Adventures on rivers

What can rivers offer?
Rivers can provide a range of moving water conditions on which people can travel and develop their skills in canoes or kayaks. They also offer you the chance to enjoy the peace, scenery and wildlife at the same time.
The River Grading System
WARNING: Always visually inspect sections of rivers. Check that you can portage around those that on inspection should be avoided.
Rivers are graded in sections according to the degree of difficulty that they present to a paddler.
A Grade 2 Section means that there is an easily identifiable reasonably straight line route down the river. No special route following should be necessary. The relevant personal skills for a grade 2 section of a river are BCU 3 Star skills in the respective discipline.
A Grade 3 Section means that there is NO easily identifiable reasonably straight line route down the river, so that good steering and route finding skills are required. The relevant personal skills for a grade 3 section of a river are BCU 4 Star skills in the respective discipline.
A Grade 4 or 5 Section is technically very difficult and so should only be considered by paddlers with BCU 5 Star skills in the respective discipline.
Journeying
Rivers are great for journeying provided they are of a suitable grade and have enough water.
Playing
Standing waves created in rivers provide hours of fun and practice for canoeists and kayakers whilst remaining in more or less the same place all day.
Thrill rides
White water of grade 3, 4 and 5 can offer many thrills to those that want them.
Where to start?
There are lots of centres that can offer an introduction to canoeing or kayaking. Don't paddle alone and be prepared for the weather and river conditions- Build up your skills and beware of being encouraged to take on too much.
Planning your adventure- Access
Access to rivers is not easy. Take a little time to find out what access arrangements there are, plan ahead, Care should always be taken to support access agreements, so that all users of rivers can share in the enjoyment of them. Be polite, introduce yourselves and you will often be pleasantly surprised. Remember to have inbuilt alternatives including sitting and waiting for conditions to improve.

To make an enquiry or to book, please send us a message and we will reply to you.
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