Raft guide foundation course

What the course actually is

This is a vocational course, not a rafting holiday. You will row, you will flip rafts deliberately, you will spend a full day on swiftwater rescue, and you will be assessed. It is the first step towards guiding commercially — an apprenticeship still follows.

Ten days of the skills, rescue and river-reading a commercial raft guide needs before an apprenticeship.

• —Accommodation
• —Breakfast and dinner
• —Travel to Rishikesh
• —Re-assessment fee if you do not pass first time
• —Personal insurance

1. Day 1

   Hydrology and equipmentTraining

   08:00–17:00·How rivers behave, and what every piece of kit is for.
2. Day 2

   Paddle crewTraining

   08:00–16:00·Commands, crew positioning, and paddling as one boat.
3. Day 3

   First time on the sticksTraining

   07:30–16:00·Guiding a raft on grade II with an instructor aboard.
4. Day 4

   Reading waterTraining

   07:30–16:00·Scouting, line selection and calling a rapid before you enter it.
5. Day 5

   Flip drillsTraining

   07:30–16:00·Deliberate flips, self-rescue and re-flipping alone. A long, cold day.
6. Day 6

   Swiftwater rescue ITraining

   08:00–17:00·Throw bags, defensive and aggressive swimming, wading techniques.
7. Day 7

   Swiftwater rescue IITraining

   08:00–17:00·Mechanical advantage, unpinning, and entrapment scenarios.
8. Day 8

   Grade IIITraining

   07:30–16:00·Guiding the harder section with a full crew.
9. Day 9

   Commercial standardsTraining

   08:00–16:00·Client briefing, risk assessment, paperwork and incident reporting.
10. Day 10

    AssessmentTraining

    07:30–17:00·A full commercial-standard descent, guided by you and assessed.

What you will learn

• Row and guide a raft through grade III water
• Read a rapid and call a line under pressure
• Flip recovery and re-flipping a raft alone
• Swiftwater rescue: throw bags, wading, and unpinning
• Brief and manage a commercial crew

What you get at the end

1. No certificationYou learn the skill; no document is issued.
2. Certificate of participationConfirms you attended. Not a qualification and not recognised by any body.
3. Nationally recognised — Indian Association of Professional Rafting Outfitters · this courseIssued under an Indian federation or authority, and recognised within India.
4. Internationally recognisedIssued under an international body and recognised by operators abroad.

Requirements & eligibility

Equipment breakdown

Who teaches it

Safety & Field Protocol

• This course involves deliberate raft flips and swimming grade III rapids. That is not incidental — it is the syllabus, and you should not book it if you are not prepared to be repeatedly in fast cold water
• Two safety kayakers accompany every river day
• Every candidate must pass the swim test on day one before going on moving water
• The course carries a full rescue cache and every instructor is a Swiftwater Rescue Technician

If plans change