500 Adrenaline Adventures (Frommer's) - Lois Friedland [110]
Channel your inner Tarzan or Jane while canyoning down a waterfall in Costa Rica.
Several tour operators offer canyoning adventures in the majestic mountains of Costa Rica. Most are located in the area around Arenal Volcano or in the mountains northeast of the capital city, San Jose. Call ahead to check availability and dates, as some canyoning tour operators work only with groups of a minimum size or larger.
Expect to spend your day taking a four-wheel-drive vehicle deep into the Costa Rican rainforest, where you’ll begin your hike—most involve a zipline tour of some distance and trekking across rope or cable suspension bridges, adrenaline rushes in their own right. The real fun begins when you meet your first waterfall, at which point you’ll don your safety equipment and start swinging, hopping, and rappelling your way like Tarzan down the face of the falls, across slick rocks and over steep ledges. Some drops are well over 100 feet (30m), and there are usually several falls to conquer before you find yourself at journey’s end.
Besides experiencing the magic of Costa Rica’s lush vegetation and exotic wildlife, expect to be served lunch at the base camp; operators usually throw in some snacks and other amenities on these tours, which last from 4 to 6 hours. Most folks in reasonably good shape can handle this adventure, since the ropes, harnesses, carabiners, and other equipment do most of the work. Most tours will accept beginners, and children of a certain age will usually be welcomed. Of course, you’ll want to wear your water-friendly clothes and shoes, and perhaps bring a change of dry clothes for afterwards. —ML
Tours: Pure Trek Canyoning ( 866/569-5723 in the U.S. or 506/2479-1313 in Costa Rica; www.puretrekcostarica.com). Costa Rica Canyoning ( 506/556-4032;www.costaricacanyoning.com).
When to Go: Year-round.
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Canyoning in the Blue Mountains
Between a Rock & a Wet Place
Katoomba, Australia
Australia’s Blue Mountains, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, are just 2 hours north of Sydney, but they feel like they’re a world away. Cast in an eerie omnipresent glow, the area was given its name because of its many eucalyptus trees that emit a haze as light hits the oil evaporating off their leaves. While “blue” is a fairly apt description, “mountains” may be a bit of an exaggeration for what are mostly bush-covered hills and golden sandstone plateaus. But the area’s vast national park is full of jagged cliffs, deep gorges, waterfalls, dense rainforests, and ancient trees—the perfect geography for canyoning (or canyoneering).
This extreme adventure, which began as a commercial operation in Utah, takes you below the mountains’ surface and into their most interesting nooks and crannies. The basic idea is literally to explore cool, dark, and wet canyons.
To start, you’ll put on a wetsuit, a helmet, sturdy shoes, a climbing harness, ropes, carabineers, and a waterproof backpack. Then you’ll follow your guide on a fairly easy hike, descending into a canyon, and begin scrambling over slippery wet rocks through tunnels and caves, jumping off ledges, plunging into ice cold pools, swimming through pitch black waters filled with who-knows-what (though crayfish are usually among the creatures in there), and abseiling down vertical waterfall-covered rock faces.
If the idea of crawling over slimy rocks puts a knot in your stomach, not to mention feeling your way in the dark to avoid tripping over crevices because you can’t see what comes next, just wait until you actually try it. Your adrenaline will be surging for the entire 2-hour excursion, and maybe even for a while once you’re back on dry land.
Of course, there are some serious risks when canyoning. You don’t want to be stranded in a cave if heavy rains cause a flash flood. And, when you’re already soaking wet, you can become chilled