This was a great way to immerse yourself in the natural landscape of Denali that is suitable for (almost) all ages and ability levels. Unlike rafting in warmer climates, you will be wearing a full body dry suit and the guide will be navigating the raft to ensure everyone's safety. Depending on the preferences of your group, the guide can navigate so that you get splashed or not splashed as much. We put all the kids (ages 7 to 18) in the front and they had great fun taking some waves to the face, but because of the dry suits everyone stayed perfectly warm. The river has a few calmer areas where you can take a few pictures with a phone or camera - I brought my own dry bag to secure them the rest of the time.
Our 9yo son had a complete meltdown over putting on the drysuit (they're a bit snug at the neck but our 7yo didn't mind at all). The staff at New Wave Adventures was extremely kind and accommodating; the bus driver in particular spent a long time helping us console our son and encouraging him to give rafting a shot. In the end, our son decided to go and loved the whole trip!
In the commotion with our son, I missed our guide's name - he introduced himself as the smallest rafting guide in Alaska :) He was a fantastic river guide, pointing out a lot of smaller nuances along the river, like a small hot spring and how the water density and temperature changed as we proceeded through different river features. He also spotted a bald eagle attempting to catch another bird in mid-flight, which is a sight I'll never forget!