I'm a local, but I still enjoy taking friends and family on the Willamette Jet Boat Excursion because it's one of the best ways to experience the river, the Portland waterfront, the city's beautiful bridges, and Willamette Falls. One of our captains described the ride as a mix of Pirates of the Caribbean, the Teacups, and Splash Mountain--which is surprisingly accurate! The price is fair, the experience is unforgettable, and it's something I'd highly recommend for both locals and anyone visiting Portland. read more

Great tour , lots of big splashes, laughs and interesting things to see on the one hour tour. One word of warning- we parked in the OMSI parking lot and had our car broken into, don't leave any purses or anything valuable in your car . read more

Doug was our captain. Absolute best time he was so funny and made the trip such a blast. This was our first JetBoat excursion and my 11 & 15 year old wanted it to become a yearly thing. They could not stop smiling the whole day. I highly recommend this experience to anyone read more

Had an amazing experience out on the river with the Jetboat team. We live in Portland see these boats go by every single day, and figured it was time to give it a try ourselves. I'm happy we did. Our driver Doug was fantastic and mixed in the perfect amount of education, fun, and humor into his talk track. I learned some things about Portland that I wasn't ever aware of! Would definitely recommend doing this on a HOT day as you will definitely get wet. We went out in a 90+ degree day, and thus the water spray was cool and refreshing. In lower temps I can assure that you will likely get cold given the speed of the boat and temp of the water. First couple rows, you'll likely get soaked, so sit towards the back if you want to avoid that. read more

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What fun! My 8-year-old grandson, as he says, "had the time of his life!" Thanks to Captain Cody for interesting info, hold onto your hats spins & stop, cooling us off with fresh river water, and many laughs! read more

Aton of fun !! Definitely be prepared to be soaked to bone shorts are better. Bring hair brush lol . Great narration about Portlands ship and river influence. Don't forget to tip your captain !! read more

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Fun and educational! This jet boat ride is fun and entertaining. It travels a little fast, and does some 360° turns. The Skipper provides narration; which includes information what we were seeing on the shoreline, as well as the vessels on the water. Very interesting and fun experience. I had to deduct a star for the lack of pop-up tents or shaded areas to wait in. While the misters were appreciated - it was a suffer-fest waiting in the hot, hot brilliant sun. I wouldn't recommend this excursion for folks suffering from back or neck problems. It can be quite bumpy. read more

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Amazing! Try to dodge and dip down low no matter what you are going to get wet!!! Speedy, spinning wild jet boat ride to the Willamette Falls! We had a BLAST! read more

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We loved our Jetboat ride! We were a little nervous thinking it would jerk us around a bunch but it was a surprisingly smooth ride! The captain did a great job showing us sights in Portland on our 90 minute ride and we look forward to suggesting this ride to others! read more

Willamette Jetboat Excursions - Tours Near Me - Portland, Oregon

Went on the 2 hour Willamette tour yesterday. It was SO fun! I learned so much history about the downtown area through Oregon city. Our tour guide had SO much interesting information about famous house and the bridges. We did end up getting completely soaked. I would highly recommend anyone with long hair to bring a hair tie!! I had to use my bracelet that they gave me cuz my hair was all over the place! We will defiantly be going on some of the other tours they provide! read more

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I wholeheartedly agree with the review that says 11:45am on a cool day is not a day to get soaking wet and that these tours should start later in the day. While spinning the boat and soaking your passengers is cool, this is the review you get when you pay zero attention to the weather. We were soaked to the bone within the first 30 minutes and had to endure another 1.5 hours with zero sun. And then soaked again and again. At this point I was shivering and pretty much over the trip. It was cloudy and overcast for this 2 hour boat ride. I would have saved the soaking for the ride home so your guests were not freezing on the trip out. The history of the bridges and cities we passed was good and the captain knowledgeable. Big whoop at this point as I just wanted to go home. Hint...if you want a big tip, don't tell us you live in a 3 million dollar boat house, k? It's a huge put off, joke or not (who knows). I wouldn't do this tour again. Once was quite enough. Also, to the family of 4 who took 4 separate ends of the boat, do not be so selfish...jeez. Other people may want to sit on an end. The captain SHOULD have said something but oh well. Not really on him and not part of my rating. read more

Awesome driver and tour guide. We learned a lot of Portland history. Entertaining too! Of course the jet boat ride is thrilling. A wonderful way to cool off on a hot summer day. read more

This is 1000% worth the money. Did the willamette falls and loved it so much that we did the 3 hr columbia tour the next month. Such a great time, and awesome captains. A great blend of portland history and wet jet boat fun. You will get wet, dont bring a purse! My 7 yo daughter liked it but it was kind of long for her. read more

This was recommended by a local and we are so happy we tried it on a whim. Reservations were easy, made them online. The staff was amazing! Our captain was very funny and knowledgeable. He made the trip so fun! We didn't get soaked but it was perfect for the 90 degree summer day. read more

I was so looking forward to the jet boat ride but had a rude awakening at check in. The company required me to sign a liability waiver that absolved them of all liability, including things resulting from their own negligence! I was informed I could opt out (ie; retain the right to hold them responsible for their negligence) for an extra fee of $10. This just seems like a sleazy business practice as a business should stand behind their actions. As a result, they did allow me to cancel my reservation. read more

Eight days ago I went on the 30 minute ride with a coworker. It was sooooo much fun! Enough fun where I just had to go back. So yesterday I took my girlfriend on a 90 minute ride up to the Columbia river. Both times were similar, so what I have to say applies to both. The boat goes fast! This isn't some sort of bumper cars type of kiddie ride. It's more analogous to renting a racecar and taking it for a spin on a racetrack. Not at that level of course, but I think the captain mentioned it going up to 50mph and that he likes to max out the horsepower of the boat. The speed is really fun. There's something really exciting about moving so fast. And it feels like you are hovering over the water, which is a really cool feeling. On the other hand, it is fast enough where the wind kinda hurts your eyes. Nothing crazy, but it's notable. If it bothers you you could always just look down or kinda cover your eyes. Sunglasses would probably be a good idea. I saw various people wearing sunglasses. Another thing that I really liked is, well, the tours. The captain would stop at various points and explain things to us, like how some bridge is the only vertical draw bridge in the US, iirc. And that there is some boat with classified missile detector stuff on it up near where the Willamette meets the Columbia. Pretty cool. I really enjoyed the mix of thrills with history and information. And as someone who moved to Portland about six months ago, I felt like it gave me a fuller and deeper perspective on my new home. A few days ago I went to walk my dog along the river and it just felt different, because I had gone on that ride along the river with my coworker earlier. The other thing that was fun was when the guy did those 360 spins... haha. You have to legitimately hold on to those handlebars in front and behind you. I'm not sure if you'd actually get thrown off the boat if you didn't, but you'd definitely slide up and down the seats. Oh, and you get pretty wet. Which is fun. Well, the row I was in (about 2/3 the way towards the back) we got soaked. Maybe other rows don't get quite as soaked. But I'd say you should definitely be prepared to get soaked. Bring waterproof cases and stuff. And try to go on a hot day. When we went the high was 99 degrees, which was pretty perfect. I'd imagine it can be pretty uncomfortable if it was in the 60s or even the 70s. Like they say, being on the water it is colder than if you were on land. Wrapping up, I'd definitely recommend taking one of these rides. It was so much fun. It's a great mix of thrills and education. I plan on going back at least once a year. read more

Going on the jetboat has been on my list for years. I was told by a friend that anytime she had guests visit in Portland, this was always top of the list as an activity. So when my parents visited, out on the river we went! I had hoped to book us on the 2-hour trip to Willamette Falls but it was already sold out, so I did the 1-hour boats & bridges trip. There were 7 of us ranging in age from 7 to 76, and we all loved it. As others have said, it's both fun and educational. We learned about the bridges and about Portland's history, and then we raced along the river and did spins that soaked us. I would definitely do this again. read more

I am so disappointed, WJB no longer offers the 4:30 (2) hour Willamette Falls option. It's now at 11:45. It's not that warm out then, like 70 in the summer, 80 if it will be a super warm day, but trust me, that's NOT warm enough when you get splashed with the cold water. Yet that same water is very much welcomed when the temps are above mid 90's.  The 4:30 option is now the Columbia River tour. The problems are the following: 1. It's only 1.5 hours rather than 2 like the Willamette Falls and 2. It's not as scenic to me. I love the waterfalls and beautiful homes on the Willamette Falls option 3. Poor value. The difference in price is 10% less for this option, ($50 vs $55) yet you get 33% less tour (1.5 vs 2 hours). It's already an expensive trip, this just makes it even more so. The 60 minute option, the bridge tour for me is too short and boring, plus not a good value. There is now apparently a 30 minute option too. 30 minutes? That doesn't seem worth the trouble. I would normally remove a star due to this negative change, but I can't give them less than 4 stars, I just can't. I think when I first rated them 4 it should have been a 5 to begin with. Perhaps the constantly increasing price put me off, but they have a monopoly on this market, no one is really doing the same thing anymore, so they get to charge what they want :/ I asked them if there were plans to bring back the 2 hour tour in the afternoon, but they said no. Anyway, sad to see these changes, so I will only do the 2 hour tour on the extremely super rare days when it's 95+ degrees at the early & only 11:45 option. Fortunately it was a high of 116 the day we did it so during our tour it was late 90s. Any yelpers who have room on their own jet boat for me, I would love to come lol, I will bring goodies! :) read more

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We were visiting friends in Portland to celebrate a birthday and decided to book the 1 hour shipyard tour. It was really warm so this was perfect, you will get soaked on this, so know that going in. Our guide was really funny and the tour was interesting and educational. It was really easy to book online, and they send you the waiver to sign online, which is super easy. Their webpage is really easy to navigate and they have a really thorough FAQ page, and if you do email them they are super responsive. They recommend parking in the OMSI parking lot, and pay inside. If there's space in the second one, that's the one you want to park in, it's closer to the dock. There's a ton of signage, so it's easy to find your way to the check-in for the boats. If you sit in the front it's bumpier and if you seat on the sides you really want to get wet sit on the sides. read more

Absolutely a must do thing when in Portland .... Kids said it was their number one activity.

Highly recommend. Our captain was fantastic and did so many 360s and bow dips, everyone had a blast and was soaking wet! Boat is really fast, and you get to learn about alot of cool stuff along the river! Will definitely go again.... read more

Willamette Jetboat Excursions - one of the drops on the jet boat excursion to the Willamette Falls... so much fun, highly recommend - Tours Near Me - Portland, Oregon

Great experience on the Willamette River in Downtown Portland. Fast, wet, informative, amazing jet boat ride. The driver was awesome and made it a goal to get everyone equally soaked! highly recommended! read more

Willamette Jetboat Excursions - Jet boat ride - Tours Near Me - Portland, Oregon

Such a fun day! I have been eyeing these almost every time we go to OMSI in the warm weather. When the Grandparents were in town to see the kids, we decided to bite the bullet. With my 3yr old and 7yr old in tow we hopped on the 1hr bridge tour. Let me say it was a BLAST for all of us! I would recommend this to anyone, as long as you have a good back and no babies in ya You want to get soaked? Sit in the first few rows, or back, or any corner. Want to get wet, just sit anywhere... they do their best to really get ya! I would recommend for sure!! PRO TIP: Wear sunscreen!! read more

Willamette Jetboat Excursions - So fun - Tours Near Me - Portland, Oregon

So this was my first time ever experiencing the Willamette Jetboats! It was absolutely amazing. The guys who run the jet are awesome. They bring some humor and lots of knowledge about Oregon. They have funny jokes They go over the safety rules! They asked the whole jet before doing their turns and such. They warn everyone they're going to get wet. They're just all around awesome! I highly recommend this trip. They do go fast but it's safe. They take all safety serious. Super friendly and professional. Thanks again to our Captain Thomas for an awesome experience not only to myself but the students we brought! read more

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I booked this place for a company event. Best Decision Ever. Everyone had a wonderful time, the staff, crew, and pilot are all wonderful. You have to park at OMSI and pay $5. Be sure to know your parking spot number when you go to pay for parking. The pilot is good at considering the weather when determining the tricks he will perform on the water. Everybody will get wet but only some will get soaked. We came out on an overcast day and the pilot did not perform a lot of tricks in the beginning to spare the riders from being cold and wet for the entire trip. He gave us the option to experience trips at the end and it was a fun trip. read more

SOOO MUCH FUN! One of my favorite things I did while visiting Oregon!!!! Please be sure your kid likes fast boats & getting wet! My kid sure didn't :( read more

I've lived here my whole 40 year old life and never done this so we decided for my hub's father day present to do a fun family touristy thing. So glad we did! We did the 2 hour tour to Oregon City Willamette Falls (where we live. It was so cool to see the falls from a new perspective and to learn so much along the way. We saw bald eagles and osprey, no falcons today but still cool. Then the fun part! We had Capt Nikolas. He was awesome. He got lots of feedback from us and made us laugh, and holy heck he has the best evil laugh after he douses the boat with water! He reminded me of a mix of Jason Momoa and Russel Crow lol. The spins, turns, speed and splashing were so fun. My son (7) and daughter (3) had a blast and did us parents. Great family outing. Would recommend for locals or for out of town folks. Just make sure you are ok with getting wet and some thrills and a mildly jerky ride. read more

We visited Portland during a summer heatwave and really enjoyed this jet boat experience. We did the 30 minute tour but will do the longer ones on our next trips. Our tour guide, Captain Christian, was amazing! He is from Romania and is meant for life on the water. He had us laughing and screaming the whole time. I have never in my life experienced a 360 on a boat! We made sure to give him a great tip to show our appreciation. read more

This is stupid expensive but it's a thrill of a lifetime and totally worth it on a hot day. You WILL get wet and it's a crazy long ride so empty your bladder as you are SOL if you need to go. Leave anything that can't get soaked in your trunk and load up on sunscreen as you will get cooked. I also recommend you bundle up if you are the slightest bit cold on the dock as this boat will move fast which means you'll be miserable if you aren't prepared. Shockingly my 3 year old slept through it - even the spins and getting doused in water. However I'd recommend not going with kids less than 3 and some might feel uncomfortable with kids too young to swim. Not for those with bad backs or necks. read more

Been on a tour several times with Willamette Jetboat Excursions and have had a blast every time. It's always fun learning a little bit of history about the city while flying down the river at around 40kts. I've only ever done the 2-hr Willamette Falls tour. The one hour just seems too short, but I would be interested in doing the 3-hr w/ lunch. Our boat lost one of the three jets on the way out to the falls. On the way back, we pulled over and they brought a second boat to bring us back on. Because we missed some spins on the way out, I think they soaked us extra on the way back to make up for the trouble. They say the front 3 rows get the wettest, but expect to get drenched no matter where you are seated. Even though there was a minor hiccup, the crew remained professional and gave us a quality tour. I'd highly recommend. read more

one of the funnest things to do in Portland. The tour guides are funny, and they stop around various sites, so you learn a few things along the way. The 360 degree spins are the best. You are going to get wet! But everyone is smiling and enjoying the day out on the river. read more

This was one of the funnest things I've done in downtown Portland. And like so many things in life, the experience is greatly influenced by the company you keep. In this case it was a company team-building activity so about 15 of us went on the jet boat tour then had lunch. This group covered a wide range of ages, interests, and physical abilities and everyone had a good time. The tour includes some hokey humor so I'm sure your experience will vary depending on whether you laugh or grimace at the river pilot. The boat leaves from the OMSI sub dock and seats around 50. This is a seasonal operation so check their web site for dates and times. Our itinerary went up to Swan Island and then south to the Oregon City falls and locks. They weave in some local history so it was a cool way to see some things I'd never seen before after living in the area for years. It was also a fun ride so I loved the speed and then the 360 turns. If you don't mind getting wet sit on the side of the boat. You can also bring cameras and binoculars (for bird watching) but make sure to bring those zip lock bags as well to keep them dry. I think my kids are old enough so I can do this again with the family. I'm sure they'll laugh at all the jokes. read more

This was simply AWESOME!!! My wife and I were strolling down to riverfront snacking on our Voodoo donuts and suddenly a boat jets by swaying side to side and I looked at my wife and said "we're getting on that thing!" Sure glad we did. We were on the 1 hr. tour because the 2 hour tour was sold out. Let me tell you, it was HOT but the water splashing on us was heavenly. Our captain was great, he engaged us and made us laugh all throughout tour. It was also very educational, which I really enjoyed. Such a beautiful place and I'm sure glad we did it, and I can't wait to bring my daughters up here to enjoy it. Well worth the $33/person. read more

Our tour driver Nicholas is amazing! My first time doing this and it was SO much fun. He taught us so much about the history of the River, the many bridges and many businesses along the River. Yes, bring a raincoat, you will be drenched. Nicholas is the only guy you should make sure pilots your boat!! read more

Second time on a jetboat tour but first time on the Willamette. Our Guide, Nicholas, was amazing. Tons on information about the city and the history. He was super fun and had an amazing personality. I would definitely recommend this activity and would request Nick again!! Be ready to have an amazing time and if possible, wear a bathing suit...you will more than likely get a little (or a lot) wet. read more

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I took my husband and our buddy on this ride for his birthday. We have lived in Portland for 7 years and this the first time we finally took this boat ride and it was totally worth it! Captain Nick was a hoot, he was great about checking in with the passengers, making sure that everyone is having a great time. The boats go fast, you will get wet, but I never felt unsafe. Totally family friendly! 10/10 recommend! read more

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Fun time, great host, very informative. Boat spins might not be for everyone, but was fun. Prepare to get wet, rain gear when cold, swimsuits when warm. read more

Took the fam for the wifey's bday. We read that the front two rows are the best to get soaked, but they didn't allow kids to sit that close. We got plenty wet though and it was a great time, but I should've known it was 50/50 tour to jet boating. We still had a great time, and there were 8 of us without a single complaint. Trust me, it was a lot of fun and educational. I assumed it was about ripping and spinning across the river for an hour. We didn't do too many spins (180's), but it's a good idea I guess so no one gets sick. The captain also pulled out a soaker gun to spray anyone that wanted to get a little extra wet. He also asked if there were bday people and a few raised their hands for one more 180 degree spin. Everyone on the boat got plenty wet and was cheering in end! Thanks captain for an educational and great time! read more

Willamette Jetboat Excursions - The captain likes to brake check the boat to let the wind spray you! It's great on a hot day. - Tours Near Me - Portland, Oregon

One of the Best memories on the water, since moving here from Hawaii ...... AMAZEBALLZ DAY! with Jetboat Willamette Falls ,360° splash WET FUN.. saw sealions, Bald eagles nesting, beautiful Gorge million dollar homes, Da Bestest "Captain Thomas" MAHALO made it Awesome we Will be back Soon! #honutime #honufotoGphy read more

Willamette Jetboat Excursions - Best Captain Ever! THOMAS - Tours Near Me - Portland, Oregon

We debated for a long time between this and the Brew Barge. Decided on Jet Boat even though some people (50+ crowd) were concerned about the speed and "danger". It was a blast. You do get pretty wet (like really wet) and the first 2 or 3 rows got soaked, but we had smiles the whole way. As one of the few locals, I learned a fair bit about the Willamette river and the history was enjoyable, but history lessons are also nice when broken up by 360 spins and zooming down the river. Loved it. Would go again! Family friendly! read more