Expéditions Nouvelle Vague Coop

What visitors say

Expéditions Nouvelle Vague is a co-operative rafting company at Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier, about half an hour from Québec City, running trips down the Jacques-Cartier River. With hundreds of reviews and nearly all of them five stars, it is one of the better-regarded rafting outfits in the area.

The organisation gets a lot of praise. You change into gear at the base, take a short bus ride to the put-in and carry the raft to the water, a step one visitor warns is slippery and rocky. Rafts are split into French and English groups, safety briefings are thorough, and guides are named again and again for their energy, humour and clear instructions. When one raft flipped at high water, reviewers say the safety kayakers and other boats had everyone out quickly.

Trips include a chance to swim a small rapid, a break with a snack and homemade lemonade, and an optional cliff jump into a deep pool. Rapids range from easy to moderate at lower summer levels to class 3 and 4 when the water is high, so it suits first-timers, families with teens and experienced paddlers. Afterward there is a burger at the on-site restaurant and a spa that one reviewer found worth adding.

Complaints are rare. Water levels change the character of the trip: late summer runs are gentler, and spring or high-water runs are much wilder. Bring only a change of clothes and your keys, and wear shoes you don't mind getting wet on rocks.

Summarised from visitor reviews on Google Maps. Based on 500 Google reviews. Details change — confirm hours, prices and bookings with Expéditions Nouvelle Vague Coop directly.