Valley Outdoors - Kangaroo Valley and Shoalhaven

Beyond expectations ❤️ My family and I did the superb guided Bridge to Bendeela kayak trip with our wonderful, knowledgeable guide, Jenny. This local business excels in customer service and genuine, helpful advice - from booking to drop off. The trip was a hit with my teenagers, and it was easy and accessible for us older parents. The rapids were very manageable for beginners, and Jenny could not have been more helpful. The trip is in the direction of the water flow, so it’s not onerous paddling. The scenery was breathtaking, including numerous water dragons, kingfishers, a very friendly duck with ducklings, an eagle (or possibly osprey), heron, cormorants, lots of other beautiful birdlife. The trip took us 2.5 hours, but we felt welcome to take longer and have breaks if we needed. I would highly recommend this wonderful experience.

We had an incredible time on the river for 2 nights with our group of 14! Sarah & Trav were so helpful, friendly & patient from start to finish! They answered my questions on the phone & by email before the trip, accommodated changes, recommended good campsites & walks. They made the whole experience so smooth and enjoyable! Our group all think Valley Outdoors was incredible & would love to use the company again! 🛶😁

My husband and I are keen kayakers and recently bought a Mad River RX Explorer 16, planning to use it for camping trips with loads of gear — especially on the Kangaroo and Shoalhaven Rivers. The problem? We just couldn’t keep the thing straight! One phone call to Valley Outdoors, and the delightful Sarah had us booked in for a tailor-made lesson before we set off on our trip of a lifetime. Our instructor Dan was absolutely brilliant — within two hours we were paddling straight, learned that our current paddles weren’t ideal, picked up heaps of great info about the rivers and best camping spots, and finished the lesson feeling genuinely confident and excited. If it weren’t for them, I’m not sure we would’ve made it — and I know it wouldn’t have been anywhere near as enjoyable. Nothing was ever too much trouble (and we asked a LOT of questions!). They even let us use their washing machine when we got back! Their sister business Paddle & Portage is just as impressive, with excellent canoeing gear. We bought two paddles there, and the difference in our paddling was incredible. Can’t recommend Valley Outdoors highly enough — knowledgeable, friendly, and truly passionate about what they do.

Today myself and my parents went on the 6km kayak tour. I have kayaked before but my parents (who are in their late 60s) hadn’t. I checked ahead of time if this tour was ok for people who can’t swim and luckily it was, so they were able to come along with me. The tour ran from 10am - 2pm, with a 30 min break in the middle to stretch our legs and have a snack. Our instructor was Robyn and she was so fantastic, very friendly and made my parents feel confident with paddling very quickly. She also had interesting facts to tell us about the natural environment as we paddled along. There were 4-5 rapids we traversed with the help of Robyn, otherwise it was calm and flat water the rest of the way. We had a group of 13 people, everyone was very pleasant and friendly. I think the tour was very reasonably priced and very well organized. At the end of the route the team picked us up in an air conditioned van as well as the kayaks and paddles (thank goodness!) and drove us back to the main office where we had started. We would absolutely recommend this to anyone and it’s suitable for all ages and fitness levels. We will be coming back again for sure! Thanks to the whole team and the lovely Robyn, we had the best time 😊