South Africa: adventure heaven!

Adventure

South Africa: adventure heaven!

You've landed in adventure heaven. Whatever your preference, there's bound to be an adventure to keep you happy.

We have some of the best climbing in the world, with Cape Town particularly well endowed. There are literally hundreds of bolted and natural routes on excellent quality Cape granite or Table Mountain sandstone within the city limits. There are climbing schools and mountain guides in all the main centres, and route guides are available from climbing shops.

River trips range from mostly scenic to grade five whitewater washing machines. There are over a hundred listed paragliding or hang gliding launch sites, and many more less well known, with schools in every centre. Also up in the air, there are many opportunities for helicopter rides, balloon flights, aerobatics, skydiving and microlight flights.

Thousands of kilometres of hiking trails wind around the country, in desert, forest, mountain or coast, and many have mountain bike trails adjacent. Some hikes are a bit more luxurious - you walk from hotel to hotel and have your luggage taken round.

There are wonderful easy horse trails through vineyards, on the beach or in the mountains and, for the adventurous and more experienced, horseback safaris in big game country.

We have the highest commercial bungee jump in the world (at 216m), as well as lots of pretty abseiling and bridge swinging.

For something combining adrenalin, peace and tranquility, and sheer beauty, try the treetop canopy tour in Tsitsikamma.

The art of canyoning - known as kloofing in South Africa - is another hot favourite, with self-guided and escorted trips.

See the links at right for more in-depth articles on the various adventure activities available in South Africa, or see the quick links below:

General adventure trips

Abseiling, rapp & bungee jumping

Paragliding, hang gliding and flying

Rock climbing and mountaineering

Mountain biking

Canoeing, rafting and kayaking

Hiking

Horse riding and trails

Skydiving and base jumping

Scuba diving

Adventure trips in South Africa

180º Adventures has offices in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg, and activities countrywide.

Active Africa Adventure Tours offers Western Cape-based adventure tours covering the full adrenaline spectrum.

The Adrenaline Adventure Activity Guide lists stuff adventurers can do on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast: abseiling, archery, deep sea fishing, scuba diving, hiking, microlighting, kayaking, whitewater rafting and more.

Adventure Purists offer various adventure package tours which include a variety of activities across South Africa.

AR.co.za is the website for South African enthusiasts of adventure racing - a new sport made popular by the Eco Challenge television series. The site offers news, upcoming events, advice, features and more.

Ashanti Travel Centre, based in Cape Town, offers a wide range of packages for adventure junkies, including kloofing, scuba diving, bridge and bungi jumping, great white shark diving, kite boarding, paragliding, sandboarding, skydiving and abseils off Table Mountain.

Cape Sports Centre on the Langebaan Lagoon caters for kitesurfers, windsurfers, mountain bikers and kayakers. They sell and rent equipment, offer lessons and tips, and provide various adventure packages.

Downhill Adventures offers the Cape Great Eight Adventure Experience, a combination of the best and most exciting adventures available in this area: shark cage diving, sandboarding, mountain biking, surfing, tandem skydiving, abseiling, sea kayaking and quad biking.

Exploration Society of Southern Africa - A non-profit organisation founded in 1988, Essa provides a platform for "the conceptual and physical exploration of the Southern African landscape". The society organises expeditions, holds discussions and presentations by world-class adventurers - and throws good parties.

Extreme 3 Adventures will take you on the ultimate extreme sport adventure tour of South Africa, with activities such as scuba diving, kite surfing, white water rafting, mountain biking, sky diving, power kiting and abseiling.

Felix Unite Adventure Travel is a comprehensive adventure tour operator, providing trips throughout Africa.

Glenmore Ecoventures offers loads of adventure activities at Glenmore Beach on the KZN South Coast.

Kamala Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape offers the Sheercliff Adventure Centre, with a wide range of adventure sports: a gorge glide, abseiling, mountain biking, rock climbing, hiking, paragliding and the 4x4 Samil mountain ascent.

Oribi Gorge Resort near Port Shepstone in KwaZulu-Natal has the Wild Five: abseiling, whitewater rafting, the Wild Slide (a foofy slide 120m along a steel cable 160m above the ground), the Wild Swing 100m into a gorge, and hiking and mountain biking.

Otters Den, a river lodge on an island in the Blyde River at the foot of the Drakensberg near the Kruger Park, offers whitewater rafting, hot air ballooning, kayaking and abseiling.

The SA Orienteering Federation is the controlling body for the sport of orienteering in South Africa, with a number of affiliated clubs.

SEAL Adventures offers abseiling, rafting, quad biking and other activities in and around Knysna in the Western Cape.

Stormsriver Adventures operates a wonderful, somewhat strenuous trip called the Stormsriver Challenge: abseiling, tubing and mountain biking.

Travel Unite is a Cape Town-based adventure tour company operating in southern Africa.

Wildthing Adventures, based in Gauteng, specialises in both soft adventures for all age groups - from eight years and older - and more adrenaline-pumping activities. These include canoeing, rafting, bridge jumping, mountain biking, abseiling and overland rafting expeditions.

Abseiling, rapp & bungee jumping