Soar Inflatables, Russian River, Healdsburg

10/25/13

The trip was wonderful and we got a great workout in, but the service left something to be desired.

I had no intention of smashing one more activity into our schedule at the end of summer, but wouldn't you know it, travelzoo shot off this email of savings and I couldn't resist. $55 for a two person self-guided rafting trip. What a deal! The inflatable raft was comfortable and easy to maneuver. We worked hard but had a blast. I think it took about 3 hours to get down, maybe it was closer to 2? But that was using our full muscle strength and taking almost no breaks.


There was no current. An employee warned the group about this and the dam being closed as everyone took off. Sure, parts had a slow-moving current, but parts had none at all. My husband said that on this stretch of the river its always this slow. He's rafted this section many times, but did say it made a huge difference having the inflatable rather than the metal rafts he was used to. It was only the two of us in our raft and no cooler. Even still, the river was so shallow we got the raft stuck more than once. That's not their fault and we didn't have a problem with it, but their website should say so. I could see this being an issue for less athletic or elderly people. maybe

At the near end of the trip you see a large rock in the river and you have to call for a ride home. Lucky for us, a van was waiting with others when we arrived. Glad we didn't have a big wait time at all! It was really convenient, but I feel like we just got lucky.

Also, when I originally called to schedule the weekend, almost immediately the man answering said "we have that weekend completely open, but you know you can do that online" Uhhhhh, ok. So I said I would. I tried and tried to figure out how to do it with my travelzoo voucher. Finally I wasted enough time and called back, only to hear "ohhhh, you didn't tell me you had one of those." "You didn't ask," I replied. "We don't ask." Then silence.

Drop the attitude, dude, how am I to know your online reservation system can't handle the promotions youre offering? Thought it would end here but a couple days later received an email saying due to fraud they needed everyone to bring in a hardcopy of their voucher. It seems to me that using your phone to show the deal would discourage fraudulent use more than a sheet of paper. Plus, it's wasteful to print this out. I use travelzoo's mobile app because its more convenient and environmentally friendly. But other than that, the trip was great and the river was scenic.

Even for the shallowness and the end of summer, it was cool water, so plan on a warm day if youre going to do this trip and you'll have fun getting in from time to time.