In last yearS adventure activities became somewhat of a tourism trend. Many Destinations in Mexico live from Ecotourism and increasingly also have visitors wanting to do more "dangerous" activities such as Rafting, Rappel or Skydive. But there are always some people that would love to get started in those activities without knowing much, and here you will find tips for your first time in adventure tourism:
Where do I get started?
When we are talking about adventure tourism many times this englobes activities which result from so-called “Extreme Sports”. So you may find many different sports, that have been commercialized and made accessible also for people that have not trained years before.
Most importantly, you should consider which activity to choose and ask yourself: Which activity intrigues me? Which makes me feel panic? You shouldn't choose an activity that makes you feel panic. If you do the activity with this panic you are feeling, maybe your experience is not going to be a good one and most likely you will never do this activity again.
As we say amongst guides: Fear is a good thing, panic isn’t. With this in mind, we can now give you some examples, of good activities to get started with.
1. Rafting
If you are thinking about doing an adventure tourism activity in Mexico the most common one is Rafting. In this activity, you go downriver in rafts with up to 8 people and a professional guide in white water rapids. The rivers all over the world are classified by categories from I to V according to their difficulty.
Class I Water without movement
Class II Soft rapids, for all the family
Clase III Harsher rapids, for beginners
Clase IV Harsh rapids, for experienced tourists
Clase V Very harsh rapids suited for experts and kayakers.
If you are thinking about doing rafting for the first time we recommend a class II river if you are a bit afraid or if you are sure of your adventure a class III river. After this, once you had a good experience you can try harsher rapids by traveling the world and getting to know all the rivers.
DID YOU KNOW?
When you do rafting it is not very common that you flip but it indeed is normal, so no need to ask if you will get wet.
2. Rappel + Waterfall jumping
Speaking of the activity of Rappel (many times offered in combination with Waterfall jumping or canyoning) this means an adventure activity, which includes walking down a straight wall, from 10m up to 100m, secured by a rope. Waterfall jumping means the jumping of waterfalls from less than a meter up to 15m by will force and with security equipment. Canyoning is the combination of the two per se. If you are thinking these activities may be good for you now it is time to choose where you want to do them, preferably a place which is not forcing you to jump all the waterfalls or do the rappel, so you can get a feeling for it. This way you can get to know the activity in real life without it taking you to a place of panic. A Rappel for beginners is normally between 25m and 50m, whereas the higher ones or even going down a sinkhole is mostly for more experienced people.
Good places to do this activites are Mil Cascadas, Guerrero or Rio Micos, San Luis Potosi.
3. Skydiving
When it comes to skydiving there is no way to slowly get to know the feeling, here you really just have to jump. I can tell you from experience, that the height of the jump doesn’t make a difference, from up there it all looks the same. When you do this adventure tourism activity you have a professional guide just on your back, who is doing the jump for you/with you, so you are never alone. This is at the same time a very extreme and very controlled activity because you have personal expertise with you. When you choose where you want to do the activity, make sure to choose a recommended and established company, to get high-security measures.
Good places to do this activity are Tequesquitengo, Morelos and Quintana Roo, Yucatan.
Now that you know some of the most extreme places and activities in Mexico, leap into an adventure. If you liked our tips and would like some more information or help with planning your trip, contact us.