One of the Great Rafting Adventures in the World!

To ride the waves of the tidal bore in Nova Scotia is to experience one of the greatest rafting adventures in the world!  Many of us have recognized this for years, but is only now being championed by bloggers, travel writers, adventurers and media outlets beyond the borders of Atlantic Canada.

Most recently, the prestigious adventure travel guide, Lonely Planet, endorsed the guide, Backpack Canada in naming the Shubenacadie River among ‘The Top Five Rivers for White Water Rafting in Canada’. This is good news for the adventure travel industry in Nova Scotia, if only as a start toward receiving the recognition the river deserves. The designation of the Bay of Fundy as one of the ‘New Seven Natural Wonders of the World‘ can only further the cause.

Last November The Shubenacadie River in Nova Scotia was selected as one of the ‘Top Five Rivers for White Water Rafting in Canada’. To read the full feature from Lonely Planet click HERE.

The Backpack Canada blog noted that the Shubenacadie was not only “one of Canada’s white water rafting oddities” but “was one of the only places to tidal bore raft” in the country. Certainly, there are many unusual and exciting tidal bores to see and experience in China, England and elsewhere, but there is no other location in the world where tidal bore rafting is a known adventure activity.  Why? Because it is only the Bay of Fundy tides that create these most unusual conditions every 12 hours  - where a series of large waves or a tidal bore is the result, as the ‘highest tides in the world’ enter the Bay and move toward the rivers which enter it.

Tidal Bore rafting is indeed a unique adventure that all Nova Scotians can be proud of. We will continue our media monitoring, our boasting and promotion of this most exciting of natural phenomena.

New Tidal Bore Rafting Compilation Video Release

Perhaps you remember Daniel Marshall of Nova Scotia. Daniel was able to garner the first two of the ‘Top Five Tidal Bore Rafting Videos in Nova Scotia‘ earlier this year. Well, Daniel has just released a compilation video of his many tidal bore rafting adventures on the Shubenacadie River in 2009. This is one of his best. The mud sliding segments are particularly good.

Daniel spends hours editing his material and the result is often a very polished product – which is all the more amazing when you consider he uses a hand held digital camera (a Pentax Optio W10). Anyway..this is it! Enjoy!

Top Five Tidal Bore Rafting Videos

There are probably very few Canadians who have not watched Susan Boyle’s emotional video on You Tube. What is perhaps more interesting, however, is that Canadians watch more videos than many other countries including the United States, France, Britain and Germany. According to a recent comscore survey, 21 million Canadians watched  3.1 billion videos (1.6 billion on You Tube alone) in February, 2009. It would appear that Canadians have a real passion for the medium and it should be no great surprise that many of us are turning to videos for travel and entertainment information about Nova Scotia.

For example, an informal survey of  ‘tidal bore rafting’ videos on You Tube and other websites reveals that the number of videos this year have more than tripled the numbers for 2008 (and there is still a lot of good rafting time left). And the productions, well, they are really quite good! So good in fact we have looked at all of the rafting videos from this and previous years and have selected the Top Five Tidal Bore Rafting Videos in Nova Scotia.

1. Title: Shubenacadie Tidal Bore Rafting – September 21st, 2009 (6.50 minutes) – It is no accident that the first two of our top five choices are videos from Daniel Marshall, an avid tidal bore rafting fan and a Nova Scotian. His You Tube channel reveals several well edited, thoughtful and informative videos of his visits to various Nova Scotia destinations. While many are a little lengthy, they are great to watch and very entertaining. One which deserves a special mention is his filming of  the pounding tidal bore surf hitting the bow of his Zodiac tour boat.  One could feel the roll of the waves,  as his camera, often submerged in muddy water, captured each wave as it broke across the bow.

2. Title: Shubenacadie Tidal Bore Rafting – September 8th, 2009 (6.50 minutes) – In both this and Daniel’s September 21st video one quickly learns that the ‘tidal bore rafting’ experience can be more than just riding the waves. It is fun in the mud of the Shubenacadie River. Daniel’s filming of his friends sliding, falling, rolling and laughing in the dark mud near Maitland, Nova Scotia will bring a smile to your face. After watching this video mud sliding is something you will want to consider with your next tidal bore rafting adventure.

3. Title: Tidal Bore Rafting Bay of Fundy – November 8th, 2007 (3.43 minutes) – While lacking the impact and clarity of some of the other productions, motorcyclist Matt from Waverley, Nova Scotia has produced a first-class video. The music track works well,  the editing is smooth and Matt’s filming of neighbouring Zodiacs climbing wave after wave on the river would have required a steady hand for sure. Matt’s video is the most popular ‘tidal bore rafting’ video on the internet and has received nearly 12,000 views on You Tube.

4. Title: Tidal Bore Rafting, Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia, Canada – August 20th, 2009 (1.57 minutes) – When you’re watching this video it is not difficult to imagine why wetsuits and a change of clothes are strongly recommended when enjoying a tidal bore rafting adventure on the Shubenacadie! With the river waves pounding over the bow of the Zodiac, the water constantly filling the boat and splashing the faces of passengers, you quickly discover why they are so important on a rafting tour! But it is all good fun and this popular You Tube video is one of the best.

5. Title: Tidal Bore Rafting – August 8th, 2008 (5.48 minutes) – As you might expect, the production of this Hospitality Guide video is the most professional of all the video material considered. There are interviews with rafting staff, customers, drivers and background information has been added, making it much more informative than the other videos. The production falls short, however, in the actual filming of the action on the water. You don’t feel the excitement or magnitude of the waves associated with a rafting adventure. Despite the shortcomings, the video is well done and certainly worthy of a top five designation.

Hospitality Guide Video