 Adventure Travel has a deep, meaningful relationship with on-foot terra firma activities, though now and again we're prone to slide under a rippling swell for some H2O relief.
So, what is the attraction of tight fitting rubber, diving, rafting and canyoning, and where are the best locations to go try them out?
Don't be Raft
Swap that rubber duck for a plastic inflatable and go with the flow.
Think of a watery theme park ride such as Splash Canyon. Take out the doughnuts, burgers and northern oiks in tracksuits, chuck in a skip load of steroids and there you have it – white water rafting. Essentially, that's all there is to it, sort of.
Kayaking is the solo, wet and wild equivalent of downhill mountain biking or downhill skiing, and in that respect, white water rafting is a singular team event though there are obvious similarities. All are aided by gravity, sometimes the goings nice and easy, peaceful and even calm, and then all hell breaks loose when you take on the bumpy stuff and big drops.
The great thing about WWR is that just about anyone can give it a go. Apart from being able to swim there is little else to it. On the two occasions I've been slapped about by raging torrents the initial shoreline briefing has taken no more than 10 minutes. Once in the raft it's been a short practice session of forwards and backwards paddling and then eeeeh aarrrrghh it's onto the first rapid.
In some instances rafters will also be expected to simulate a fall-out situation by entering the river on foot above a small rapid and swimming through the white water under the watchful eyes of guides and rescue kayaks. By doing this in a controlled situation, before getting tossed into a marlstrom of foaming high water, at least you know partly what to expect and you're clued up on how powerful the river actually is. You soon realise that futility of doing anything other than what the guides recommend you do I.e. Lying on your back, feet pointing downstream and going with the flow until the water calms down enough for you to swim to the side.
All this would suggest that WWR isn't particularly dangerous, but it pays to remember that people have died for the cause, but then so have mountain bikers and skiers which brings me neatly onto insurance. If you're going to have a crack at rafting on your travels, make sure that your insurance policy covers you for all eventualities. In underwriting circles rafting is viewed as a risk activity and the box standard travel indemnities will be as useful as a concrete block in a whirlpool should you ever have cause to claim.
When choosing a company it's worth remembering that those who value client's well being will issue helmets, life jackets ad an experienced guide who knows the river as standard – in colder waters you'll also be kitted out in wet suits and with an additional paddle jacket.
There are two types of rafting trips; the short sharp shock, where it's all over and done with in a day or less, or a long distance multi-day trip where you eat and sleep on the river banks – think overland truck holiday without the engines, wheels and cigarettes. Choosing which long distance trip will depend on how much time you have available and what grade of river you want to tackle. For example you could opt for a one day thrash down a grade five section of the Zambezi, or a two week cultural paddle on the Ethiopian Omo river encountering little more than grade two white stuff.
Top Ten Rafting Rivers
National White Water Centre – Bala in North Wales is the place to head for if you fancy taking on this man made fast-moving slalom sit with runs lasting either twenty minutes or 2 hours. Just the job for a surf and turf weekend with Snowdonia just up the road. Contact 01678 521083.
River Tay – If you fancy a white water taster alongside a hike in the Scottish Highlands than head for the River Tay. Rafting here is a mixture of purpose built white water courses and the Grandtully and Thistlebrig rapids.
Coruh – Flowing from the Kacker Mountains into the Black Sea this river in North East Turkey runs between grade 3 and grade 5 depending on the time of year. The best option is to take the full 9-day adventure camping out alongside the river.
Grand Canyon – This is where it all took off back in 1896 when John Welsey Powell and friend spent 16 days battling down the Colorado River. Seventy major rapids, magnificent scenery, still one of the best river experiences to be had.
Bio Bio – Said to be the top spot in South America this, Chilean river had recently been cut down to size by the building of a dam at the lower reaches. Mutli-day trips through forest and around volcanoes. Yes please.
The White Nile – White water rafting company Adrift made the first commercial descent of this huge river in Uganda in 1996. You can expect massive grade 5 rapids, hippos, buffalo and crocs and dense forested river banks. Serious stuff.
Zambezi – Choose from a 1-day crash course up to an 8-day drift down this wild river on the border of Zimbabwe and Zambia. There are eighteen rapids, including several grade 5's with names such as 'Jaws of Death', 'Overland Truck Eater' and 'Devils Toilet Bowl'.
Sun Kosi – There are plenty of rivers to raft in Nepal but the Sun Kosi is the grade 4 of choice. Spectacular scenery, plenty of white water and one of the best cultural experiences on earth – discovering the wonderful people of Nepal.
Omo – No death defying rapids but the chance to see some of the most primitive tribes in the world complete with huge clay lip plates, Kalashnikovs and very little in the way of clothing. Spectacular scenery, wildlife and a fantastic Ethiopian experience.
Shotover -Queenstown's Shotover River is graded from 3 – 5+ depending on the season and is one of the major attractions on New Zealand south island. It's a short sharp shock lasting no more than a couple of hours, though there are lots more stomach-testing adrenaline activities nearby.
River Grades
Rapids are graded on an internationally approved scale from 1 to 6 (except in the South-Western USA where they are graded from 1 to 10). Grade 1 is slow moving water with a noticeable current; grade 5 is extremely serious and wild, and grade six isn't considered appropriate for commercial trips and is for experts only.
 Canyoning
Cliff jump, rock hop and abseil like Gene Kelly...just singing and dancing in the spray.
Canyoning is all about getting a buzz out of participating in multiple activities within the confined space of a narrow watercourse Adventure Travel's Alun Davies – not a great lover of restricted legroom – tests his metal.
Let's be up front here, I'm probably not the best person to promote the advancement of canyoning, as you'll find out further down the page. So don't let the dark clouds of a confirmed lover of open spaces restrict your thinking. I'm just weird when it comes to this kinda thing.
To the best of my knowledge, the national media's coverage of Canyoning over the past couple of years has been limited to two tragic events which occurred in the Alps and the American South West. In both instances, flash floods crashed down narrow, enclosed gorges with tragic consequences.
It's difficult to shake off high profile media images, and the more distressing they are the more vivid the memory. And that's why my first unrehearsed reaction on encountering the Mujib Gorge in Jordan was to scan the high, vertical, water-scoured walls for escape routes. Thing was, there weren't that many, if any, and that's the nature of canyoning. Glug.
Penned in between narrow, towering ramparts the objective was to force our way upstream, swimming against the flow, climbing waterfalls, scrambling up and over natural barriers and launching ourselves into deep pools. Then we'd turn and slide our way downstream.
All great fun, but I couldn't switch off, especially when the evidence of the awesome power of a river in chaos was all around – huge logs wedged up high between the narrowing walls, flood debris on ledges 30ft overhead, and weighty lumps of concrete swept into place by the sort of liquid muscle I had no desire to encounter in such a narrow confine.
Canyoning is exhilarating, that I can vouch for. The combination of activities (swimming, cliff jumping, diving, climbing, abseiling etc.), the sensory stimulus of cold, rushing water and the (in my case anyway) constant buzz of a perceived objective danger and enclosed surrounding just doesn't let you off the adrenaline hook.
But then that's from someone who'd consider himself to be slightly claustrophobic at best. Put it this way, whilst I'd have no worries hanging off a vertical rock face above 3000ft of fresh air, and have always been relaxed on high altitude peaks and enjoy jumping out of airplanes, the thought of sliding into a restricted, dark cave fills me with dread. Personally, I found canyoning to be a little more claustrophobic than I was comfy with, which wasn't such a bad thing either, because life's more rewarding when you're expanding your comfort zone. Right?
On a practical note, unless you're an expert and have extensive local (and some not so local) knowledge of weather patterns and the route, this is one activity that we recommend you should try out with a specialist operator or local guide.
Flash Floods
Within a few minutes a benign, dry ravine can transform into a rabid maelstorm of water over four metres deep. These sorts of flash floods have to be seen to be believed, and the power of the water is extraordinary brutal. In some instances a narrow canyon may be the bottleneck through which precipitation collected from 1000's of square miles converges. In such cases heavy downpours happening far away from the canyon can result in flash floods. Always be very cautious venturing down a canyon when thunderstorms threaten, even when emergency exit points are known.
 Diving
Swim like a fish, wear tight fitting pants, change your name to Jacque Cousteau. Go on, take the plunge.
There are good days and dire moments. But even on the most cheerful of sunny and enlightened afternoons I could never see the attraction of slipping into a cold, dark, flooded quarry in Leicestershire. Just where do British scuba divers get off rummaging (or whatever the underwater equivalent of rummaging is) around a couple of rusting scraps of metal (cars, helicopters etc.) in breathtakingly cold water, without being able to see beyond their plastic visors. Just what the hell is the attraction in that? Give me an above-the-Plimsoll-line scrap yard with a salivating, butt-biting junk-yard-dog any day.
On the other hand plonk me on a beach aside the warm, clear waters of the Red Sea, with the promise of a quick crash course in underwater nose snorting, and some of the world's most spectacular coral only 10 metres off shore and I'd have to say...'Stony bloody Cove'.
There's no hiding from Stony Core, not even on a sun-baked piece of land overlooking the barren hills of Saudi Arabis and Israel. That dark, satanic, disused quarry in Leicestershire is the Mecca for Midlands-based sub aqua disciples and where Ahmad, our instructor at the Royal Diving Club Jordan, informed us he spent (unbelievably) many a day in the UK. And he loved it, so he reckoned, though speaking as a non-diver that hole in the Leicestershire countryside looks like a scuba version of ice-cold hell.
It could well be that I've missed out on the essential essence of diving, having had my one and only experience in the soothing underwater world of the Middle East, though my lack of insight into all things Stony Cove has not induced sleepless nights. Over the course of a single morning in Aqaba I'd progressed from asking, 'what's that' when offered a weight belt to shimmying great-white like over magnificent corals and through shoals of smarty coloured fishy things, and you can't do that in poxy Leicestershire.
Take it from a confirmed foot-planted-firmly-on-the-ground land lover, scuba diving is an experience not to be missed when the location is at least a 5-hour flight from Birmingham. And, whilst I'm letting fly on a tropical underwater high, let me throw in a contradiction: whilst most first time Scuba divers find the experience confined and enclosed, here writes a confirmed claustrophobic (see canyoning above) who suffered not. In fact, I couldn't wait to top up the oxy to do it all again. Fantastic stuff.
As with all activities I've been fortunate enough to participate in, my memory of discussing theory and role-playing before the off is vague. This incoherent recollection has no bearing on the standard of tuition (which was excellent), it's an indication of my inability to concentrate on important stuff for more than 5 minutes, and a reckless desire to dress up, kit out and sink or swim no matter what the event.
What I do remember is Ahmad taking us aside to explain how water pressure increases as you descend and the horrifying effect this has on the eardrums. We then practised 'equalising', which in layman terms is pinching your hooter closed with your thumb and forefinger before attempting to blow through it. When the ears pop the internal and external pressure is equalised. This is an essential underwater practice and needs to be carried out every metre or so of descent. If you can't do it, for whatever reason (colds, sinuses etc. may cause a problem), you'll feel the pain pretty much straight away and you'll need to go up. Being able to breathe is secondary.
Next up came a quick run through the gear – wet suits, breathing apparatus, buoyancy aids, goggles and flippers – a short stroll down the jetty and Ahmed's steadying hand beckoning us to take the plunge.
Diving is as far removed from snorkelling as watching a game of football from the stands is from moving around on the field in amongst the players. There is almost no comparison. You see the same things but the diving experience is so, so different from that of skimming the surface. The feeling of weightlessness, the intensity of breathing in a setting that millions of years of evolutionary instinct opposes, the restricted view of a face mask, the sensation of being in a wide open watery cosmos and yet still feeling enclosed and cosseted, the simple act of self propulsion in a manner that confuses the sensory nodes of the human mind and body, and mobbing up with the local wildlife.
It's almost a bonus if you can see where you're going, if you're surrounded by exotic fish and mesmerised by the bizarre colours and shapes of warm water coral. Not everyone takes to diving and that's a shame. It's one of the best outdoor experiences I've ever had. Good enough to propel me towards Leicestershire? That's a maybe, there' a limit to how much excitement this body can take.
Top Ten Dive Sites
California – Heaps of things to keep interest and expectations afloat including, bat rays, seals, sea lions, garibaldi fish, sea urchins, starfish and sharks. Winter is the prime season for grey whale spotting and there's the spectacular kelp forest – an underwater forest of oversized seaweed.
Stony Cove – Britain's inland warm water lagoon features the world's finest coral, fishes and rusting milk floats. The only underwater location in the world where you can swim with a whale shark through a broken helicopter windscreen. Ahem.
Britain and Ireland – The water's bloody cold and some of the best sites are for experts only but our own shores have underwater jewels that'll keep you occupied until you freeze your nuts off. The German WW11 fleet scuttled in Scarpa Flow in the Orkneys is well worth a splash as is the West Coast of Ireland.
Galapagos – With cold water and strong currents the Galapagos are a destination more suited to experienced divers. The underwater inhabitants display the same fearlessness of humans, as their land born residents and all dives are likely to have a sea lion escort. Unique species and shoals of hammerhead sharks are the main attraction.
Caribbean – Huge choice of dive sites off the Island and the coastal towns of the Gulf of Mexico. Warm waters, huge range of underwater wildlife, corals and wrecks. Stingray City off Grand Cayman is the place to do for a close up play with ray.
Red Sea – A hugely popular destination for divers and the most accessible coral reef for Europeans. Dive schools and live-aboard cans be found in Egypt, Israel and Jordan and the warm, calm waters are spot on for beginners. Reefs, walls, wrecks and loads of fish, what more do you want?
Andaman Sea – Spring time off the coast of Thailand offers divers the chance to encountering what must be one of the ultimate dive experiences – swimming with whale sharks, the biggest fish in the sea measuring up to 45 feet long. Coral reefs are populated by bright blue ribbon eels, sea horses and mantis shrimps.
Solomon Sea – Base yourself on a live-aboard and explore the warm waters around the Island north of Australia and cram a lifetime's worth of diving into a couple of weeks. Sharks, dolphins, masses of coral and a great cultural experience when you go ashore.
Great Barrier Reef – Australia has the longest reef in the world and it's not one to disappoint either. The coral is varied and hugely spectacular pushing the Great Barrier Reef right up there with the best dive sites in the world. Day trips out of Queensland are popular with first time divers as are live-aboards.
Mediterranean – Loads of long established dive schools and plenty of interesting spots offer the coast of Malta, Cyprus, Spain, Greece and Italy. Fish numbers may not be so prolific but the underwater scenery is fab and it ain't that far away.
Truk Lagoon – The Japanese scuttled over 30 World War II battleships in the warm Pacific waters to the north of the Irian Jia making this one of the best dive sites for 'wrekkies'. The wrecks are encrusted with soft corals and the home of huge shoals of Pacific reef fish.
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