Best places for rafting in Nepal

Best places for rafting in Nepal

Ever thought of what adrenaline rush it would be to try out the splashing and waving and twisting and turning sport of white-water rafting. For every adventure lover, it would be truly amazing to meet the spouting white water. Nepal is blessed with some of the wildest and most spectacular rivers in the world. 

Nepal is known to be the roof of the world, but it also is a river runner’s paradise famous for rafting. The rafting rivers of Nepal descend faster and ensures the presence of thrilling rapids that are perfect for rafting. The combination of beautiful mountain scenery, exhilarating white water rapids, warm water, and fascinating cultural opportunities make Nepal one of the premier places to go white water rafting.

The mountains and rivers create a wealth of world-class opportunities for great rafting experience. Nepal offers different types of rivers for easy to challenging white water rafting either for a day or longer rafting adventure trip. Given below are few rivers in Nepal which offer a tremendous rafting experience.

1. Trishuli river

The Trishuli River is one of the most popular destinations for rafting in Nepal. The scenery of the Trishuli river included small gorges for rafting and a glimpse of the cable car leading to a famous Hindu temple, Manakamana. Located at just 3 to 4 hours drive west of the capital city Kathmandu, Trishuli river is ideal for a single day trip if you don’t want to invest your time in some classic multi-day rafting excursions.

White water rafting trip in Trishuli river is exciting, fun and perfect for all age groups. The trip is surrounded by forests and wilderness with impressive gorges. The fact that the Trishuli river rafting is accessible from Kathmandu and Pokhara adds up to why this is preferred by maximum adrenaline junkies.

The diversified landscape, versatile natural geography and the aquatic wildlife and vegetation experienced on this rafting trip, with luxurious camping will amaze you. The water is usually quite warm and the scenery of pretty terraced farmland, local villages, and lush high hills can be seen from the river. As this river flows between Kathmandu and Pokhara, the river trip ends near Chitwan.

2. Bhote Koshi River

If you are passionate about rafting but have a limited time then rafting at BhoteKoshi is perfect for you. There is not enough time to look at the mountain scenery and surroundings once you are on this river, however, en route, there is an excellent opportunity to stop at Dhulikhel to admire the beautiful view of magnificent Himalayas. As the steepest river rafting in Nepal, the Bhotekoshi river offers continuous rapid action making it one of the best white water rafting in Nepal.

Rafting on Bhotekoshi offers abundant pictorial instant and prospect to visit unexplored archaeological sites. Within the adventurous Bhote Koshi rafting, you get a chance to observe the emerald green terraced farms high above the river.

This is the only river in Nepal where another heart thrilling adventurous activity, bungee is carried out. So the additional feature of the Bhote Koshi rafting would be that in the end, you could enjoy various other excursions that are calling you for the exploration of this wonderful land.

3. Seti river

The warm and beautiful Seti River passes through magnificent jungle scenery, green hills, and valleys. The Seti river rafting is ideal for bird-watchers and nature lovers. This unique yet beautiful river flows through the beautiful scenery of two contrasting areas of Manaslu and Annapurna regions offering a good variety of Nepal’s landscape with local villages, terraced rice fields, waterfalls, suspension bridges and jungle rich with wildlife.

 About 5 hours drive from Kathmandu, takes you to the initial point Damauli. The high action rapid in the river offers a great chance for swimming and wildlife spotting which makes it suitable for families and first-timers. The best time for Seti river rafting is during the monsoon as it’s swollen rapids prove an exciting test for experienced rafters.

The Seti river rafting is further classified as upper Seti and lower Seti rafting. The Upper Seti rafting is only 30 minutes from Pokhara and offers 2 hours of nonstop rafting. With a fantastic view of Annapurna massif, the rafting experience on crystal clear Himalayan white water is something you would never forget.

The Lower Seti river flows with fairly small water volume with warm water which could be a great introduction for white water adventure. Finishing the rafting adventure near Chitwan national park, the lower Seti rafting is a great way to get off the beaten track and enjoy a refreshing alternative to those boring land transport stereotype to the most popular adventure travel destination i.e Chitwan.

4. Kali Gandaki river

Named after the goddess of destruction, Kali the Kali Gandaki river is considered to be one of the holiest rivers in Nepal. This river is appropriately named after Nepal’s highest deity who is known for both her beauty and ferocity. With exciting water rapids, spectacular mountain views, traditional villages and endless suspension bridges we consider this as one of the best rivers for rafting in Nepal. 

The Kali Gandaki river passes through narrow gorges, alongside tumbling waterfalls and jungle, traditional Magar village and offers an opportunity to see the Annapurna Mountain range. The Kali Gandaki river has some class 3 and 4 rapids that compete with any roller coaster ride. The Kali Gandaki offers some best white water experience and is a multi-day trip that could be completed if the following itinerary is trailed.

Day 1: 

The first day of this excursion involves a drive from Pokhara to Maldhunga. On reaching Maldhunga, we hit the raft and you will be guided about the raft and the safety measures. After the small brief, you can stroll around the riverside of Modi Khola where we will set up the camp for the first night.

Day 2:

Today is the big day as we float down the river. This is the day where we will experience the adrenaline rush of class 3 and 4 rapids with the beautiful Himalayan backdrop. We will raft towards Purti Ghat, where we will stay overnight.

Day 3: 

Hitting small rapids, we will raft towards Setibeni today. Paddling around the Setibeni, we will see some black rocks called Saligram which hold significant religious importance in Hindu culture. Saligrams are worshipped by Hindus as the manifestations of Lord Vishnu. We will continue our raft will we reach our take-out point i.e Mirmi. 

From Mirmi, we can either head back to Pokhara or Kathmandu with our preferred means of transportation.

 5. Karnali river

Nepal’s longest and largest river, the Karnali springs forth from Mount Kailash, a sacred mountain in Tibet important to both Buddhist and Hindu. Flowing south into Nepal, the first half of this river journey into the “wild west” offers incredible whitewater excitement. The water rapid is pretty wild with the river building to its climax in these lower canyons.

The Karnali river rafting is rated 4+ to 5+ class as it offers a huge series of continuous wild rapids. The combination of some exquisite natural beauty and the magnificent white water makes Karnali rafting one of the best trips available in Nepal. This 6 days river expedition is ideal for someone who is looking for more than a rafting trip.

Outline itinerary 

Day 1: The first day of trekking excursion involves a drive to Dhugeshwor via Surkhet.

Day 2: We will set up for our raft today. There are good rapids and water flow as we experience Class 4 rapid today.

Day 3: Today we enter through the jungle corridor through big and continuous Himalayan water. We will enjoy the rafting ride all day and camp in this dramatic setting.

Day 4: We will spend the day by sparing our time to take in the birdlife and lush vegetation. As we keep paddling, we will experience the best of the west and spend yet another day devoted to great action.

Day 5: You can either set off rafting today or could just enjoy your holiday on a great sandy beach. The choice is yours to choose from!

Day 6: As we come to the end of our journey, we will take a few more rides and return to either Kathmandu or Pokhara with our preferred means of transport.

Therefore, Nepal without not just being all about mountains and trekking also offers opportunities for rafting tours. Our mountains and rivers create an unlimited world-class opportunity for great river rafting. There is a lot stored in this beautiful country and Nepal has something for everyone who is in quest about rafting.

The rafting experience that one gets to experience in Nepal ensures the presence of thrilling that remains perfect for everyone. We are proud to share a wonderful country that has in stock for every adventure lover. Offering a long and clean river surrounded by surreal mountains, and hills with friendly guides to guide you throughout the rafting tour, you would never want to miss your chance to experience white water rafting in Nepal. 

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