White water rafting in Iceland’s Golden Circle
Have you ever wanted to encounter the thrill and attractiveness of river rafting in the coronary heart of Iceland‘s Golden Circle? Considering the fact that 1985 Arctic Rafting have been executing specifically that, enabling you to enjoy a properly-well balanced combine of serene canyons and adrenaline-pumping waves and rapids. Read through on to master much more about their most well-known tour – River Enjoyment Rafting.
What to hope
You are going to raft down 7 kilometres of the Hvítá River fed by the Langjökull glacier, having fun with the look at, whilst floating downstream in an inflatable raft, with a handful of surprises along the way.
Who’s it for?
The rapids are described as “easy to moderate” this extend of the river is graded 2+, with 1 getting the gentlest and 6 becoming the most serious, so suggests it is accessible for most men and women. No former rafting practical experience is necessary, and children from 11 a long time of age are welcome to participate. Just be organized to get a little bit moist and a small cold… but it’s all value it!
The place
Drumboddsstaðir – aka Drumbó River Base – is exactly where all Arctic Rafting’s rafting tours start off and the house of their raft guides. It is 98 kilometres from Reykjavik and takes about 1.5 hours by vehicle to get there from the funds. Drumbó is conveniently found on the route of the Golden Circle. The rafting usually takes area on the Hvítá River which will come from the Langjökull glacier – the next greatest glacier in Iceland – and makes Gullfoss, one of Iceland’s most legendary waterfalls.
What is provided
The tour incorporates a river rafting practical experience down the river with an skilled guide, in rafts that maintain 8-10 folks. All needed rafting products is provided, and that features wetsuit trousers and splash prime, lifetime-jacket, neoprene shoes, helmet and paddle.
Also incorporated is a check out to the famous Brúarhlöð canyon via the river, and a scorching shower and sauna immediately after the chilly river vacation. If you would like, you can use a GoPro with a Arctic Rafting-branded memory card previously loaded, which you get to maintain soon after the tour. Some of the helmets appear with helmet mounts alternatively, you can mount the GoPro to the front of the boat (and choose to have it experiencing both forwards or backwards).
What to provide
All you need to carry is a bathing accommodate (for use under your wetsuit), a towel (for the shower and sauna soon after the rafting), a warm best layer to wear beneath the splash top… and a sense of journey!
The working experience
Our encounter started with a briefing from Julia at the Drumbó River Base. We ended up advised that we could depart things like iPhones guiding in the switching rooms because… nicely, they previously experienced their own. Almost everything was delivered in a exciting, jovial way, while nonetheless receiving critical security info across to us.
The moment we’d modified and grabbed a paddle, it was time to get on to a bus. Two buses headed down to the riverbank from the foundation, just about every pulling 4 rafts guiding them – a journey of likely just 10 minutes or so.
We then experienced a second briefing by the river as the guides transported the rafts to the waters edge. We ended up talked as a result of some primary protection steps, all over again all accomplished in a entertaining yet expert fashion. The paddle experienced to be held with your hand over the T-bar at the finish, normally we would finish up with faces like the guides. And we were being advised that the rope that operates all over the outdoors of the raft is known as the “oh, shit!” line for the reason that, if you are at any time locate you slipping out of the raft, you require to grab it and will most in all probability shout “oh, shit!” in the system!
With the briefing in excess of, all people was set into teams and assigned a information. We shared a raft with an additional spouse and children with two women, and our guide was Anshul. At first it was a really calm extend of drinking water, and we just received applied to paddling on Anshul’s command.
But, just before long, we have been taking on more hard circumstances – rapids where we currently being thrown about a little bit more and splashed with icy chilly meltwater!
It was al very good enjoyable, though… and, soon after one established of rapids, we seemed again, only to obtain our guidebook was no lengthier sitting on the again of the boat!
Anshul was in the h2o and experienced grabbed the “oh, shit!” line!!! At very first, we considered he was just messing about… but he was not. This had hardly ever transpired to him ahead of, he mentioned, the moment he’d managed to clamber back again on board.
Our journey continued down river, navigating rapids of different severity but under no circumstances something too drastic, until finally we had a halt on the river bank at Brúarhlöð canyon. This was a time when people today could extend their legs, appreciate the see and, if they so wished, do a cliff jump into the icy river!
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And, of training course, we were silly adequate to give it a go. There was a mini-briefing for this – we ended up just informed to variety a queue if we preferred to do it and, when our time arrived, we have been not to dither… he would say “3… 2… 1… jump” and you must go there and then. This was in fact a very good thought as it stopped men and women above-wondering it. The only other two pieces of guidance were to soar out as considerably as we could so as not to be close to the rocks, and to land like a pencil for a more comfy landing.
As we neared our switch to bounce, a person of the guides checked our lifejackets to ensure it was tight and secure, so that it did not ‘ride up’ when hitting the drinking water.
One more stood by to say “3… 2… 1… jump”…
…and then there ended up guides, creating certain that you swam to the edge right after jumping.
With all these who required to bounce acquiring jumped, it was back again on to the rafts for extra fun. There have been not quite a few rapids, but a lot of possibilities to lark about.
There was loads of splashing, guides pulling people today into the drinking water, games balacing on the inflatable sides of the raft, and so and so forth.
Other guides would phone out “where’s your information?” and we would search back in alarm, only to see he was nevertheless there. We ended up notably gullible for this one particular, offered that our tutorial experienced in fact fallen out at the time by now!
Again at the river foundation, we had entry to hot showers and a sauna. Our upcoming cease after this experience was the Friðheimar tomato cafe but Arctic Rafting also has its individual restaurant and bar on web-site.
The full tour had been wonderful fun, and the guides genuinely entertaining and participating. It is a pretty efficiently-operate operation from start out to end and an experience that we would heartily advise.
Arranging a vacation to Iceland on your own? You can check out a movie from our trip to Iceland here. Footage from our adventure with Arctic Rafting can be witnessed concerning 2m 22s and 3m 30s.
