White Water Rafting - Dandeli in Karnataka

It all started as a day’s fun and everyone came up with options like Goa, Mahabaleshwar, Matheran etc. We had to go for an outing together. Soon, we realized that we have hardly 1 night and 2 days stay and should plan accordingly.

It had to be some sort of adventure sports and hence all agreed upon DANDELI, Karnataka. I always had on mind to go to Dandeli for water rafting and was so excited to hear this name!! Yes that’s the place and we all started working on the accommodation and travel plans.

Dandeli in Karnataka is known for its White water rafting through the river Kali. We booked Tempo Traveler for 12 and soon we were on our way. We started at around 10 P.M. on a Friday night. No one was in a mood to sleep. Hence, we started playing Games and Antakshari and by 3 A.M. we were all down. Let me tell you, having smoking Chai at roadside dhabas while travelling is so much fun especially in the night. Finally slept for few hours and when opened my eyes, I saw we are halted at some dhabaa. I looked at the watch. It was 6:30 A.M. This was our 4th or 5th tea of the night.

After around 360 kilometers, we left NH4 and took the State highway-1 towards Dandeli. Since then the road was getting narrower and could hardly find any shops around. We reached Dandeli resort at around 9:30 Morning. It was quite a long travel and with no sleep. But the resort brought the excitement back and we rushed in and out of our rooms within no time. Tasty parathas were waiting for us and some chai again.

Adventure sports at Dandeli:

The Resort had so many options for outdoor activities and we were thrilled, wanting to do each one of them. As we know Lot of minds end up in mess. We almost did something similar. But then decided to take it easy and instead of all of them we will do few activities but spend time and enjoy it!

Kayaking in Dandeli -

Kayaking is use of Kayak for moving across water :-) wowww wikipedia gives such dumb definition sometimes: although It was great fun. We were waiting for our turn and the person in front of us lost his balance while getting into his Kayak. That made me think a bit but all was comfortable from then on. We managed to get on to the Kayak and since then we just enjoyed the sport! Few in our team even compete against each other. It was fun to watch them.

Natural Jacuzzi in Dandeli -

This is nothing but some stylish name to sitting in river water and enjoying the light stream of water flowing around you. We spent most of our time in water. It was so relaxing; we could spend hours in there. Splashing water over each other, clicking photos, playing truth and dare, it was fun time!

Supa Dam visit in Dandeli -

Supa dam being the second largest dam in the state is built on the river Kali. It was nearby from our resort and also with some influence available, we could not miss visiting the dam. It was awesome and one of the highlight of our trips. Have never seen a dam from the top. Could manage it this time thanks to my friends.

The most exciting part of the trip, fresh water rafting. It starts from a place called Ganesh Gudi, 20 km from Dandeli. On the way we saw Supa dam, the biggest dam among the series of dams built on Kali River.

We were introduced to the rules of the rafting and after wearing the life jackets and helmet, we were on the raft.

Very soon, we were at the first rapid and also the biggest one. We could feel the rush of adrenaline as the raft slid into the rapid. Bad part was that i could capture these events in my camera. All along the rafting, we just needed to follow the instructions by the trainer. We passed through some nine rapids and in some places where the water was placid, we jumped into the river. The rafting lasted for about 1.5 hours and it was an experience to remember.

Everyone was kind of exhausted and journey was bit hectic and extensive considering that we took almost 12 hours to reach back home.

Dandeli is well known for Adventure sports and especially White river water rafting.

Best time to visit - Ask the locals about the water levels. Entire trip depends on it.

Stay in Dandeli - Bison River Resort Bison river resort Feedback - Activities availability - Yes and good. Experience with activities - We tried Kayaking and natural Jacuzzi. Thoroughly enjoyed it! Resort quality and service - Good. Food Quality - Bad Price - Expensive food. Stay is fine. But we don't have other food options. So overall EXPENSIVE Would I refer anyone for it - Try out other resort. Hopefully it would turn out better and cheaper.

About Author: I work as a software engineer in British Telecom. I am passionate about traveling and long drives.