Survive the Raft

Survive the Raft is an American reality competition series that premiered on the Discovery Channel on July 30, 2023. The series, hosted by Nate Boyer, is inspired by the 1973 Acali Experiment. Survive the Raft follows a diverse group of nine strangers from different races, religions, political affiliations, and belief systems who live and work aboard the Acali II raft for twenty-one days. The contestants must put aside their differences in order to complete challenges and earn money together as a team. The money won in each challenge goes into a team bank which is split equally among the contestants who make it to the end of the competition. Along the way, contestants are tempted with chances to steal money away from the team for themselves. The contestants are also given several opportunities throughout the competition to vote off one of their current team members in exchange for a new player.

Overview
Survive the Raft is inspired by the 1973 Acali Experiment, which was conceived by Mexican anthropologist Santiago Genovés. He was fascinated by human behavior and the connection between sex and violence. Ultimately, he sought to study and cure human violence. Genovés placed ads in newspapers worldwide in order to put together a group of four men and six women that he deemed attractive from different races, religions, and backgrounds to take with him on a raft named Acali for a 101-day voyage across the Atlantic Ocean from the Canary Islands to Mexico. He manipulated situations in order to incite conflict between the participants, which backfired when he didn't get the results he wanted and the participants eventually turned on Genovés and even contemplated killing him. Genovés eventually admitted the error of his ways and the group was able to come together and make peace without violence.

In the series, contestants must similarly come together in order to achieve a common goal. The group lives and works together aboard the Acali II for twenty-one days. Every episode, the group competes in a bounty mission where the contestants must work together in order to win money for the team. The money earned over the course of the season is put into a team bank which is split equally among the contestants that make it to the end of the competition. Contestants are tempted during the bounty missions to steal money away from the team and keep it for themselves. The contestants are also given the option to vote off one of their current team members and replace them with a new contestant. The potential replacements compete with the existing team in a bounty mission before the group votes to decide if they want to swap out one of their current team members for the new player.

Contestants
The original nine contestants competing in the series were revealed on July 24, 2023.

Notes

Production
Filming of the first season took place over the course of twenty-one days in August 2022 on the Pearl Islands, off the coast of Panama. The series was officially announced by Warner Bros. Discovery in April 2023. As early as 2018, it was reported that reality show producers were looking to create a series based on the Acali Experiment. Host Nate Boyer said the Discovery Channel wanted to produce the show now in order to see if the social experiment would prove successful in today's polarized and divided climate. He also stated that the show's production team created a replica of the original Acali for the series, which had the same specifications as the original raft.

Contestant Elliot Capella said that his desire to positively represent the transgender community motivated him to join the cast of the show: "Once I was given that opportunity, I knew I had to take it because I knew that if I had seen someone like me on television as a kid, that would have meant the whole world to me". He noted his favorite part of the experience was the group overcoming challenges together as well as the general beauty of Panama. Summer Sawaya also reflected positively on her experience, stating that while it was difficult physically and emotionally, it was also one of the best experiences of her life and that she enjoyed seeing the group working together for the greater good.