Niagara-on-the-Lake is home to the Whirlpool Jet Boat Tour, a unique rapids ride that takes you up the Niagara River toward the Falls. The boat tour consists of several passes through Devil's Hole, a section of class IV rapids, and then through the whirlpool. The jet boats have a flat bottom that allows them to stay in place against the flow of the rapids. When traveling through and with the rapid, the ride is like a roller coaster, but it is the 360-degree turns the guides do for the fun at various places along the river that make you really soar.
There are two tour options available: open and closed. You’ll get plenty wet on the open-boat ride. In fact, you might as well jump in the river than ride in the boat. To guard against the chill, the tour provides you with a wool sweater, jumpsuit and poncho –- and not the flimsy thing provided for the Maid-of-the-Mist Tour. While you stay dry on the closed-boat tour, you miss out on the experience of a true rapids ride. As the boat dives beneath a rapid, the resulting wave of water flows over you rather than the closed dome of the closed boat.
The ride is well worth the $56 per person.
