Working as a Whitewater Rafting Guide on the Ococee River in Georgia

How to Find Work

Getting a job working on the river is a lot easier than you may think. Almost every company, if not all, have a training program for first year guides. This means you don't have to have any prior experience to start training to work on the Ocoee. Training for first year guides usually starts in early march when the river opens to the public. Be ready for cold weather and even colder weather. It is usually 40 or so during this time of year around the river.
Training starts as soon as the river opens in March so you will want to start contacting companys at the start of the year. Some companies you can contact year round about employment information. Some of the smaller companies don't open up until March though. You can continue to contact the different companies during March and April. After that the hiring process starts to end and most places won't hire an inexperienced guide after that.

What Training is Like

During training you will learn how to safely guide a boat of up to 7 or 8 customers but usually you have 6 in the boat at a time. You will also learn some swift water rescue techniques such as how to unwrap a boat from a rock, how to get out of a hydraulic, how to throw a rope, and many other useful rescue techniques. In order to be a whitewater rafting guide you must have a basic first aid and CPR certification. Most companies offer this at a discounted group rate during training. The cost of the certification is generally around $25.

When you finally hit the water for training you start out in customer spots in the boat with an experienced guide. You will take a few trips down just paddling and the guide will be naming the rapids as you go through them and pointing out the lines you run on the river and where you want to and don't want to go. After the first few trips you will take turns guiding the raft with the other trainees in the boat. The guide will help you by telling you when and how to turn the boat, when to call paddle commands, and other need to know skills.