Final Winnipeg Waterways river boat tours of the season

With the colder weather approaching, the Winnipeg Waterways season has officially come to an end.

Many people bundled up for one final ride Monday, spending their Thanksgiving taking in the beautiful fall views along the Assiniboine and Red River.

Beginning May long weekend, the Winnipeg Waterways river boat tours were a huge hit this season. Back for the first time in six years, owner and operator Will Belford was happy with the response they received from the community.

“Folks came back with a boom, absolutely loved it,” Belford told CityNews. “We discovered some true cheerleaders for us on social media and folks so excited. And so yeah, really honoured to be able to bring it back and sort of fulfill that service back to Winnipeg.”

Belford says thousands came out over the past five months to enjoy the river boat tours they have to offer, and around 6,500 also used their Water Bus Service. This successful season did however come with some surprises.

“We got sort of a flash flood,” Belford recounted. “The water was up over the river walk by eight to 10 feet for about a month. This is after spring had already sprung, so it was surprise, but luckily our team and our support at The Forks here took it all in stride.

With the sun shining for their final day on the water, many people were happy to have a chance to catch one last ride before the boats are taken out of the water.

“My family’s here visiting from Toronto, so wanted to give them the nice tour,” one person said.

“It was wonderful, very informative, smooth ride, perfect weather for it, and great,” added another. “Not too long, not too short.”

“I haven’t gone all summer so definitely wanted to sneak one in before the season ended and will probably go a bunch of times next year,” added a third.

The Winnipeg Waterways plan to be back open on the May long weekend of next year, and Belford says they are hopeful to add some more locations in the near future.