Raft Guide jobs

A Day in the Life of a Raft Guide: Unveiled

April 1, 2022

Are you hoping to have an unforgettable summer on the Chattahoochee River? Consider coming to work as a raft guide! Not only do you get to spend most of the summer outside, but you get the chance to know and interact with a huge variety of people. These jobs aren’t a walk in the park; you’ll be challenged every day to well-represent yourself and Whitewater Express to our customers. Learn more about our raft guide jobs on the Chattahoochee River in Columbus, Georgia and find out if guiding is a good fit for you!

Whitewater Rafting on the Chattahoochee

Whitewater Express Chattahoochee offers some of the largest rapids on the east coast, and ranks in the top 12 of man-made adventures according to USA Today. To experience these top notch rapids, we look for and train top-notch guides here at the shop.

Raft guide jobs

Raft Guide Job Training

Raft guide jobs at Whitewater Express begin training in April of each calendar year to prepare for the summer ahead. They start small, learning how to turn the boat, and then progress all the way up to guiding down the whole river through various rapids. Training starts bright and early for the future raft guides as they all load up in the vans to head to the top of the river. The rookies are accompanied by veteran guides throughout the day, giving the rookies opportunities to jump back into the guide seat and take a shot.

These trainees spend about two months working on their boat lines, angles, and safety measures for guests. After a while, these rookies all take their checkout runs, in hopes that they can successfully lead their group by themselves so they can begin to actually work for Whitewater Express as a certified raft guide. These guides have the opportunity to become certified in low water, like in the Classic Whitewater trip, as well as the more advanced trips like the Challenge and Carnage rafting tours. 

Being a Part of the Whitewater Express Crew

One fun thing about being a raft guide is earning your guide name. Here at Whitewater Express, your name won’t simply be your name; every guide earns a nickname like Man Cub, Waffles, and Cold Feet (usually based on something funny that happened to you on the river that day). Once you get certified and start working with us, you’ll start taking guests from all over the country and the globe down the Chattahoochee River with you! We’ve met guests from Hawaii, Texas, and even England come through to ride down the river with us.

Guides can take up to five trips a day, with each trip being unique from the next. You’ll never have the same trip twice as a raft guide. Daily duties of a raft guide include setting up the boats for the day, walking guests through all of the safety procedures and briefing them on the equipment, and of course, guiding them down the river. This job is great; almost all of our raft guides continue to come back summer after summer to guide.

Raft guide jobs

Join the Whitewater Express Crew

Here at Whitewater, our guides love to raft as much as you do. Don’t take our word for it, this is what a past guide had to day, “I love sharing my love of whitewater with the people who’ve come to raft, and love it just as much. The water is always changing, so you always get a different run down the river. It’s also just a great adrenaline rush.”

Sound like fun? Come out and join us at Whitewater Express Chattahoochee to be a raft guide this summer! Applications can be found on our Employment page. We’d love to have you as a part of our team!