negative way). So I was relieved that everything went so well and we enjoyed the day! The water wasn't freezing cold either. We didn't have to wear wet suits, and when we got splashed, the water felt refreshing! read more

My buddy arranged the Tieton river rafting trip for my 40th birthday and it was a blast. Really good guides, good company, good food, and a fast and exciting river! Highly recommend to anyone who wants a little adventure which isn't boring but also not dangerous. Thanks to Mariah and Max for rescuing us when we got knocked out of the raft! Lol! read more

These guys raft the Wenatchee-which is an AWESOME river-and are a group of cool people, but they could use a little more organization. We had scheduled a trip with WaveTrek and were told after we booked it that it would actually be with the sister company, Orien. Ok. I got the information over the phone, and was emailed a sizing chart. Since they don't have an on-river house like WaveTrek, you need to size suits ahead of time. I faxed it back to them on Thursday. We met at a park in Cashmere @ 12pm on Saturday. We got there (there were a few lots to meet in), found our people, and then started sizing up gear. Apparently it was a really busy weekend, so they couldn't match our wetsuit sizes that we had sent ahead of time. It didn't really matter to the guys, but 3/5 of our girls (size M) ended up with XXL wetsuits, which doesn't help much in 42-degree water. They put the bins out and we all started setting up; there wasn't much direction and everyone seemed to just kind of wander back and forth with no one giving us timelines or directions. Eventually we were suited up and waited around for a while, so we stripped stuff off. Then more guides showed up and we boarded a bus that took us to Leavenworth to the drop in. We got there at about 1:30, had a safety/instruction talk, and then the lead guide had to suit up and told us we'd be ready to take off in about 30min. 30min?!? It had been almost two hours at that point, so we were getting pretty annoyed, along with the fact that they'd told us they could no longer do lunch because of health concerns or something (we knew this before the trip). Finally we got on the river, and my boat was AWESOME. Gillian-our guide-did a great job of pushing us to the limit the way we wanted to, and brought us right to the edge of some big water (I guess the river was running about 12,000cfs). One thing about Orien is that they won't bring you into the big holes like Devil's Eyeball, Devil's *sshole, or some of the holes in Snowblind. They also portage around the damn drop too. If you're skittish, this might be a better choice, but if you want to have your ass kicked, it's tough to see the huge water a few feet away as you slip past. Our guides were really awesome (we traded jokes of all colors) and the river is WAY under rated. I had done the Skykomish a month ago @ about 4,000cfs and this was WAY more fun. In a freak accident we happened to be there for some kind of hatch, so everything before the dam was fully coated in humping insects (including every inch of us and our raft). After the dam they thinned out and the river action pcks up and gets REALLY fun. A word on safety too: the other boat dumped in a BIG hole on Snowblind and everyone was in the water. Our guides were really good about keeping us focused on navigating the rapids, and then getting right over to to pull our other friends out of the water. Like clockwork. It was a good workout with some huge waves that will work you really well. It was a great weekend that I'd do again anytime! Pros: the guides were really cool, knowledgeable, and a lot of fun, and the river is awesome. Cons: Somewhat disorganized and slow to get things moving. read more

I almost DIED! But BOY, did I have fun doing it! Story comes later so you gotta read the whole thang. =) This past Saturday, a bunch of my friend's co-workers and I trekked past Leavenworth to Cashmere where the rafting guides gather. In record time, we shoved ourselves into tight (I mean REALLY tight) wetsuits with sexy padding on the knees and some river shoes. The sun was blazing, the sky was a brilliant blue. the mountains were clear and snow-capped and the rapids in the Wenatcheee River were in mighty fine shape with white caps and calm parts in between. The whole river is technically considered a Class 3 which is just exciting enough for beginning and moderate rafters. Learned all the paddling commands and we were on our way. The river really behaves differently depending on a combination of the level of water from the snow run offs, winds and general temperament. I loved the names of some of the rapids: Devil's Eyeball, Devil's Asshole (we did miss that one unfortunately), the Suffocator and somehow, the most ridiculous of them all: the Grandpa. Why the Grandpa? Which btw isn't its official name but its right next to the milder Grannies. My entire group was swaggering with confidence through the entire 16 mile trip as we hit most of the big un's with plenty of delighted screams and hollers. Until the Grandpa that is. Who knows, maybe we weren't rafting quickly enough but we hit it straight on with a 6 ft wall of water before ceremoniously all being barrel rolled and dumped out of the raft. I was the last one clinging on before succumbing to the icy cold waters. Everything they taught us ran through my head as I tried to position myself feet first so that when you rush down the river, you'll hit anything feet first rather than head first. The rest of my group managed to group together but I somehow ended up by my lonesome on the left side of the river. Saw a big old branch and not-so brilliantly decided I might be able to grab it and hang on. NO. My feet hit it and tangled underneath before I was pulled under again. Thankfully, the rafts ahead managed to pull us all out quickly but trust me, I drank more river water than I ever cared for and there was definitely a moment where I thought "I might drown ... noooooo!" But all's well that ends well. Kim E. got a little bruise on her eye and a bust upper lip, I got a bruise you can't even see and another guy gashed his leg up real pretty-like. We all survived, a little shaken, a lot thrilled and were astonished to hear someone had actually taped the whole damn thing from the pedestrian bridge! Now that's YouTube worthy. The entire expedition was entirely worth it and exhilarating. The view along the whole way is beautiful and we even played "Rodeo" on the slow parts where we grabbed onto a rope and stood up as the other paddlers tried to knock us off by spinning around. I'd go again but maybe avoid Grandpa this time around .... read more

Overall, it was a fun time with good friends, great weather, and a great guide. 1. Great guide--he was funny, very knowledgeable, and even took pics of us with his own digicam and emailed them to us! 2. Good prep--they made sure we were all safely snug in our life vests, water shoes, etc. They went over appropriate safety measures, paddling techniques, what to do in emergencies, etc. 3. Good river--not really Orion's doing, but Mother Nature's. Water levels were high, some nice rapids, etc. 4. Pricey--we got a groupon for half off (only paid $35 a head vs. the $70). Def not worth the 2+ hour drive from Seattle, the $70 for a three hour river ride, with only three or four rapids. read more

We got the Groupon deal and I am glad we did. The four star rating is not entirely for the company, we had a great guide (Veridy) and I thought everything was well organized for as many people that they had going. I took away one star for the actual river, the Wenatchee was not as pristine and scenic as I would have liked. All along the way we saw several parties (including what seemed to be a frat party with girls gone wild), several waterfront trailers and houses, people picnicking and even hobbyists panning for gold. Although somewhat interesting I would have much preferred going on a river that had more wildlife and was more scenic. Our guide was fun and knowledgeable and was happy to answer all of our silly questions. Toward the end of the trek my whole side of the raft got knocked into the water and although I got sucked under the raft and caught under water my husband was able to pull me out thanks to the training they gave and I guess all is well that ends well! :) I would recommend this company but go rafting on another river, our guide mentioned the Skagit was really scenic and more pristine. read more

Big thumbs up to Orion and our guide Liam. This was a great experience all around, and Liam was fantastic. We had a blast!

If you want a personalized experience for river rafting, with the security of going with an established company--use Orion. (Ignore the cheesy BBQ marketing from the "other" guys). This company has class. The guides are excellently trained. The owner of the company even let us pick one of the most experienced guides because we were a little nervous taking a Bachelorette Party down the Wenatchee in May just two weeks before the wedding. We only got wet if we wanted to (except for the splashing harassment from the other boats--which was awesome) and for those who got wet--our guide, Ally--offered up her own personal gear to make sure the girls who jumped in wouldn't be too cold as the weather turned chilly and dark the second half of the trek. It was a great workout--we had planned on having a crazy night in downtown Leavenworth afterwards--but we were so exhausted, we kept it low-key. Ally was an exceptional guide. We didn't need to use any of the safety tips she provided before we got in the boat (thankfully!) but as the most scared one in the group, I felt confident that she had prepared me. She was fun and personal, and it was evident from the 16-mile trek with HUGE waves that she knew exactly what she was doing, when we needed to preserve our energy, when we needed to focus and work hard, and when it was time to have fun. She kept us safe, warm, and excited! And! ... They offered clean equipment--warm wetsuits and booties (LOVE the booties!), fancy well-maintained boats, and you can wear your own rain jacket (Do NOT skip this in colder months!) which just feels better after 4 hours of wear. Thank you Orion! This was the Bachelorette Party Weekend Getaway HIGHLIGHT! read more

Went White Water Rafting on a Sunday. It was my first time white water rafting so I did not know what to expect, however, other people have gone in the previous years and have told me it was really fun. It got my hopes up that it will be dangerous and exciting. Sadly, due to last winter's minimal snow cap, the water level at the Wenatchee river was the lowest it has ever been for a long time. There was barely any rapids and the entire trip was more of a float than rafting. What I did not understand was that during the calm waters, we just sat there and floated instead of paddling. Was it because they wanted to drag on the time longer so that it fulfills the 3-4 hours they promised? I don't know. Overall, it was quite boring. Definitely check the water level by calling ahead to see whether it is worth the trip and money. As for Orion, the rafting company was decent. Our guide was a little boring, although he was pretty skilled at navigating through the low waters. We had to make several pit stops though so that the could use the bathroom. He said he had a condition that makes him use the bathroom often. lol read more

We just took an all women trip on the Metdow River. Loved every part of it. Lunch was great and guides were amazing. We had so much fun! Will be back on one of their many rafting trips soon! read more

Really fun trip. The whole group on our boat was only six people, all of which were on time so our trip got started super quickly. Our guide, Dylan, was really awesome and was careful not to overhype the trip. We knew the water on the Wenatchee was low and it was late in the season so the rapids weren't going to be that crazy. It was more of a float with a few bumps. We got a Groupon so it was a pretty discounted price, otherwise I might be disappointed. The views were awesome though and worth the drive. I do have a couple cons: There is an email listed on the website. I really wanted to go on a certain day so I sent an email requesting that day. The email got bounced back. Re-sent it, bounced back. Utilized the website scheduler, no response. I work all day almost every day, so I called on one of my days off. No answer. I left a detailed voicemail requesting a call back. No call back. I called the next day and finally got an answer. The day I wanted was full. It ended up working out, we just had to wake up really early and drive. However, in a day and age where email is usually the easiest method of communication, a working email address is necessary. Hopefully it's fixed. Also, the life jackets smelled really bad. Throw some tide on them and hose them down or something because they stink. Other than those issues, the trip was really fun. We plan on doing more rafting trips in the future and would use Orion again. Probably not for the Wenatchee River, but definitely a different one. read more

WHAT A BLAST! We bought our tickets off of groupon, so we got them half off, but boy we would spend the full price. Totally worth it. The drive there was beautiful and the weather was perfect! All the guides were amazing, we had Grace and she was AWESOME! nice girl and she knew what she was doing. read more

We had an amazing time on this river. We had 5 adults and two 14 year olds and we all had a blast. Our guide Jack was friendly, knowledgeable, and knew we wanted to go hard on the rapids. Only thing that would have been better was a stop at one of the wineries. Haha read more

Great Groupon deal! 1/2 off, so I ended up paying $35 instead of $70. The original deal was to go to the Wenatchee river, but at this time of year that river was dried up, so we ended up going to the Skagit River instead. This excursion had more ups than downs: Pros: a. the Skagit river was B-E-autiful, super clear water, lots of vegetation, large rocks to jump off of into the water b. very fun and knowledgeable guide, he's been doing this for 10 years, so he knows his stuff, he also knew that we were just there to have fun, he was always down for us to jump out of the raft and swim around, he also knows a lot of rafting games, such as "Rafting Rodeo" and "See how long you can stay on the raft when running around the tubes"...the key is to ask about them early on, towards the end of the trip the water gets shallow c. the raft holds about 7 people, so if you have a small group, expect to get paired with other people, lucky for me, my group was cool :) Cons: a. It was a very tame and short river ride, it was only a Class 1 river and it only took about 2.5 hours to get down. And from Seattle, it took about 2.5 hours to get there....I 'll let you be the judge if it's worth it, but I'd do it again! read more

I went out for the 4th time with Orion this last weekend and had the best time ever. the weather was a little on the cold side, but the river was high and the rafting was exciting and super fun! I always feel like I am in good hands with the very experienced and professional guides at Orion. My daughter and I raft every summer with them as an annual tradition! I have used other rafting outfitters and have not had nearly as good an experience as with Orion. I am sticking with them and will be rafting with them again this season in the Tieton! A big thank you to my awesome guide Deena and to the very helpful and accommodating owner James! read more

First time river rafting and I was scared when I got on the boat. The rapids could kick you off the boat but we made it through the rapids safely. I would definitely do this again. Just beyond awesome. read more

Janelle was a great guide; knowledgeable and fun. However, directions to the launch point weren't anywhere to be found. Five people in our group looked at various pages and couldn't find the correct information (but two other addresses). Nobody picked up any of our calls.We stopped at a competitor's company who went out of their way to help us. We ended up at the owner's house and he wasn't friendly given the challenges of finding the information. Apparently, I received an email earlier when I booked months ago. The website needs to include this and other important information, as this is the stepping point for most riders. read more

My husband, brother, and I did a trip down the Wenatchee for my birthday in July. It was the best! My husband had never rafted before and loved it. However, our guide was a little snippy, so -1 star. When we arrived we were told that our drawstring bags could be tied down to the boat (there was nothing that couldn't get wet). Our guide asked everyone for things to put in the dry bag and we got ready to go. Then we asked her what to do with our drawstring bags (assuming she would tie them down for us). And she snapped "remember when I asked you for things to go in the dry bag?!) So that kind of set a bad tone for the rest of the trip. But it was my birthday, so I just ignored her and had a great time! Would definitely raft with this company again. read more

We used Orion for a Boys & Girls Club rafting trip with 14 middle school students, our guides were amazing! You can imagine trying to manage that many kids is tough and they did a great job! Will certainly use Orion again! read more

This was our first time white water rafting and it was an amazing experience! We had Rivers and Amanda as our guides and they couldn't have done a better job! They did a great job explaining/demonstrating how to paddle and respond to different situations and Rivers made the safety briefing amusing and not boring. Our raft had Amanda as our guide and she made it so much fun! She was great about making the breaks in between the rapids fun and enjoyable and the rapids so much fun! Definitely wouldn't have been the same experience without her as our guide! THANK YOU AMANDA!!!!!!! :) They provided wet suits and booties which was amazing to have while floating down the freazing river! Games were also played throughout the river such as riding the bull (sitting on the front of the raft through some rapids) trust game, balancing game and they even offered an opportunity to "body surf" some of the safer rapids. It was all so much fun and a great way to cool off from the sun! read more

Such a great experience! The guides Sean and Kevin were so kind and told us lots of interesting stories and kept us entertained with their river games. I highly recommend to anyone in the area. read more

This was my first time rafting and I had an absolute blast! I went with five other friends and it was just a fantastic experience. We all got to take turns rowing at the front of the raft and we felt very safe throughout the trip. Our guide was jovial and friendly and clearly knew the river well. Five star experience. If you're rafting in Washington you have to go with Orion! read more

Our party of 5 had so much fun with Danny today! Our Wenatchee river rafting trip was awesome and (even though I was super nervous) our guide was knowledgeable and we felt like we were in great hands. Definitely recommend for families and anyone looking to get on the water and have some fun! read more

Our experience was phenomenal! First time rafting. They took care of everything. Had a 9 & 11 year old, one of which started out frowning but ended up smiling! Our guide Matt, (who himself alone gets 5 stars) we will request next time, as we plan on rafting again with Orion again. Thank you James and crew!!! read more

Well, I bought 3 tickets from groupon.com and have been trying to make a reservation to no avail (having left two emails (through their website) and two phone messages (they don't answer their own reservation number). I must say I am not impressed. We have done river rafting with another outfit down near Oregon (it was in Sep where most of the rivers have run low) and their organization was way better. I will update my review if we will ever get to go. Update#1: They let me schedule a different trip (mid sep). I'll update my review after my trip. Thanks to other members for their messages regarding this. Final update: Sorry for the belated update. We made it to the Grand Tieton river trip. Our guide was experienced and funny. The equipments were good (the shoes were wet, however). The river was not as strong and the trip was not as exciting as I had hoped, but this was not Orion's fault. I changed my rating to reflect the trip. Thanks. read more

We had a fun afternnoon rafting the Wenatchee. Like other reviewers had mentioned, it was a little disorganized at the start and there was lots of standing around. Plus, they somehow didn't have our name on the reservation list, even though we had received a confirmation email. They made a plan though and once we got on the shuttle things moved along pretty well. Mary was our guide and did a good job. We didn't get to hit up all of the rapids which was a little disappointing, but overall had a lot of fun. I personally liked that this outfit seems a litte more laid back that other guide services. Also, they tell you up front that they don't serve food and to bring your own snacks. We did and I was glad to have something to munch on when we stopped at the dam. We also had a cooler in the car with some cold drinks and snacks for afterwards. read more

I booked our day trip down Wenatchee River in June of 2012 as my first ever experience white water rafting. The guides were very professional, friendly, and knowledgeable, and the lunch half-way through the river was very tasty. We were able to go through the tougher parts of the river fairly easily, despite being new to rafting, because our guide was very good at coaching us through the rougher waves. Our raft didn't flip, and I really enjoyed my first rafting trip with Orion. I will be sure to book with them again this upcoming summer for another fun white water rafting experience. read more

Our guide grant was great! He made our experience so much fun and entertaining. I recommend the high adventure trip as you get to hit up class 4 rapids that other companies in the area don't have. Great time! read more

We had Rivers for our guide and had a great time! We will definitely be back and will probably make this an annual event. The entire staff at Orion was fun, organized and professional. We also used a Groupon which made it that much better (1/2 price!) The guides were very conscientious about the various skill levels and willingness to try different rapids - our boat was wild and crazy and wanted to try all the big rapids, while some of the other boats were a bit more skittish. No problem, though, because the Orion guides will take you to where you are most comfortable. Even though we were doing more of the big rapids, Rivers made us all feel very safe and secure, and we never once felt out of control. While we felt safe, that didn't diminish the rush we got from going over some of those rapids! What a fun time!! We had a large group so we called ahead to make sure everything would work without any issues. No problems, the staff at Orion worked with us and set us up for our desired date easily. read more