We have been tubing down rivers for 25 years. (Most of those years were in Michigan). In SC we have only floated down the French Broad River. Sky Tubing is our favorite, but they were booked due to reservation policies for covid 19. We found Catawba River Outdoors as a last minute prospect. WHAT A GOLD MINE OF A FIND! We had SO MUCH FUN. The river was amazing, and the scenery was gorgeous. We did the new "extended" 4 hour float. Either float puts you right back where your vehicle is parked. You have to maneuver around rocks, twists in the river, and downed trees - which is normal for any river, but it gets a little trickier on this river as you randomly run into fast(er), but Fun, currents. The one downside to the 4 hour float is that you have to go UNDER a downed thick tree branch. You literally have to flatten your body backwards to pass under the branch. Kayakers managed to get under it, but I don't know how they did it! We will DEFINITELY be back again. The company allows 2 year olds to float, but I would Not take a child that young unless you are comfortable with river rushes. There are no rapids, but it can get a little intense at times. HIGHLY RECOMMEND these people! We will be back! We had a...
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The water are contaminated. A day after our visit, two of my kids started having stomach problems and one was throwing up. I just checked the official swim guide website and the water in the Catawba River near Marion are not safe for swimming.
I suspected that because as we went on the tube, I saw foam that I recognize from sewer spillings in the water.
In addition to that: they have a video on the website showing people on tubes with red paddles. They do NOT give you paddles.
If you expect a "lazy" river, that's not the place - you will need to work hard to get to the exit. A lot of places there is no current and you have to paddle quite a bit. It is tiring and your muscles will hurt.
They were not helpful. The guy that gives the tubes just told us to help ourselves and didn't volunteer much. Only after I asked about paddles he suggested to grab a bamboo stick, without which we would have struggled to complete the course. He even said we don't really need it and one would be enough for all 5 of us - WRONG! Each person needs one, unless you have a paddle.
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