Navtec Expeditions — Attraction in Moab

!WARNING! THIS IS A LONG REVIEW!

We booked the Canyonlands 4x4/rafting trip. The first part of our day was an all out beautiful drive that started out with a mild drive that started at "Wall Street" with some impressive petroglyphs just off the pavement. We continued for many miles up some mild terrain with some awe inspiring scenery. You get to see where the final scene in Thelma and Louise was filmed and it's an amazing view. You follow it up with a rapid 1,000 foot ascent up Shaeffer Trail with numerous switchbacks with a view that'll take your breath away. If you're scared of heights, this could potentially give you a bit of vertigo as the road is narrow and there are no rails. If you've ever watched the series "Dangerous Roads", this trail is very similar to one of those. You can't beat the view honestly. Our guide was Josh. He was highly informative, professional, courteous, and he had a great sense of humor. We would highly recommend him if you'd like a great time on this 4 hour trip. You won't be disappointed for sure. Thanks Josh!

For the second part of our trip, we went on a rafting trip down the Colorado River. We went at a rough time of year (April 17th, 2021) because the river was really low. This left this particular part of the rafting experience mostly underwhelming. That being said, we were with 8 others on our raft. An older couple, one single man, and a couple our age with 3 younger girls. We, as a group, let the kids decide where they wanted to sit as the adventure would be more exciting for them than it would for us "old" folks. They obviously picked the front. They were bored at first, but we eventually hit some mild rapids, and the smiles started. We hit quite a few decent little sections that almost threw the girls out as well as their mom, which gave them absolute thrills and ear to ear smiles. That made the mostly underwhelming trip worth it. Our guide Dani was great. She was great at explaining everything, she was professional yet fun and most importantly she made sure of everyone's safety. We did unfortunately got hung up on a rock and Dani told us to "popcorn" about to no avail. She tried moving us around but we just couldn't get free. So I abandoned our safety instructions and I jumped in to help (the water was only 18 inches deep at this point). Between the two of us we were only able to twist the raft about 90° and move it about a foot. Another guy decided to jump in to help, at which point Dani told everyone else to stay in the raft for safety reasons. With his added assistance, the three of us got the raft free within a minute or so and we continued our journey, but not before Dani gave us instructions to not jump in again (in a funny and joking manner mind you) without gaining approval first for safety reasons because it is the unpredictable Colorado River. This happened roughly halfway through our trip down the river. For the remainder of the rafting trip, I constantly harassed her telling her we were gonna get stuck on a rock and I could feel it coming. She took it in good fun and we all had a fun time with it. Once we finished the trip and we were loading up into the vans to head back to Navtec, she was to ride with us in the van. I asked if she was in our van, to which she said yes. I warned the driver that the van might get stuck somewhere if she's riding with us and we all got a final good laugh about it. All in all Dani did a great job. She took jokes well and handed them out just as well. We'd highly recommend her for anyone looking to make a mostly underwhelming trip fun and entertaining.

With all that being said, we debated how much we should tip them because we'd only really ever tipped servers when going out to eat. We'd only learned of tipping through reviews and based it off of a server's tip scale. So, to Josh and Dani, we hope we tipped you sufficiently. Thanks for a great time!

To those booking these trips: DON'T FORGET TO TIP YOUR...

My three siblings and I signed up for the 3day rafting trip through cataract canyon and I can easily say it was the greatest trip experience of my life. NAVTEC and specifically our guides Jonah and Keefe were hugely responsible for that experience (not to mention our lives). At the time of our trip, the river was only slightly lower than its highest level since 2011, and our guides kept our minds at ease, while drumming up excitement for the rapids. They navigated the Big Drops like the pros they are, and when we invariably had a few people pop out of the boat, they had us back on track within seconds. (Shout out to Brian, running the day trip rescue boat and our safety briefing - excellent all around. Also, Brian is the most responsible nutcase I've ever met). In short, this rafting experience was beyond wild, and a huge thanks to Jonah, Keefe, (and Brian) for taking us through.

And the rafting was only the beginning. The side hikes during the trip added an entirely other layer to the experience. Seeing the canyon from a completely different perspective really solidified the trip, and Jonah's expertise in geology, anthropology, history, and botany gave us a context that would've otherwise let these sights pass right over our heads. In fact, after we were back in Moab, I proudly shared my Jonah knowledge about Mormon tea and potash mining to fellow onlookers at dead horse point.

Camping in this environment was something I've always wanted to experience. And it far exceeded my wildest imagination. These campsites were breathtaking. I'll be honest - I wasn't sure how I felt about the level of service that Jonah and Keefe provided. I'm used to being the doer, not the one relaxing while dinner is being made. But we realized that we wouldn't have been able to fully enjoy our incredible surroundings if that work wasn't taken off our plate. Instead, a five star feast took its place, and we enjoyed ribs, mashed potatoes, rosemary zucchini and squash, Caesar salad with shaved parmesan, and garlic bread (not to mention the appetizer of mozzarella, tomato, and basil skewers with the vinaigrette drizzle). I'm not even kidding! And this was only one meal! And while we're munching away, amazed at the luxury experience, the surreal setting, and the cooking expertise of our guides, Jonah is sitting there playing and singing frontier classic tunes on his guitar. What!! This entire experience regularly went above and beyond, and that first night dinner really blew our minds. That scene will stick with me for a long long time - just like many on this trip.

Not enough can be said about the unique and direct impact that Jonah and Keefe had on our trip and I wish other travelers the same fortune. (Side note - when we first arrived at the river put in, I realized I didn't have an SD chip in my go pro. Jonah didn't hesitate for a second to offer me his personal chip right out of his phone). But I also wish these guys the best of luck, wherever they end up (looking at you Jonah). NAVTEC is a great outfitter, and has been for a while - and I know they're also lucky to have Jonah and Keefe leading trips.

Can't recommend...

Purchased the Arches & Canyonlands 4x4 all day tour as unique way to see both parks in a very in-depth and unique way. Rich V. was our tour guide and he did an amazing job! After checking in, went outside to see Rich meticulously cleaning and inspecting the vehicle as it was a rigorous all day event through the roughest terrain and 4x4 experiences. He introduced himself and immediately began inquiring what we were looking for, what we expected, and what our limitations were. I was impressed by this as it ensured it was a truly customized tour and we controlled the experience. Many times throughout the tour, he asked additional questions when it came to a decision point on which sites to see or which areas to stop.

Our tour started off in Arches and we were able to see old dinosaur tracks before heading into the main parts of Arches. Rich was extremely knowledgeable of not just the history of Arches, but very specific and detailed facts. He said he does a lot of extra-curricular reading on the parks and local area as part of his job, but also for his own education. As I opted for the adventurous extreme 4x4 routes, we drove about 45 minutes off any main road to a remote arch where there was not any other tourists. His driving skills were also impressive as many of the climbs and descents did not even look possible, but he navigated them very smoothly. I skipped or spent a little amount of time at the main sites on the main roads as I could always see those on my own time. I wanted to maximize the sites which most people can't see without the extreme 4x4 routes. We made several other stops throughout Arches to take pictures and just enjoy the views. At each stop, we were never rushed or hurried to move on. He even said don't worry about the time and the tour would be complete whenever we were done.

After about 4 hours in Arches, we head towards Canyonlands but stopped for about 30-45 minutes to have lunch at a park along the way. I was expecting a bagged lunch with sandwich and chips, but he actually made a Caesars salad, made some wraps, cut up some fresh fruit, and made some lemonade. This was a pretty good lunch and much more than expected.

After lunch, we headed to Canyonlands and spent the last few hours there. Similar to Arches, we spent all of our time off the main roads and on all the 4x4 areas which allowed for very nice views of the Canyons. Since it was away from the main roads, hardly saw anyone else and was able to enjoy the areas away from the crowds. It was fun to see the area where they filmed the final scene of Thelma & Louise up close.

Overall, I highly recommend the Arches & Canyonlands tour as a fun and unique way to see both parks. Rich did an amazing job of customizing the tour, providing information, and enjoying spending the day with him. We never felt rushed or uncomfortable with the 4x4 experiences. It was completely different than when I later drove through Arches on my own time to see the...