Virginia Outdoor Center

Went tubing with Virginia Outdoor Center. Cracked my head open on a section that the locals called the meat grinder. No helmets provided and no warning. Go at your own peril.

Madison was awesome! She let our group know about the weather conditions ahead of time. My 2 friends were afraid of the tubing experience, so Madison jumped right in and went tubing with me!

Tubing on the Rappahnnock River with Virginia Outdoor Center was extraordinarily fun and spectacularly beautiful. The float was exciting but we never felt afraid of the flow speed or the small "rapids" we got to bob over. We saw so much wildlife, most exciting being a blue heron and also a sweet painter turtle swimming along with us! Madison was so awesome and helpful and we will be back again to try kayaking!!!

Extremely Disappointing and Unsafe Tubing Experience This was our first time tubing as a family, and sadly, it was a terrible experience from start to finish. The park is not built or managed properly for tubing. There were no visible signs, no clear guidance, and absolutely no safety protocols in place. My family was separated from the beginning, and we had no support from staff during the route. There were injuries involved, and what should’ve been a fun day turned into a stressful and chaotic ordeal. Compared to other tubing parks we’ve visited, this was by far the worst. From the moment we arrived, something felt off — and unfortunately, our instincts were right. There were no staff members or guides on the water as we were told. No markers or signs let us know how long the tubing path would be, and it felt never-ending. It’s especially dangerous for families with small children or for elderly individuals who may not be strong swimmers. To make matters worse, at the end of it all, no one from the staff offered any apologies, help, or concern. Everyone acted like this kind of chaos was normal. I would strongly discourage families — especially those with kids or older adults — from tubing at this location. It was an awful experience and not worth the risk.

Hole in wall to Mott’s run with my daughter in June of ‘24. A great chance to see the sights, have some talks, enjoy the river and get some time in before she headed off to college for the end of summer.

What a great family experience! VOC made it convenient and easy for us to enjoy a family adventure together! Candy and her staff were amazing, contacting us with weather updates and river levels that prevented us from having a bad experience. They gave us a free rain check to move our trip to a day that would give us a better experience on the river! Well done!

The staff was great and it was definitely a fun day of tubing. Great for all family members and the option of a dual tube would be great for younger kids.

Our group did the “Hole in the wall to Mott’s” canoe trip and had an amazing experience. We had a large group, and VOC worked hard to make sure they were able to accommodate everyone. The staff was excellent to work with during planning and while getting us into the river. I take my family on similar trips with our own equipment, so I REALLY appreciate how VOC handles all the transportation with these trips - it really simplifies the process for us. I highly recommend spending time on the Rappahannock, and I highly recommend VOC for helping you get out there.

This place is amazing! The staff if great and super friendly. The launch site is right there and you escort yourself out. I like that because you dont have to wait for a bus or other people. The river portion is everything because it starts out slow then you drop into a few "just right" rapids. There is a spot to jump off some rocks, my son loved that! At the end you come out to a ricer beach area , where you can play in the water or walk your tube up to a shaded spot wnd wait for the bus. The bus is cool little way to end the trip! Plus you can get right back in the river and do it again!! Second time in a month I have come and keep getting new friends to experience it!

It is a shame to give this facility a bad review. The owner, Bill, was wonderful. The land and facilities were beautiful. The point of this review is not just to inform potential customers of the abusive treatment of staff but to try to reach Bill to let him know that he needs to change his staff. Candy, the seeming manager of the outfit, was positively awful and noted as a 'Karen' in other reviews. As stated in other reviews, Candy's abusive attitude while in a leadership position has also permeated other aspects of this organization, sometimes putting children in danger. Candy's abusive behavior includes but is not limited to yelling while contradicting what the owner had told us the night before, demanding 30 minutes before time to leave that we were to do a mandatory service project that she had mistakenly left off the official paperwork, and was not explained to those present until pack out. Candy's response to being questioned about the contradictory information was to alter and resend official paperwork and change the website afterward. When Candy was allowed to communicate directly, she remained silent when proven wrong and instead sent false emails regarding conversations to other organization members. Other than that, our canoeing instructor was gruff but incredibly knowledgeable. The students had the most comprehensive canoeing instruction I had ever seen, and the instructor enabled them to meet their goals. That said, if you go for canoe instruction and get Mike, he will scare the students if they are not forewarned. Please help your students to be active participants and answer questions. Pre-education in canoeing may also help as he tends to ask questions about things he has not yet introduced.

Our two kids have participated in VOC for years. It's amazing, and the the counselors are great people have played important roles in our boys' development. It is safe (don't let Karens put you off), the staff know their stuff, from kayaking and climbing to just goofing off in the water, and the activities stretch the kids horizons in wonderful, character-building ways. Our kids, like all kids, have dropped plenty of other activities, but keep coming back because IT IS FUN! There is a reason why VOC has been around for decades. Do your kids a favor and enroll. Then let go...

Great place for outdoor adventure, Eight of us took a 2-day whitewater kayaking class - awesome experience - the staff are 100% professional.

Our daughter asked us to write this review. She said if someone reads this and it helps them to not put themselves or their child in this type of situation, the whole experience will have been worth it. Let's begin by saying.......A life jacket is not an excuse to not watch out for a child. Our daughter attended a camp over the summer with this company. Her first day was going down the river in tubes. The river was low, so the rocks kept knocking her off the tube. The staff got annoyed with her and told her to stop falling off her tube. This should have been our first sign this organization did not have the best interest of their customers at heart. Her second day at the camp they went to the quarry to do some water sports. Our daughter was told by the staff to bring a canoe over to where everyone else was going to be jumping off rocks, on the other side of the quarry. As a result, our daughter got separated from the rest of the group. She began to have difficulty with the canoe, which was overturned, and started getting scared because she was alone and there was no one to help her. She looked beneath her and saw items in the water, which further caused her to panic; she had no idea there were submerged vessels in the water, the staff did not tell her. She began calling for help to the staff, but no one from the staff came to help her. She was in the water alone, panicking, frightened and completely unattended. This company seems to rely a lot on life jackets as an alternative to actually watching out for the children we came to learn. A life jacket is great, but it only takes one bad situation to turn into a nightmare. Our daughter did not attend the remaining days of this camp after this experience. We called and spoke to Candy, the manager. She listened to what we said happened, and said she would speak to the staff and get the complete picture. We understood this and looked forward to our next conversation to see how the company was going to handle this situation. Candy did call us the next day and said the staff rebuked our daughter's version of what happened, which was really no surprise to us, and instead laid the blame at our daughter's feet, which was a huge surprise to us! Our daughter is 11, was in the water with submerged items such as buses and boats beneath her, unattended and without eyes on her, but it is her fault she got scared because she put herself in that situation, according to them. That is an insane thing for anyone to think, let alone repeat, and repeat by a manager of an organization which is providing a service to a customer. Candy interrupted us constantly on the call, talked down to us, insisted our daughter was safe because she was wearing the almighty life jacket, and the center took zero responsibility for how our daughter felt and what happened, instead they shifted the blame at her feet. Candy even scoffed at us when we tried to get her to empathize with our daughter and how she felt being abandoned by the staff, telling us she obviously sees things differently. She kept talking about the life jacket and that our daughter was never in danger. Well, I had no idea life jackets were so powerful and omnipotent. Bottom line is this. We will never suggest this place or return to use their services, which is a shame because it could have been an amazing experience. It takes a lifetime to earn a customer, and a second to destroy the relationship. If we could leave zero stars, we would.

I took my son and his friends tubing for son's 16th birthday and we had a blast - staff made sure the kids were well-outfitted with gear, prepped on what to do, and we had a float of some fast and slow waters, a few bumps (that's tubing, folks) and a friendly, fun pick up ride with kind staff. Expect to get muddy and enjoy the river experience.

If you've seen my reviews y'all already know the only low reviews I have given were given for brown mojitos. This was certainly worthy. The day started out great, minus the traffic, but our group was in good spirits and we felt welcomed by the staff, that was about as good as it got. I mean, I love tubing, just flowing on a river on a tube, getting my tan on, having a great time with friends. What I did not count on was having to do a lot of the work by myself, By work I mean, the river was so low that rocks were coming out a little more frequently than necessary so I either got stuck or had to maneuver lot around the rocks. I am pretty sure my arms thanked me for the work out it gave after not only moving around rocks, but there were parts of the river that was barely moving or not moving at all, you had to literally paddle your way to current. What should have taken two hours, in fact took 4 hours, bottom line, we were miserable. it didn't help that there was an employee standing in the river, telling us to hurry up because the shuttle was about to leave. By the end of it, I was frustrated, burnt and sporting a huge gash above my eye because we realized bungees were not going to help our cause. If y'all are going to go, make sure the river is high enough that you don't have to traverse rocks.

We were treated extremely rude by the worker Jacob & the young lady driving the Excursion shuttle. We got out of the water early for medical reasons & the workers sent to pick us up treated us horribly. I would never return. The place is a dump & there are no directions on where to go & what to do. The kayaks we rented are also cheap & subpar.

not friendly instructions missed the a full paid reservation and didn't get refunds or replacement, even after my many calls no one returned my calls

My friends go on an annual tubing trip each summer. This year, we decided to try a new location- Virginia Outdoor Center. The staff were very friendly and their process was very organized. They even keep your car keys for you. Unfortunately, once on the river, my friends and I had a miserable experience and will not be returning. Many parts of the river were moving so slow that our tubes came to a complete standstill and we had to paddle; we were unexpectedly exhausted by the end of the trip. The more dangerous part was the fact that the water level was SO LOW that we repeatedly got stuck on the rocks. We all came home with scrapes and bruises along our backsides. At a few points, in rushing water, we had to unsafely get out of our tubes in order to release ourselves from the rocks. A trip that was expected to take 2 hours ended up taking us almost 4 hours. To make matters worse, as we got to the end of the river, an employee yelled for us to hurry up and that we were late for the last shuttle. We had gotten down the river as fast we could, so this comment was not appreciated. If the river were higher, this would have been an entirely different experience. The staff should warn us if the river level is too low.

Great prices, friendly staff, and clear directions on how to get here. The letdown was how low the river was. The staff said tubing down the river would be "a little slow" but many parts of it was at a complete stop with the tubes getting stuck in rocks. We had a get out of the tubes and paddle to make any traction down the river. What we wanted was a fun float down the river but it turned into an arm and leg workout. It's not the Center's fault for the river's depth but I would have suggested against us tubing or would have been more blunt about the 2.5 experience we were about to have. I'd come back but would definitely call ahead and ask about the river condition before doing it again.

Friendly staff. Had a great time with the family floating down the river. River was low so we got stuck a bunch but that's hardly not VOC's fault lol.

This was truly a disappointing experience. The office staff comprised by a group of clueless, uneducated teens was our first clue. Paying cash was an issue since their math skills were nonexistent. Accommodations were poor; no lockers. Their directions on exiting the river were a joke. Police harassing the teens in our group was unconscionable. As visitors to the state, we were truly targeted. Skip this, other venues do a much better job!

I've passed this place for years, but finally stopped in this past weekend. I am glad I did. We did a Father's Day tubing session down the Rappahannock. Parked on site and within 10 minutes were out on the river. The staff were friendly and the prices were reasonable. We have already talked about doing this again. It kind of felt like being on vacation in our hometown. We have also been looking into taking some kayaks out for a trip too.

My family has been using VOC for years - tubing, kayaking, summer camps, etc. Everything they do is top notch.

The Virginia Outdoor Center is perfect! I came in for information about a month ago and finally did a kayaking trip with my husband last week. All staff members were very knowledgable, helpful, and extremely polite. The trip was well organized beforehand and very enjoyable. I can't wait to do another trip through the Virginia Outdoor Center!

Great river trips run by awesome owners and staff! Its clear that they love the River and sharing it with their customers.

Excellent place to rent kayaks. We were In town for a wedding and got up early to kayak the 6 mile trip. Staff was friendly, courteous and knowledgeable. Can't wait to go back.

Listen. Heed my advice: RUN don't walk away from this place. First of all, super over priced. $20 for a tube, in this economy?! I think not. Also, definitely witnessed a drug deal. Furthermore, staff seemed uneducated, uninterested, and spacey. They do not prioritize the needs of their customers, nor do they seem to care. We waited AT LEAST 45 minutes in the scorching heat for a shuttle to bring us back. We almost had to pay out of pocket just to get back to the launch point. With all of the animals in the river, I'm not sure if it's completely sanitary. BBB adherents beware. Sincerely, disgruntled.

After reading the info on the website and printing and filling out our "liability" form to bring with us, we drove an hour to this place. Stuck in 95 and Rt. 1 traffic the entire way. We get there ready to tube down the river and are told, sorry - only 12yrs and up can tube today bc the water table is too high. This would have been FANTASTIC news to have been made available as a possibility on their website. We had our 6 & 7yo with us (both able to swim). When I asked why this information wasn't on the website this morning, I was told - "well, it's a website. We can't do daily updates." Really? Every other organization with a website seems to be able to do so. What is the purpose of providing a mandatory "liability" form if it isn't good enough for your business use. Also, nowhere on the website does it say to call ahead as rules and regulations may change due to tidal conditions. Again, would have been useful info. Now, we have wasted our entire morning and early afternoon as we have to drive BACK with two upset kids who maintain that, yes - they are better swimmers than most 12yo's and are being discriminated against bc of their size. I would NOT recommend this place unless you are able to waste your time as they make up the rules as they go. Don't be fooled by the extensive list of rules on their website, they're due to change daily.