St Lucia Bamboo Rafting Experience (+Rum Tasting)

While St Lucia is a fabulous place to come to visit the beach or sit by the pool, we loved having a day to explore the island further. We joined CHIC's Chocolate, rum and rafting experience and thoroughly enjoyed the whole day. Making our own bar of chocolate was great fun. Who doesn't enjoy playing with chocolate? We were given a chance to taste a whole array of different ages and strengths of rums as well as flavoured rum based liqueurs. A stop for freshly baked banana bread on the way was a good preparation for the tasting! Our relaxing raft trip down river from the distillery gave us another view of the countryside with commentary from our charming raft guide 'Captain Sweet' Our driver and guide for the day Stephan was a great source of local knowledge and was happy to answer all our questions as he drove us through villages and countryside en route. A must do trip!

Peaceful, informative, and breathtaking. This was so relaxing! The guide and transport drivers were so nice and informative. Loved this tour!

A wonderful way to spend a couple of hours, floating serenely down the river, discovering more about St Lucia and the importance of the river to wildlife and farmers alike. Time seemed to stop still which, given the laid back nature of St Lucia as a whole, is a remarkable feat. Our guide (Stefan) was very knowledgeable and professional, pointing out key landmarks and facts. The bar on the beach came as a welcome natural break, with plenty to peruse in terms of local produce and items, as well as a cold beer! Would certainly recommend this to anyone who wants to kick back and relax.

Stephen messaged us to tell us exactly where he would collect us at the port. He kept us updated as there were quite a few people already at the river to do the trip, so we had a delay before getting there. Stephen was friendly and engaging on the journey and we learnt a lot about St Lucia from him during the journey. We stopped at a wonderful viewpoint from where we had a superb view down over the port. On arrival at the rafting location, we had another wait for the rafts to be brought back from the earlier group. There were benches in the shade, and toilet facilities available. Once in the raft wearing the required life vests, we were offered a drink from the included coolbox, water or beer. Our guide pointed out a few things of interest while gently punting us down stream to a little beach. We had some free time on the beach and then went into the little bar on the beach to buy a rum punch. Clive greeted us and when I told him it was my birthday, he was pleased that I was spending my birthday at his bar. He did a little dance with my husband and we took photos. He really made my birthday experience wonderful and memorable! I have told all my friends about my birthday buddy Clive! The rum punch from his bar was the best we tasted throughout our whole holiday. For the return journey, a series of rafts were tied together and towed back upstream back to the starting point. It was tricky getting off the raft and we had to walk through some muddy puddles, so water shoes would be recommended. Stephen drive us back to the port and again shared knowledge and information with us. I enjoyed my birthday bamboo rafting experience.

Great time on the rum tasting / river raft tour. Great communication with Steven from chic travel . We delayed our trip for a few hours to avoid the “cruise crush” Got picked up my jay- just the 2 of us at 1.15pm. He’s a great guy. Very knowledgable and has a great playlist!! We Tasted quite a few rums! Some better than others!!🥴 On the raft we had Joe as our captain. Again great guy. Fun too with his trivia questions plus a few teasers!! Beautiful scenery and we only saw a couple of other rafts so felt very personal. Ended with and glorious walk on the beach with a cocoloco cocktail before a slow tug back up the river. A fabulous trip. 🥰

My favourite thing to do so far!! What a great way to spend a little time. Started with the rum tour and then off to the bamboo raft where our host guided us down the river to the beach. I wished it was longer... I could have gone again and again. Saw black and white egrets and pelicans feeding at the beach. Highly recommend this. The guide was super friendly and accommodating

Make sure you bring sandals and plenty of sun tan lotion, they provided a few drinks , and the guide was very thorough with his knowledge

We had an excellent time on this exertion. The rum tasting was fun and we found new flavors. Jahvid was hilarious and knowledgeable. He answered questions and was very patient with all of us. Dave, our driver, did an amazing jobs of keeping us safe on scary roads with crazy drivers. The river raft was so calm and peaceful. I loved Shem. If you go be sure and ask for him. He was so kind and willing to the extra mile to make sure we enjoyed ourselves. He was very patient and answered all our questions. If I return to St Lucia, I will do the bamboo river raft and make sure Shem is our guide.

We were met at our cruise port by Steven. Such a personable man and really enthusiastic. Great knowledge of St Lucia stopping at good view points on the way. He even stopped at a banana farm to buy us some bananas! At the rafting experience we were met by “captain D” he highlighted local wildlife, forna etc. nothing was rushed & it was both informative & relaxing. The mangrove part was amazing. We would highly recommend this trip to anyone who would like to experience something different in St Lucia.

This was a 100/10. Larry was such an amazing guide- he was so knowledgeable about everything and went above and beyond for us during the entire ride. The lunch was incredible, and everyone there was so nice. A must do for vacation in St Lucia

. Steven had picked us up promptly from our hotel and was so friendly and polite and shared with us his knowledge of this beautiful island. Once we arrived at the river , we went on the bamboo raft and spent a few hours seeing the mangroves and the wildlife with Ryan guiding the raft and giving us lots of information about the area. It was truly magical.

Wonderful trip. Steven was very informative and polite. Rafting was good too. Steven was very prompt and messaged me the day before. Would recommend.

Fantastic trip right from the pick up. Steve was fully of knowledge and positive energy and he made the ride so enjoyable for us. We saw all the major sites with great explanations of each. We then went to the chocolate factory where we took a class in chocolate making, made our own chocolate bars and purchase some great chocolates. We then went on the most beautiful and relaxing bamboo raft for a two mile ride down the river. The rafts were super comfy and the guides were great. We had a great time. You won’t regret purchasing this tour it truly was a wonderful experience.

My friends and I had an amazing experience. Everyone should book this excursion it’s amazing! The guides are very knowledgeable and make you feel welcomed.

This was a fantastic excursion. My husband and I would highly recommend this to anyone who inquires. The staff and owner were wonderful

First of all, let’s talk about Steven and chic hospitality! This guy’s gonna be the Prime Minister of St. Lucia one day! What a great emissary for this island nation of beauty! It was more than just the bamboo rafting cause he took us around and showed us so much! Now the bamboo rafting, was exactly what I expected and then some! Loved it and it was so serene. Amen (our OR: Original Rafter) was awesome! Highly recommend all of it!

Highlight of my trip!! Our raft guide greeted us cheerfully, comfortably seated us on the raft with an umbrella for pending rain. Two older women from California/two women from England mid-day 2/28. Our guide pointed out many features and provided explanations about birds, fish, plants and trees along the river. Also pointed out a rope ladder to a beehive people used to use high on the cliff side. Our guide offered us water, coke or local beer to sip as we enjoyed the comfortable ride on “yes” tied together bamboo with a bamboo pole for moving the raft. Our hardworking guide did all the pushing and steering with the pole while we enjoyed the beer. Final portion was in a mangrove lagoon. Beautiful special spot. Our only regret is we did not have adequate tip money with us for our personable hardworking guide. I don’t often write reviews. I hope this reaches him as he deserved much for making this our trip highlight.

We had such a good time last year in 2024 that we just had to do it again. We wasn’t disappointed at all. Everything went smoothly. Such an amazing time both times. We would highly recommend. You will not be disappointed.

Stephen was such a great guide. During the drive to the bamboo rafting he took time out to explain local land marks and features, answering any questions we had, which helped us to understand the St Lucian culture better. The rafting itself was an excellent experience, being punted down the river. It was so tranquil and beautiful, and accompanied with a refreshing drink was extremely relaxing. This trip was definitely a key highlight to our holiday, and we only wish we'd found Stephen earlier to take us on other trips!

We visited St Lucia for our honeymoon and this excursion was one of my favourites. We booked this excursion via our Sandals resort and we were so well looked after! We had Captain Ryan as our guide and he was great! Very knowledgeable and relaxed, made us feel very comfortable. Offerings of water and Piton beer were available throughout the raft experience, after meandering down the river we got taken through mangroves for a photo opportunity! Then Ryan took us to the bay for some fresh fruit from a local (which was very tasty!!) and you get towed back up the river when you're ready. Fantastic experience and have already recommended to others on the resort! Thank you again, and thank you Ryan for making our first river rafting experience a great one!

We highly recommend this experience. It started with a delicious cocktail upon arrival. We were then assigned " Captain Kay" who cut open fresh coconuts for us to drink during our journey. Our 21 year old captain was very entertaining and had an interest in photograhy so provided a photo shoot of our experiment all while he was poling down the river. The scenery along the river was spectacular! Umbrellas were provided for shade and beer and water also provided. At the end of the river, right before reaching tbe ocean, we glided through some mangrooves before being towed back to our starting point. The whole experience took about 2 hours and was worth the cost. It is also near a rum distillery, if you want to combine that in your day.

Alan was an awesome tour guide and saw some fantastic views. Even cut down a coconut after climbing a tree and made us the famous coco loco!

Steven was a friendly and well spoken professional. He communicated with us before pick up and even accommodated us by shifting our excursion a day after something came up. He was very informative and went out of his way to make sure we had a great experience. What else to say other than our experience was top notch. Thanks again.

I can’t think of a better way to see St. Lucia’s essence and ethos than this Bamboo Ride. It is getting to the basics; that is all you need to feel the Lucians. The ride is so calm, comfortable, and peaceful that you forget any worries. The beach was private and beautiful before you headed back upstream pulled by a boat. Thank you for your time, history, and passion for this trip.

Great experience and welcoming environment. The staff was informative. The best line drink I have ever tasted.

Lovely relaxing trip down Rouseou river. Highly recommended. Then through mangroves.Ended with a dip in The ocean where the river spilled Into the sea. Then they tow you back to where you started. Very nice.

A very relaxing trip down the river. Guide was amazing. Had a chance see the mangroves as well as a quick swim in the Carribean

This is a Gem of a Tour. St Lucia Bamboo is the Italy Gondola experience …beautiful scenery, relaxing, beverages provided! The guides Joe Larry & Lazarus were fun and knowledgeable. It’s a Wow Tour that just started a year ago. Locally owned and operated. I highly recommend it! Do not miss this unique opportunity to experience St Lucia outside of beaches and Pitons.

Every time I contact them I specify we were at the port were Jewel of the sea docked. So 9:00 when we got off the sip we waited, they went to the wrong port. We had to get a cab $20. To go to the Norwegian side. Finally 10:00 we were on our way. Our guides on the rafting tour were amazing. Learned a lot of interesting things about the area. When we got to the end of the river and were waiting to go back up stream the boat took off with out us. We were getting kinda nervous because the ship was leaving at 4:00. And we still wanted to do a bit of shopping when we got back. And we lost so much time in the beginning of our excursion waiting for our ride. Finally after 30 minutes they came back to get us. Our original driver took off so we had to wait again 🥴 so this guy had to stop somewhere in tour to pick up more people to return to town. Very poor planning on there part. The adventure was so much fun but the people arranging the tour were not……would not recommend unless you have lots of time and no deadlines.

The trip was peaceful and relaxing and our guide was super friendly and informative. Definitely a nice break from other more strenuous activities.

Very disappointed we brought my son's girlfriend who is 18 and she was so nervous to do . We were told we would get credit if she got scared. Well she got scared . Never even went into water and they refused to credit her . It was her Xmas money . Such crap. Owner wasn't nice about it at all .

Amazing experience doing the Bamboo rafting excursion with my husband. We had Allan aka Captain Love take us and he was absolutely a pleasure to meet. The whole team were welcoming and you get good value for money with this break taking experience. We also recommended it to some friends who also went a few days after us and they loved it. Thank you to the team! We had a great time. A must go do on the island!

A must do, this was by far the best excursion we ever booked. Capt. Joe is the best, he grew up on the river and loves sharing his knowledge as he takes you down river. It was so calm and peaceful, scenic view were amazing. You get to enjoy the island fruits along the way. I honestly can’t say enough about how much fun this was. There were absolutely no mosquitoes so don’t let that deter you.

Such a great experience from the driver to the staff and especially captain Lasso who made us feel so welcomed it was calming and relaxing ,Lasso made a couple stops grabbed a fresh coconut from the trees, try a little rum, sugar cane and molasses . Overall a very relaxing ride in nature.

My favorite part of my trip. Rafting was such a beautiful, great time. We started off with a nice drink made by the manager. He was funny, nice, welcoming and most importantly, very accommodating. The ride itself was so amazing and the views were breathtaking. Staff was fun and everyone was so nice!! We stopped by the beach for an amazing lunch made by a beautiful lady and made our way back. Even though there were passing showers, this experience was 10/10 and I can’t wait to come back!!!!

Nice quiet tour,Good vipes, super nice and friendly staff.👍 was a lot of fun, you must not be afraid of wet feet.

It was a really cool trip! Steven was a great guide and the activities he brought us to were a lot of fun. Highlight were the raft tour and the rum tasting in the distillery. Also the the bus tour itself was very informative and funny. Highly recommended!