White Water Rafting in Ubud, with Bali Sobek

Although we were enjoying our daily surf and yoga sessions in Canggu, my partner Tom and I decided to head to Ubud to try out a few adventurous stuff-after all, that’s what this blog is all about! One of the things on our list was white water rafting down the Ayung River. The Ayung River is the longest river on the Indonesian island of Bali. It runs 75 km from the northern mountain ranges and discharges into the Badung Strait at Sanur near Denpasar. As always, we do our research and partner up with a good company for our Adventure review. True enough, we weren’t disappointed. Bali Sobek was the first white water company with over 25 years of experience in providing adventure tours.

Related: Things to Do in Ubud

The White Water Rafting in Ubud

We reached the starting point of the river at 9:30 and were welcomed into their awesome eco-friendly structure overlooking the lush forest of Ubud. As soon as we were outfitted with the proper gear, we started the trek down to the river which was an easy walk down a very loooooong flight of stairs (think 500 steps). The view during the trek down though, definitely worth it!

When we got to the bottom, our guide proceeded to give us a safety brief and explained some do’s and don’ts for our trip. We were just four people on the boat, and together with a Lebanese couple, we proceeded to start our rafting trip.

The rapids itself were pretty mellow, given that they varied from class II to class III. We were generally cruising at a steady pace as we took the time to marvel at the things around us. The scenery was FANTASTIC! Deep valleys and cascading waterfalls surrounded us as we drifted through the lush forest in the very heart of Ubud. There were some rather exciting rapids which caused us to almost tip over, but in general, they were pretty mellow, perfect for those that wanted to fully enjoy the scenery. The rapids are calm enough as well for families with children.

Insider Tip: If you want a more intense white water experience, Bali Sobek also does tours in the Telaga Waja River which is pretty much class III rapids all throughout!

We made one pit stop to the side of the river where there was a local family who set up shop selling drinks, fresh coconut and some snacks. Although there are many tour providers, Bali Sobek was very well run and organized. A lot of the other rafting providers stopped way earlier in the river, but since Bali Sobek was one of the firsts, they chose an ending spot which was right after some pretty epic rapids! At the beginning of the trip, the jungle was really lush and beautiful, but sadly, at the very end of the river, large resorts were sprawled out by the river side. Don’t get me wrong, there were beautiful resorts, but they didn’t add much to the overall feel of the experience as I would have preferred to be surrounded by nature all throughout.

After about two hours of paddling down the river, we reached our final stop. We then began our ascend up the long flight of stairs as we headed to Bali Sobek’s garden restaurant. There, they had clean showers with towels for those that wanted to shower. After, we proceeded to eat our way through their delicious buffet of traditional Indonesian food. By that time, we didn’t realize how hungry we really were, until we saw the food!

Read: What to Eat in Indonesia: Dishes You Need to Try

White Water Rafting Package with Bali Sobek:

The tour costs $79 which includes:

all the equipment (raft, paddle, lifejacket, helmet)
$100 insurance coverage
buffet lunch at their garden restaurant.

What to Bring:

Swimming gear
Shorts
A rashguard (or a long sleeved shirt if you easily get cold)
Sandals/aqua shoes
Change of clothes
Waterproof camera (trust us, the scenery definitely calls for it!)

The company provides dry bags to safely store your belongings during the trip. For more information on Bali Sobek, you can check their website below

website | contact

The White Water Rafting Experience

The team behind Bali Sobek were all very professional, making sure that each step of the tour was easy and convenient for us. Their equipment and crew were some of the best that we saw on the river that day. The level of professionalism that everyone had was rather impressive. Since we drove to the starting point with our motorbike, they even arranged for one of their staff members to drive our bike to the end point so we didn’t have to worry about taking a taxi back. How awesome was that! We headed back to where we were staying in Ubud, fully satisfied and happy. Overall, we really enjoyed our experience and highly recommend this adventure company.

Read: Best White Water Rafting in Southeast Asia