River Rafting vs White Water Rafting

Diffen › Sports

In rafting you choose a river and follow the course on a raft specially designed to maneuver the obstacles you might face. The rafts are usually inflatable boats, consisting of very durable, multi-layered rubberized or vinyl fabrics with several independent air chambers. The varying gradient, constriction, obstruction and flow rate of the river makes river rafting a challenging recreational outdoor activity.

Comparison chart

River Rafting versus White Water Rafting comparison chart
	River Rafting	White Water Rafting
Type of sport	Rafting in a river.	Rafting in turbulent waters. Whitewater is when a river forms a bubbly, or aerated and unstable current. This frothy water appears white hence the name.
Course	A rivers course may have varying gradient, constriction, obstruction and flow rate.	White water is caused by varying gradient, constriction, obstruction and flow rate.
Scale	Class I to Class VI in increasing order of difficulty.	Grade 3 to Grade 6 in the International Scale of River Difficulty.

Rafting in River Struma at Kresna's Gorge.

White water rafting is done on white water, which means different degrees of rough water, in order to thrill and excite the raft passengers. This leisure sport became popular in the mid-1970s.

Four factors cause white water

When a river's gradient increases enough to disturb its laminar flow and create turbulence, i.e. form a bubbly, or aerated and unstable current; the frothy water appears white.
When a river's flow is forced into a narrower channel.
When a boulder or ledge obstruct the flow of the river
When there is a marked increase or decrease. Increase in flow may be due to melting of snow or excessive rain. Decrease may be due to lack of rain.

Scale

Based on the Scale of River Difficulty, river water is graded from Grade 1 to Grade 6 with increasing order of difficulty. Grade 3 and above is classified as white waters. Similarly the rivers are also classified for white waters from Class I to Class VI again in increasing order of difficulty.