Top 3 Reasons Why Motorized Rafting is more popular than Oar-Powered Rafting Trips
Rafting trips are best enjoyed with friends and family. It’s a fun adventure for those who want to immerse themselves in the great outdoors. In these places, you won’t have much time holding on to your gadgets which is surprisingly what a lot of people are looking for on their vacation.
If you are considering a rafting trip, chances are that you’ve been asked to decide whether to take a motorized raft or an oar-powered raft. If you’re a first-timer to rafts, then you might be wondering how different they are from each other.
Oar-Powered Rafts vs Motorized Rafts
Oar-powered rafts are the manual rafts. They’re the rafts you see on videos and photos of people going through the Grand Canyon. They’re directed and run by the oars so this means that you have to be able to withstand rowing back and forth. Don’t worry, there will always be a guide to help you out.
Oar-powered rafts require teamwork. If you’re with your friends and relatives, it’s not going to be a big deal but if you’re with strangers, you have to cooperate and communicate with one another.
On the other hand, you have motorized rafts. Just by its name, it’s the motor version of the oar-powered rafts and they’re relatively a lot easier to use. For one thing, you don’t have to lift a finger. An operator will be there to operate and manage the whole raft while you just sit and marvel at nature.
3 Reasons Why Motorized Rafting is Best
Motorized rafts are more popular among travels for a few reasons.
It’s convenient.
While some people will argue that the point of a rafting trip is for you to actually raft with your hands holding the oars, it’s not the best experience for some people. Well, everyone has a preference, and some people just prefer to enjoy the scenery instead of pushing and pulling the oars.
If you have children, this is also pretty convenient. In motorized rafts, children as young as 8 years old can ride on the raft while in oar-powered rafts, they have to be at least 12 years old. Even if you’ll be rafting with an 8-year-old, you won’t have to worry about them as much on a motorized raft.
It has a lower chance of going over.
Of course, safety is always a priority for a lot of travelers. Even if rafting is deemed to be a more exciting and dangerous activity relative to land-based activities, you’re still a lot safer riding on a motorized raft than on an oar-powered raft.
A motorized raft is thrice as big as an oar-powered raft and it’s more reliable thanks to the motor. It’s also a lot bigger and can carry a dozen people. This means that it’s harder to overturn making it a lot safer for children and adults alike.
It’s faster.
If you only have one day to go on a rafting adventure, then you would most likely want to make the most out of it. You wouldn’t want to waste so much time rafting and not being able to just look around and stay still on the river.
When you’re on a motorized raft, the travel time from one point to another is going to be half of the time it takes for an oar-powered raft to travel on the same route. Since the motor is going to be doing the heavy lifting and the moving, there’s no need for breaks and rests. Because of this, you can maximize your day trips and be able to do more in the canyons.
What Trip Type Should You Get?
If you’re asking which is better, it’s all going to go down to your preferences and the ages of your children. If you’re bringing an 8-year-old child, then an oar-powered raft is definitely out of the question. It’s also preferable to choose a motorized raft if you think your children can end up falling over because they tend to stand up all the time. When you’re with children, it’s always better to be safe than sorry.
On the other hand, if you prefer to go for a more adventurous experience, then you’ll appreciate the immersion that an oar-powered raft gives. With this type of raft, you really get your hands dirty and your focus will definitely be on the scene and experience rather than your gadgets.
In the end, these two types of rafts have their own pros and cons. But because of the reasons mentioned above, motorized rafts end up being more popular among tourists.
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