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Home » Tubing on the Illinois River with a WOW Tube

Travel

Tubing on the Illinois River with a WOW Tube

Home » Tubing on the Illinois River with a WOW Tube

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small commission at no cost to you when you make a purchase using my link.

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Tubing is probably the highlight of boating. We chose our new boat because it was capable of towing a tube! I was beyond thrilled to receive the Yankee Coupe towable raft from WOW for review. All opinions are my own.

Tubing on the Illinois River with a WOW Tube

Tubing on the Illinois River

Finding the best place to tube around here can be quite challenging. We live 5 minutes from the Cal Sag river, but people are advised to have zero contact with that water because it’s just plain nasty. I know a person who stuck an arm in on a bet and developed some strange red bumps within minutes. Heading to Lake Michigan is an option, but there can be a lot of traffic there and possible wave issues. After much discussion and trial and error, we found the Illinois River near Ottawa to be the best place for us to tube safely.

Tubing on the Illinois River with a WOW Tube

We brought a fun group including me, Mike, Shelley, Adam, Chesney, and The Grump — who wore his dog life vest for the first time — with us on this adventure. All of us enjoy different levels of activity and have a variety of comfort levels when it comes to thrill-seeking.

Chesney and I are the more, normal reserved individuals who enjoy a relaxing, laid-back ride on the tube. We are content to just cruise along without jumping waves or getting too crazy.

Tubing on the Illinois River with a WOW Tube

Shelley and Adam are a little more adventurous and want to go faster and faster. They are all about jumping waves and following the wakes of other boats.

Mike is probably the ultimate thrill-seeker of this group. He was purposely jumping around and making his ride extra exciting for himself. (By the way, he totally just threw Shelley in the driver’s seat so he could have his turn — no way was he going to miss out on the fun because of his role as captain!)


This raft is so awesome I cannot even fully express it. It’s super high quality and able to tow two people very easily. It can be used as a towable, as well as a lounge. It has cup holders and a cooler in the middle so you can just chill out and float while your boat is anchored. The kids were even jumping around and playing on it and it can take a beating.

Tubing on the Illinois River with a WOW Tube

You can really customize your own ride on the Yankee Coupe. As you can see from the video, Ches & I were able to go slow and we were in no danger of falling off. Or, go crazy like Mike and make yourself fly off! It all depends on what you consider fun!

Tubing on the Illinois River with a WOW Tube

Of course, always take safety precautions while tubing. Have a trusty captain who stays completely sober and is an experienced driver. Have someone at the back of the boat to keep an eye out on the tubers the entire time. Make sure everyone knows the hand signals and is highly alert at all times. It’s also smart to get a flag so other boaters know that you are towing.

You can get this Yankee Coupe and many more towables, rafts and water toys at WOW – World of Watersports. They sell high quality products that are built to last. Their customer service is excellent and I would highly recommend them. They can even give you helpful suggestions if you just can’t decide (like me!).

I am hoping our tubing adventures are not over for the season! Fingers crossed that the weather warms back up before fall fully kicks in.

Do you go tubing? What is your favorite water sport?

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17 Comments

About Jennifer

Jennifer is the founder of A Magical Mess. She is married to a wonderful man, and together they live with their three rescue dogs. Jen is an entrepreneur at heart. Hobbies and interests include working, reading, and learning new things. Typical life status = more mess than magic.

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Comments

  1. David says

    August 10, 2013 at 10:21 am

    Good thing that isn’t one of those bodies of water that have that giant jumping fish in it. I know those are common in Illinois but can’t recall the name of the fish.

    Reply
    • Jennifer says

      August 10, 2013 at 10:31 am

      Asian carp!! And, yes they ARE in the Illinois river. If we went more south there would be tons and definitely unsafe to tube. We saw a few, but nothing too bad.

      Reply
  2. Sarah L says

    August 10, 2013 at 11:34 pm

    I’ve been tubing down rivers in Texas, but never behind a boat. Those tubes were just big inner tubes with your hind end sticking down into the water. This looks like more fun.

    Reply
  3. daisy says

    August 12, 2013 at 6:27 pm

    That looks like a blast! My family would have a lot of fun visiting and doing this.

    Reply
  4. Melanie a/k/a CrazyMom says

    August 12, 2013 at 6:28 pm

    this looks like SOOOO much fun thanks for sharing and I love that you posted the safety rules as well.. very important.

    Reply
  5. Brett says

    August 12, 2013 at 8:47 pm

    ah! i used to LOVE tubing!! it’s so fun. i’d always laugh the entire time.

    Reply
  6. Janel says

    August 12, 2013 at 8:53 pm

    It’s been SO long since I’ve been tubing! That looks like a blast!!

    Reply
  7. Danielle @ We Have It All says

    August 12, 2013 at 9:15 pm

    I’ve been tubing may times, but I had no idea there were signs, this is great to know!

    Reply
  8. Angela@AboutAMom says

    August 12, 2013 at 10:09 pm

    That looks like such a great time! My family would really enjoy doing something like this.

    Reply
  9. Liz @ A Nut in a Nutshell says

    August 12, 2013 at 10:22 pm

    I’m pretty sure I’d enjoy just a leisurely ride with maybe a quick burst of speed for a short time. Oh who am I kidding? I would love it all wild style!

    Reply
  10. Kristyn says

    August 13, 2013 at 6:02 am

    looks like so much fun! i haven’t been tubing since i was a little one. I need to take my daughter tubing!

    Reply
  11. Debi@ The Spring Mount 6 Pack says

    August 13, 2013 at 9:55 am

    Oh how fun. That looks like an amazing time.

    Reply
  12. Jai says

    August 13, 2013 at 10:27 am

    It looks like you have a lot of room to maneuver on the Illinois River. We do this but our local lake (Cullaby Lake) is a bit smaller and crowded in the summer. Very cool!

    Reply
  13. Stefani says

    August 13, 2013 at 1:05 pm

    I LOVE tubing. We used to have a boat and one of these and had so much fun in the summer. Great memories for sure!

    Reply
  14. Janet says

    August 23, 2013 at 3:22 pm

    Great photo! I felt like I was in the water with them.
    My daughter went tubing for the first time a couple weeks ago. She loved it.

    Reply
  15. Maria Iemma says

    August 28, 2013 at 7:33 am

    That looks like so much fun!! My grandkids would love to do this.

    Reply
  16. Arlene Pitts says

    January 21, 2014 at 10:50 pm

    WOW for WOW something I’d love to try someday soon. marie

    Reply

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About Us

Two sisters, raised apart, now trying to adult together. We love to share ways to make life a little more magical! Jen and Shelley from A Magical MessEmail: jen@amagicalmess.com

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