THE CLASSIC WHITE WATER RAFT
The standard in white water rafting is the kind that seats 6 to 8 people, arranged in two rows along each inflatable side and armed with single-bladed paddles. There are many advantages to this design: the large size gives it buoyancy, the whole crew can work together and, best of all for first-time rafters, there’s space for a guide at the back. The guide will know the twists, turns and rapid runs of the river and can instruct the crew - while doing a good part of the steering.
This is the most common kind of raft that you’ll find offered by white water experience providers around the UK (and the world). Some of the most popular watersports activities on our site are the rafting trips in Perth and Kinross.
THE INDIVIDUALIST TUBING EXPERIENCE
If you want to go it alone, the best choice is a river tube. These simple crafts are like the rubber rings you’ll bobbed about in at the beach or ridden at waterparks, but sturdier. Tubing gives you an adrenaline rush that’s hard to beat, as you’re thrown around at the mercy of the rapids. You don’t have to go it alone though - try holding hands with your companions to make sure no one gets left behind!
Something to bear in mind when choosing tubing is that staying dry isn’t an option right from the beginning. As many of the white water hotspots in the UK are in rugged, chilly parts of the country, like the rafting rivers of the Scottish Highlands, this option is recommended for hot blooded adventurers.
BUGGING: THE DAREDEVIL’S DREAM
Have you ever seen the skeleton luge at the Winter Olympics? It involves competitors sledding down an icy slope head first with their face a few inches from the ground. Swap the ice with a seething torrent of water, and you’ve got a pretty good idea of what river bugging is. While you can find versions that allow you to sit on top of your craft as well, like tubing, you’ll spend most of the time mostly underwater if you opt for bugging. The simple craft is essentially a buoyant platform that’s pointed at one end to make it extra streamlined.
If you’re new to the white water world, we recommend trying a more controlled raft first. Why not look at our offers of rafting in Llangollen, North Wales, where you can try standard rafting and bugging?
THE FUNYAK, MADE FOR TWO
Apart from rafting, kayaks are the most popular craft for white water descents. But controlling a kayak as you skim over rapids and shoot down waterfalls is no walk in the park and shouldn’t be attempted by anyone without the necessary training. You can get an idea of how much fun it is though, in a funyak. These are inflatable kayaks with all the buoyancy and padding you need to get downstream in one piece. Using double-ended paddles and - usually - with two to a boat, it’s possible to maintain a high level of control in one of these innovative inflatables.
While they’re becoming more popular around the UK, you need to know where to look if you have your heart set on funyakking. Or let us tell you - have a look at our offerings of rafting in Gwynedd and enjoy this experience in the Snowdonia National Park.
YOUR VERY OWN CREATION
A raft doesn’t have to be inflatable, it just has to float. That means it’s not too difficult to put together your own rudimentary raft if you have the right materials. Therein lies the fun of raft building, a popular activity for team building events and youth groups like the scouts and guides. In one of these experiences, you’ll spend the first half of the session constructing a water-worthy craft using things like barrels, poles and rope. After that, it’s time to put your creation to the test! With large groups, there’s a competitive element to this challenge, as two or more groups go head to head to prove that their raft is the best - sometimes with hilarious consequences!
A raft that’s been thrown together in an hour or less isn’t going to be much good on rapids, so you’ll find most raft building events on lakes and slow-moving rivers. But you don’t have to miss out on spectacular landscapes - we recommend raft building in Cumbria, where the Lake District National Park awaits.
We hope that we’ve answered any questions you might have had about the kinds of craft that come under the heading of rafting. Our post about what to wear when white water rafting might clear up any further doubts. If not, you’re ready to go!
