Ensuring Safety: 4 Tips for Whitewater Rafting
Do you want to experience an extreme activity that is both fun and thrilling? Ubud rafting Bali might be an interesting activity option for you. You will wade through the river with other friends using a boat, the participants will also row together to control the boat.
Preparations Before Going on a Whitewater Rafting Adventure
The exciting atmosphere and fresh river water sometimes make us forget the dangers of the sun. Your skin can burn if left unchecked. You may need to use sunblock, as the rafting will last for approximately 2 hours.
Don’t forget to warm up as well. Start by stretching your shoulders, neck, wrists, arms, thighs, and waist. You also have to make sure every rafting equipment is worn properly. Safety helmets and life jackets are important safety equipment worn in rafting activities.
Make sure they are the right size so they don’t come off easily during the rafting trip and are comfortable to wear. Do not adjust the helmet and life jacket too tightly as it can make you claustrophobic. You must know how to hold the paddle correctly, try asking the instructor or guide.
Before starting rafting, it is very important to do a briefing both about rafting operations and safety aspects. In addition, staying up late before the rafting day should be avoided. If you don’t get enough sleep, it will be harder for you to concentrate and you won’t have enough energy. Exhaustion from staying up late can jeopardize the safety of you and your rafting buddies.
4 Safe Rafting Essential Tips For You
You may think that this activity is easy, but there are quite a lot of risks that you can face when following the river current with a rafting boat. Without enough preparation, knowledge, and experience, this activity can be quite dangerous. Check out these tips to keep your rafting experience fun and safe.
1. Choose your best rafting location
One river location and another may have different levels of difficulty. To be safer, you should know how far you and your rafting partner are capable of. If you are a beginner, then try to choose a river location with a standard current or not too heavy like the one in the Ubud rafting Bali location.
Also, make sure of the depth of the river, choose one that is not too deep. Another consideration is to avoid river locations that have too many large rocks, this is quite risky especially if you fall off the boat. But if you use a helmet properly, this risk can be overcome. Even if you are an expert, you should know some of the limits of rafting to stay safe including from the river path.
2. Wear your best outdoor clothes and complete with rafting gear.
You don’t need to spend time choosing cool fashion because you will get wet after the rafting activity. What you should prioritize is wearing comfortable clothes. Choose t-shirts that dry quickly and are comfortable to wear.
For ladies, avoid wearing thin white T-shirts so as not to expose your body parts when wet. It is recommended to wear shorts or at least long sweatpants so that you can move more easily. Avoid wearing jeans even though they can make you look fashionable.
Then what footwear should be used? It is recommended to wear mountain sandals or other footwear that you are comfortable wearing. Regardless of what you wear, it is more important to wear protective gear such as life jackets and helmets.
3. Prepare your physique
Although whitewater rafting is a fun outdoor experience, don’t underestimate it. Rafting is a grueling extreme sport that requires a lot of energy to complete. Therefore, warming up at the beginning is very important before starting your adventure.
It’s also important to time your meals, so don’t eat too close or too far away from the start of your rafting trip. Then what if you are sick? Then it’s better to postpone your rafting plans. You need to be physically fit so that you can conquer this extreme activity.
4. Prepare for the Worst
There’s a chance that the rafting boat you’re on could turn around. This is not a serious problem if you can swim. But what if you can’t swim? There are quite a lot of things you need to prepare, both courage and physical. If the boat you’re on capsizes, then face your body upwards and on your back.
Don’t panic too much or go against the current. If the boat capsizes and blocks your access, then you need to find an opening so you can keep breathing. Then there are times when you need to dive to get out of the capsized boat.
How to Choose the Best Rafting Operator?
So how to choose the best rafting package? Make sure there is an office or base camp that can be visited. The journey to the river location can be quite far, and the rafting trip route is also quite long. This tourist activity is an adrenaline rush and quite tiring, so it requires a comfortable place for participants to relax and rest.
Choose a rafting company or operator with adequate facilities, for example, providing a place for us to enjoy food and rest. Make sure there are also clean toilets and a place for participants to clean up and change clothes after rafting. If you want to hold an extra event, then make sure the rafting operator provides a large field or venue so that you can organize outbound games or gathering events.
Rafting tour package companies usually have an office to support the administrative interests of the participants. Guide certification is an aspect that you need to find out next. Because the certificate can guarantee the quality of the guide’s competence. It’s not just about the fun experience and convenience of travel, safety is also the main thing in a rafting adventure. Therefore, try to find out the certification that the related rafting package company has.
Make sure that the rafting operator also has insurance services. Insurance can protect participants from problems that can occur. Avoid rafting operators that do not offer insurance services. Insurance can be the best anticipation should something bad happen. Even though you are experienced in rafting activities, don’t be careless as much as possible.
Rafting requires cooperation, this group activity can run perfectly if each other supports each other. You need to listen to every instructor’s direction too so that your Ubud rafting Bali trip remains safe.