Jet Boat Combo Tours

A Queenstown jet boat combo pairs a jet boat ride with a second activity on the same ticket. Four pairings are sold through Viator and GetYourGuide: white-water rafting, canoeing in a national park, a trip into an old gold-mining canyon, and a sprint boat with an off-road vehicle. Choose by the second activity, because it sets how long you are out and who in your group can come.

Jet boat and rafting on the Kawarau

Kawarau River Rafting and Jet Boat, run by RealNZ, is the combo most people have in mind. The jet boat is your ride to the river: the GetYourGuide listing describes a 25-minute transfer covering 22 km of the Kawarau at up to 95 km/h, with 360-degree spins, to the rafting put-in. From there you raft about 8 km through grade 2–3 rapids and finish on the Dog Leg, which the listing calls New Zealand’s longest commercially rafted rapid (400 m, grade 3/4). There is an optional cliff jump and hot showers back at base. The trip takes about 4.5 hours, with the wetsuit and gear supplied.

It starts from $191 per person on Viator (4.9 from 183 reviews) and from $186 on GetYourGuide (4.8 from 148 reviews). This combo has the strictest entry rules on the page: 13 and over, 40–120 kg, able to swim, and not open to pregnant travellers or anyone with a heart condition, per the listings. Our jet boat and rafting page covers the day in detail.

Jet boat and canoe on the Dart River

The Dart River Canoe and Jet Boat Day Trip is the long, unhurried option. You travel from Queenstown to Glenorchy, jet boat upstream on the Dart River into Mt Aspiring National Park, then switch to Funyaks, which are inflatable canoes, and paddle back downstream behind a guide. Lunch is a picnic at a riverside spot in the park. The listing says no canoeing experience is needed and the guide paddles at a leisurely pace to suit the group. Dart River Adventures says it is the only operator permitted to access the Dart River.

The two platforms list the length differently: 6 hours 30 minutes on GetYourGuide and 8 hours 15 minutes on Viator, so check the time on the option you book. It starts from $283 per person on GetYourGuide (4.8 from 188 reviews) and from $297 on Viator (4.8 from 382 reviews). That makes it the priciest combo on this site, and the only one here with lunch included. Both listings set a minimum age of 5 and a minimum height of 1 m. Departures need at least eight people, per GetYourGuide. If the Dart appeals but a full day does not, see our Dart River jet boat page.

Jet boat and canyon sightseeing at Skippers

Skippers Canyon Jet pairs a guided drive with a jet boat ride. You are driven from central Queenstown into Skippers Canyon on Skippers Road, which the listing says miners carved out of the rock face more than 130 years ago and describes as the road where no rental car is insured. The driver talks you through the canyon’s gold-mining history. Then comes about 25 minutes on the upper Shotover River at more than 80 km/h with 360-degree spins, and a break at the historic Pipeline Bungy site before the drive back.

The whole trip takes 3 hours and starts from $118 per person on GetYourGuide (4.9 from 794 reviews), the lowest starting price of the combos on this site. The minimum age is 3, so it works for families the rafting trip cannot take. We compare it with the town-side canyon ride in Shotover Jet vs Skippers Canyon.

Jet sprint and off-roading near Gibbston

Jet Sprint Boating & Ultimate Off-Roading, from Oxbow Adventure Co, uses a different kind of jet boat. Jet sprinting is a New Zealand motorsport in which small jet boats race through a twisting course of shallow channels. Oxbow’s listing describes its boats as custom-built four-seaters with 620 horsepower that go from 0 to 100 km/h in 2.5 seconds. It describes no river journey or commentary, so expect a short, intense ride. After the boat you ride in the Ultimate Off-Roader, which the listing describes as a four-seat, four-wheel-drive, four-wheel-steer vehicle.

It lasts 45 minutes and starts from $165 per person on Viator. Its 5.0 rating comes from only 45 reviews, a much smaller sample than the other combos here. The minimum height is 1.2 m. A spray jacket, helmet, hairnet and sunglasses are provided, but transport is not: the base is on State Highway 6 towards Gibbston Valley, just past Nevis Bluff, about 20 minutes from Queenstown Airport according to the listing.

What about a Shotover Jet and Canyon Swing combo?

Plenty of people look for the Shotover Jet and the Shotover Canyon Swing on one ticket. None of the Viator or GetYourGuide listings we compare sells the two together. Shotover Canyon Swing advertises its own swing-and-jet combo on its website, sold directly rather than through either platform; we cannot show its reviews or cancellation terms here, so check those with the swing operator. The simple alternative is to book the two separately. The Shotover Jet is a 25-minute ride from its river base at Arthurs Point, from $118 per person on Viator (4.8 from 2,907 reviews), with check-in 30 minutes before departure, so leave a buffer between the two bookings. If any other pairing is not on this page, we did not find it sold as one ticket on either platform.

How to choose

If everyone is 13 or over and can swim, and you want the jet boat to be the way into something bigger, book the rafting trip. If you want a full day in the national park with lunch, and your youngest is at least 5, the Dart River canoe day fits. With children as young as 3, or if you want canyon history with your jet boat ride, Skippers is the half-day choice. If you have a car and only an hour to spare, the Oxbow sprint and off-roader is the shortest of the four. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before applies to every listing here, per the booking page.

Where to go next

For the jet-only rides, start with the Shotover Jet or the Skippers Canyon jet boat. Families should read the best jet boat for families and our age limit guide. Ready to raft? Check availability for the Kawarau trip.