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As she is told that her seat at the front of the Zodiac will be the roughest spot on the inflatable boat, 14-year-old Rachael Sinnett of Ottawa nervously tightens her grip on the handles and rope behind her.

Then she hears that the small craft could soon be slamming into four-metre rapids, created as the tide from the Bay of Fundy rushes into Nova Scotia's Shubenacadie River and rolls off the sandbars below, and her eyes become wide with fright.

"I only made it to five feet this year," she says, forcing out a laugh as she realizes a wall of water more than twice her height could soon be crashing on top of her.

Rachael is on a rafting tour of the Shubenacadie and its distinctive tidal bore, a phenomenon that occurs when the massive amount of water entering the river from the bay meets the outgoing flow.

The tides in the area are among the highest in the world, increasing the water level by more than 10 metres and quickly pushing billions of tonnes of sea water into the river. As the incoming tide flows into the narrow channel, a wave that can be more than two metres high rolls down the Shubenacadie.

The Zodiacs - there are sometimes as many as 30 in the water, operated by three different tour companies - take turns riding on top of the wave, then turning around and speeding head-on into the tidal bore.

At the same time, standing waves form as the tide rushes past large sandbars. The river looks like it's boiling, and the Zodiacs plow through the rapids as everyone on the boat desperately tries to hang on.

Some fall into the middle of the boat, sitting in half a metre of cool water. Others let out screams as the front of the boat launches upward. Everyone is soaked, covered in salt water and silt.

"They [the rapids] kind of just surrounded you, and they were on top of you," Rachael, who is visiting Nova Scotia with her friend's family, says after the two-hour ride. "It was all in the boat, and you couldn't really get out of the water. ... It was crazy."

The tour started near the mouth of the river in Maitland, a small village that was once a bustling shipbuilding town.

There are two other tour operators farther up the Shubenacadie, but they all end up on the same rapids.

"It was everything I could do to hold on - there were times where you would just look ahead and there would be these humongous waves that I was not expecting, one after the other," says Lisa Knight, 33, of Columbia, Md., who was travelling through the Maritimes with her husband.

"There was a moment where I was airborne for what felt like an eternity and I thought for sure there was no way that I could hang on," she adds, grateful that she managed to stay in the boat. "It was a little nerve-racking."

Tidal bores occur at several dozen rivers around the world, typically in areas where high tides combine with narrow, funnel-shaped waterways.

But the staff at the Shubenacadie River Runners insist the river that cuts down the middle of Nova Scotia offers the best conditions for extreme tidal rafting.

"There are some people who come here and they think because they've been boating or rafting in other areas that they know what's going to happen, but they don't expect it," says Cara McInnis, 20, of Truro, who started driving Zodiacs into the tidal bore two years ago.

McInnis says she was hooked from the first time she rode as a passenger, though she says she would much rather be behind the controls.

"Once you get to the driver's seat, you don't want to go back being a passenger," she says. "It's so much fun because you get to watch the expressions from everybody's faces change. I love it. This is the best job I've ever had."

Pack your bags

GETTING THERE

Travelling north from Halifax on Highway 102, take Exit 10 onto Highway 215 toward Maitland. All three operators are along this route.

RAFTING OPERATORS

Shubenacadie River Runners 1-800-856-5061; http://www.tidalborerafting.com.

Tidal Bore Rafting Park 1-800-565-7238; http://www.tidalboreraftingpark.com.

Shubenacadie River Adventure Tours 1-888-878-8687; http://www.shubie.com.

COST

All three companies offer two lengths of tours. Shorter tours run between 90 minutes and two hours and cost between $55 and $65. Longer tours run between three and four hours and cost between $70 and $80. Book ahead - spaces can fill up quickly.

MORE INFORMATION

Nova Scotia Tourism novascotia.com.