about water shoes

[tsnider117]

going to dunns falls and river tubeing. wondering if we will need water shoes for the tubeing as well as the falls? and if they have lockers at both places or are bags left in tour van safe?

[SwingChickie]

i haven't done the falls but can speak to the tubing... we left our belongings in our tour van and they were kept safe by our guide. as far as water shoes goes, i wore athletic-type sandals and was glad i did... as you're going down the river there will be times that your tube goes towards the edge and you'll have to push off to get back in the main water flow, and i wouldn't want to do that with bare feet. lots of pointy sticks, wire fencing, etc that could scratch your feet up.

[vluvs2ski]

I thought I read that shoes/sandals are required for the Falls.

[colover]

We went about two and a half years ago and you definitely need water shoes for both tubing and the falls. The falls are quite slippery in places and you're on an uneven surface so Keens or Tevas with some decent tread and support are necessary. Flip flops would be a nightmare. Both excursions are really fun! As far as lockers at the Falls, I don't recall that there were any. We left our stuff on the bus with the driver. Be prepared for aggressive vendors at the exit to the falls. Also, be sure to bring some cash for the tubing (you can store it in one of those waterproof pouches in your pocket or around your neck.) There's an opportunity to stop and jump off a 12 foot high-ish ledge into the river. There's a photographer there taking good pics, but you can only pay in cash. We were disappointed we didn't have cash and couldn't buy any.

[GradUT]

While water shoes are not required at DRF, they are a VERY good idea. The rocks are, indeed, slippery and you need something with good tread to maintain your footing. Water shoes are a good choice because they have good tread and are lightweight.

 

There are lockers at DRF. They are huge and you rent a lock to lock up your belongings inside. As I recall from earlier this year, we paid $8 and were refunded either $3 or $5 when we returned the lock.

 

There were no lockers for the White River tubing trip and we just left our belongings on the tour bus where there were safe. We did bring along a few dollar bills (which did get wet) to tip the guide at the end of the tour since we weren't sure that the bus would be waiting for us at the end of the trip. (We finished tubing before the bus got there, so I'm glad we had our dollar bills with us. I would have hated not being able to tip our excellent guide.)

[SwingChickie]

Also, be sure to bring some cash for the tubing (you can store it in one of those waterproof pouches in your pocket or around your neck.) There's an opportunity to stop and jump off a 12 foot high-ish ledge into the river. There's a photographer there taking good pics, but you can only pay in cash. We were disappointed we didn't have cash and couldn't buy any.

 

actually, that's changed since you went... when we did the tubing a couple of weeks ago, we didn't have to pay for the pictures until we got to the end. anything you get during that stop -- photos, trinkets, a beer -- you pay for when you get out of the water. much more convenient so you don't have to worry about bringing (and losing) cash!

[DukeFamily]

I've done the same excursion. I would definitely recommend water shoes - the cheap-o ones you can get at WalMart for five bucks. Climbing the falls, your feet sometimes slip off the rocks (mine did a couple of times) and I worry that if you were wearing sandals (even good ones) you could easily break a strap. That's my $.02!

[RCI_FADM_76]

Agree completely. We bought water shoes explicitly for this excursion. Some of the places can be a bit slippery and there is no way I would have wanted to do that climb in my sandals.

 

For our excursion, we went over via catamaran and left our stuff at the end of the dock. One of the catamaran crew kept "eyes-on" all of our stuff while we were doing the climb. No issues with anything being stolen.