I bought this for river tubing in some gentle rapids. Works great, even better than a tube because this one leaves you closer to the water for easier paddling with the hands. The one disadvantage is you will have to bail water out yourself since there is no way for it to get out otherwise. Also one note of caution, I inflated this while it sat on the hot asphalt. The air chambers on the floor of the raft got too hot and expanded under the air pressure. Now the floor is lopsided, though this is not much of a problem.