Pacific NW Float Trips

I had such a great time on our trip this morning! Captain Dave is hilarious and super interesting. He seemed to really appreciate us and he was clearly passionate. I think a lot of the negative reviews come from people who are a little high maintenance. The tour is for those who are adventurous at heart — no frills here! You are going to get wet, cold and muddu. And like Captain Dave said, that will just make you appreciate the warm when the tour is over! I found his free spirit to be inspirational. It’s not for everyone, but come on. Get out there and live a little!

Posting here, and on the other Unilocal page for this business:
We purchased a gift certificate through a charity auction for a Skagit rafting trip for five. My dad tried to contact this business by phone and email to schedule our trip. No response to either.
I looked at the business website — which has no information about schedule availability and conflicting information about where to meet for some tours — and tried the Online Booking link. No online booking, just a link to Unilocal reviews — most of which are awful.
I wish we had looked at Unilocal before bidding on the gift certificate. Of the Skagit trips that looked interesting, I could clearly anticipate problems with each one — from lack of safety to a winery posting that it wants nothing to do with this business. Not to mention the repeated stories highlighting what a hassle it was to deal with changes in schedule, being stood up at pick-​up locations, or no communication in the first place — which has been our experience.
Just for laughs, I tried one more time to email the business for scheduling information. No answer. Not even an «out of office» auto-​reply.
While it’s disappointing not to get a fun rafting trip, I feel as if we dodged a major bullet in not having to deal further with this company. Clearly, they are not worth anyone’s time. And I am very glad that our money went to support a good cause, and not to these people. (I will also be writing to the charity organizers to cross this business off their list for their next fundraiser.)
On a side note: I’m guessing that the user who posted on 12÷7÷14 that «Captain Dave was AWESOME!» is either A) a personal friend of the captain, B) paid to write a good review, or C) commenting about a month after their trip — because according to WA Dept of Revenue, UBI 601 094 312 for Pacific NW Float Trips was closed 11÷4÷2014, and UBI 603 504 741 for Pacific NW Float Trips LLC wasn’t open until 5÷8÷2015 (therefore any trip made between 11÷4÷14 and 5÷8÷15 would’ve been done without an active business license).

Don’t know why my last review was deleted but I’ll repost one. Attn. folks at Unilocal,THIS IS AN ACTUAL EXPERIENCE with these guys and all this is true. Anyhow, this business is basically a sham. I paid for a trip with this guy in early 2014 and STILL have been unable to book a trip with ol’ Capt. Dave. SEVERAL email, phone calls, voicemails, etc. have been simply ignored. In summary, he took my money, won’t provide a refund, and won’t allow me to book an actual trip. Feel free to email me if you have any questions about this operation. This guy is a shyster and runs this ridiculous operation like a drug dealer would. Next step is a complaint to be filed with the Better Business Bureau and then sue Dave Button in small claims court for my money back.
Here, I find my previous review of him.
Hard to imagine this guy has managed a single acceptable review, far less a good one. Basically, a sham company that is virtually impossible to do business with. Booked a trip last Winter (2013) and tried to book the trip I paid for numerous times (5+) via email and their phone number. I managed to talk with ‘Capt. Dave’ once but the contact number seemed to be his cell # and he merely answered it seemingly on accident and asked me to send my trip booking request via email again. Here’s the deal — after I booked the trip, I emailed my booking request 4 times, called and left countless messages, and have never managed to receive A SINGLE response from ol’ Capt. Dave. Seems his strategy with me is just hoping I’ll give up, he can keep my money, and I will just go away. So I now have paid for a trip over a year ago and I have been unable to book it at all. Keep in mind, I live locally, am easygoing, have an easy schedule to work with, and have given this guy literally countless opportunities to make good on simply calling me back or responding to my emails to book my excursion I paid for. And while I’m typing this, I noticed Jenny W.‘s review dated 8÷26÷2014. Do yourself a favor and don’t give this guy your money. Read Jenny’s too. After typing this review, my next move is the better business bureau complaint. A sham business with a dishonest owner/​operator that basically operates as a fraud.

Captain Dave was AWESOME! Even though this «company» appears a little rough on the edges, Dave is extremely knowledgeable and personable. We went on a bald eagle rafting trip. Clear, cold day — was so thankful it wasn’t raining.
DEFINITELY could have used thicker socks and waterproof boots are a must. As are a very warm coat, gloves and hat. Did not end up getting lunch at the end of the trip, but that was fine with us. We probably got to see 75+ eagles.

Had an awful experience «whitewater rafting» while visiting my sister in Washington this past weekend.
Here are just a few of the reasons we had a less than ideal time:
1. They called us at 8:30pm the night before to push our time back (by over an hour) and give us a new location.
2. We started an hour later than that.
3. There was zero coordination. There were not enough guides as there were boats (one went completely without a guide) and the ones we had were not experienced! They didn’t know answers to simple questions about our itinerary and some did not know how to steer the boats.
4. The captain was verbally aggressive with his employees and short when patrons had questions about the ETA, etc.
5. There was no whitewater. We were literally floating down a lazy river. It was supposed to be a class II or III trip and it was certainly not even a I.
6. Our boat was defective. At the last minute the captain threw a pump in the boat which was a good move– by the time we hit the first stop our boat had deflated a noticeable amount.
My sister and I ended up leaving at the first stop (a winery??? that no one told us were stopping at?) because our guides had disappeared and all of the guests were awkwardly milling about waiting for them to return. We had no idea when we were getting back in the boat. It was a mess.
As one of the employees drove me, my sister, our friend, and two other people that thought the experience was bogus back to our cars– he pointed at the Concrete Swap Meet and said «that would probably be a whole lot more fun than being out on that water today». And he couldn’t have been more right.
All in all a very bizarre experience. If you’re interested in whitewater rafting I would go with another company.

Same thing happened to us yesterday on 8.12. We waited two hours at the meeting place which was mentioned on the email after booking. We left about 6 to 7 messages. Finally I got
«The Captain» on the line. He lied to us, somebody was there to pick us up at 10AM. Were were the only car in the parking lot .We did not miss them, they never showed up.
A zero star for this company. We waisted the day and the gas on nothing.

Captain Dave promised us a rafting trip but instead took our money and stood us up.
No one in the small town of Marble Mount trusts him and neither should you!

signed up for two survival courses. I made reservation for 2:00PM
at 7:00PM the night before olé Capn Dave left a voice mail after 7:00Pm saying to meet at 10AM at a differrent location. I was working that morning and cant just drop everything and drive from Wenatchee to Darrington at the drop of a hat.
A coupel of days later I was emailed from them asking how the trip was. They are not the type of company that I would reccomend to anyone.
I then emailed them to ask for a refund and they havnt even replied. Luckly I purchased through Amazon local so they took care of it.
Had I read Unilocal reviews before booking I would not have wasted my time. My reccomendation would be to look elsewhere!
I gave one star because there wasnt a negative star value!

I can see why this place received some low rating, the place is a little disorganized, the bus smells and launch site seems like a random spot they found. Pretty much, this place is a company with no front office.
But who cares, once on the water, these guys are pros and we had a blast! Did the class 2 – 3 Sauk river raft trip with 8 of my friends and it was 3 hours of pure fun filled with a lot of laughter and cold water!
The water was definitely cold as it’s flowing from the glacier but the hot, blazing sun definitely balanced it out. Lots of rapids which created enormous excitement on our raft and as we weren’t the only raft, we somehow also managed to start a water fight war. IMO, we definitely came it the victor. :)
We had our own raft and a personal guide named Joe who was very friendly, personable and knowledgeable, guiding us through the rapids of Sauk river. He pointed out plants and wildfire and shared with us any of his adventures which my boyfriend he really enjoyed. And it made me happy that he was having a great time. It was very nice to see a guide who had so much passion and enjoyment from his job and made our trip a lot of fun.
This intro class requires no experience at all, just don’t freak out when you fall in. We definitely will be back to try another class with Joe at the helm.
Ps. Jump into the river during the calm part. Suck it up, yea, it will be cold, but it will be so worth it.

I’m not sure where to begin. This was a pretty disappointing experience. The night before our trip I got a message that our trip had been pushed to the afternoon (though we had specifically booked the morning trip because we had dinner plans back in Seattle). We were stuck canceling our other plans and accepting the time change since my son was up from California and wouldn’t be able to reschedule for another day. Oh, and this wasn’t only a time change. Our meet up location had been moved by 25 miles. Annoying considering we were staying 3 miles from the original meet up location but again not worth canceling over. Once we arrived, we discovered that they did not provide wet suits or booties (unlike the numerous other companies we’d used in the past). I guess this one is my fault for not asking but, as a result, we were ill-​prepared. Turns out though that we were not the only ones ill-​prepared. When we made it to the raft, it was seriously lacking air (you could have folded it in half had it not been for the steel frame that was also inappropriate for this river). There were also no paddles. We didn’t sign up to sit in a deflated raft doing nothing for four hours so we had the guide run us back to the meet up location to get the paddles. Once in the raft, we discovered there was also no bailer bucket or throw bag. I was glad this was a relatively slow river because this was all stacking up to dangerous conditions. Luckily, about halfway through the trip we were able to pull over and switch to a fully inflated raft with a bucket and throw bags. This made things much more enjoyable. The river was beautiful and I’m glad we were able to check it off of our list but this was our first and last trip with this company.

I took my two daughters (13 & 15) and their friends on the Sauk II-​III raft trip. The guides were considerate, good-​natured, and capable. We felt safe and entertained. Two thumbs up!

We used a Groupon for this trip. Signage for parking and where to meet we’re non existent. We went on the birding/​lunch trip. The «lunch» consisted of 1 chicken leg or thigh… so eat before you go or bring something along! Overall, I enjoyed the birds and relaxation but would not use this company again.

Kathy and I enjoyed the wildlife boat trip with you on Monday the 7^th. We enjoyed your hospitality, your knowledge, your humor and the other guests on the trip. We will be highly recommending you services to our friends.

BUYER BEWARE
This business has another page and is rated 2.5 stars
.
ECO RAFT TRIP after eagle season was over:
Pros:
–Beautiful, quiet stretch of crystal clear river
–Boat seemed to be well maintained
–Interesting stop to look at beaver lodge on the way up to the put in
–Nice park to spend afternoon at after take out
–Dry entry/​exit from boats
–Nice way to spend the afternoon
–Guides were pleasant
Cons:
–Mostly having to do with business management and delivering what was advertised…
–Owned by single person who has love of the river but appears to be lacking in business management and some social skills.
–Website was not working several times during registration process.
–Owner gave conflicting information on registration over phone. We signed up for one activity, he registered us for another, when I asked for clarification he confirmed that we were participating in activity we signed up for, when we got there it was something totally different. That actually felt like a bait and switch for his convenience.
–Owner repeatedly discussed things that were grossly inappropriate and potentially upsetting for children to hear (i.e. stories of rape and murder in front of tween girl). This was actually the most distressing part of the trip for me as a mother. For adults, it may not be so much of an issue.
–Food — would avoid eating anything offered. Pack your own snacks for river and meal for afterward. As other reviewers have noted the conditions were less than sanitary and food offerings were not appropriate to a commercial trip ie. already opened bag of crackers, smoked salmon in a ziplock bag. Felt like offerings were half-​eaten items pulled from his personal pantry. Utensils etc. were covered in visible layers of dirt.
–The canned jokes and gossip about the people who lived on the cabins on the river I could have done without, but that is more a stylistic than a quality issue.
SURIVAL COURSE
Pros: none
Cons:
–Don’t waste your money. This seems to be a last minute add on money maker to catch overflow business from his website, but there was no clear curriculum or content of value. Ie. was given a notebook and told to write 1) be prepared 2) don’t panic. That was it in terms of formal teaching content.
BOTTOM LINE: float trip was scenic, the guides were nice, but cut-​rate one man operation, and for me not worth the money or aggravation, even on the groupon discount.

We went on the Bald Eagle Raft Trip and it was an awesome experience, with great company. From our vantage point on the raft, we were able to spot several bald eagles and were even lucky enough to see a couple of them spread their magnificent wings and glide through the air! We spotted a couple of salmon swimming near our raft and stopped by a huge beaver dam as well! Our guide was Donovan, a very amusing person with a lot of knowledge about the history and geography of the area. Additionally, we were joined on the raft by two other groups — everyone was really friendly and enthusiastic about the trip. The only slight criticism I would make is that I would have expected to learn more about the eagles themselves — given that this was a trip specifically for viewing bald eagles, I was kind of surprised that the guide didn’t go into very much detail about eagle habits, lifestyles etc
A word of advice: I think this trip is best taken on a non-​rainy day and even so, this time of year, its best to be prepared with layers of warm, waterproof clothing — we were surprised at just how cold we got! Waterproof shoes with wool socks are absolutely necessary too as you will need to walk on bank of the river, which is often wet.

I really don’t know where to begin. My experience with this company was utter chaos… disorganized owner, rude and unsafe conditions on the rafts. The guides carried no ropes, first aid kits or any method of calling out for help if needed. No radios and there was no cell phone service on the river. I truly do not believe this company could have a license. One of the people in our raft nearly fell overboard, that is how the topic of rescue came up. There was no plan at all in place.
The van we drove to the put in site had a door that would not close. The whole experience was just bad.
I have floated with a few other Washington companies so I think I know what the «norm» is. This is not it. Avoid this company.

We used a Groupon to take an eagle viewing float trip. We had a good enough time, though, as Washington hikers and climbers, we really weren’t the typical tourists that would normally book this kind of a day. Floating a river is kind of an inert «activity.»
Our guide was enjoyable enough. I can’t give the tour a lot of stars because we saw and heard nothing of the“hot lunch” we were promised. Reading other reviews, I’m not really surprised by that.
I wouldn’t find this very enjoyable on a rainy day. Fortunately, ours was sunny.

My mom and I signed up for the Zodiac Adventure. I’m not sure that’s what we actually went on, as there were Class II & III rapids and there is no mention of that on the Zodiac Adventure page. There were also no «light snacks» but we had brought some Clif bars, so that was fine.
The actual rafting part of this experience was wonderful, as was our guide, Joe. On land, it felt like a fly-​by-​night operation and I would gladly have passed on the motivational talk/​forced introductions with Captain Dave. Despite that, I gave it 4 stars because it was probably the most enjoyable and memorable part of my mom’s visit and I’m very glad that we tried it.

Went on the Fall Colors float trip. Started out with a bus ride from the parking lot at Steelhead park to our launch site 8 – 10 miles away. Captain Dave was our driver, and is a very nice man but certainly not politically correct in any sense of the word. While he did not appear to offend others in my group or me, he may do so accidentally in the future even though I do not believe that is his intent. There were some comments about women, politics, etc that maybe should have been left unsaid.
We arrived at the launch site and split into 4 groups. There were 8 people in my raft with me. For this particular trip, we did not paddle and there were no rapids to speak of.
We got EXTREMELY lucky with the weather, partly cloudy and no rain. The trip was beautiful especially since snow had fallen in the mountains the previous night. We saw: bald eagles, american dippers, mergansers, gulls, salmon, ravens, crows, and more.
Our guide was knowledgeable about the river, but could be more abreast of wildlife knowledge or at least bow out when he doesn’t know the answers. All in all he was kind and a good host for our trip.
Trip was slow, not rushed in anyway. We stopped twice to walk around, the first stop they built a little fire for people to warm up in front of and gave some snacks which was nice. The second stop was impromptu since we were so far ahead of other boats, and we saw some eagles close up and giant salmon carcasses as well.
Beautiful place, great company. Certainly an experience I will never forget.

Went yesterday on the Introductory white water rafting trip with my spouse and 2 grown grandchildren, I purchased the tickets from groupon, the trip was advertised with lunch, that was a joke, crackers, cheese, candy, water. When I had called 2 months ago to question the lunch I was assured it offered, fresh fruit, veggies, sandwiches etc. I also fell off the rickety table that had chairs attached to it. the whole table fell with contents on it. I am not overweight so???
the trip itself was lots of fun and the tour guide Donovan was very knowledgeable and pleasant.
Malka, Anacortes WA