Adventure tourism is a type of niche tourism involving geographic expedition to areas, where the traveller should expect the forced. Adventure tourism is rapidly growing in popularity as tourists seek strange holidays, different from the typical beach vacation.
1. In the Air
Paragliding from one of Cape Town’s many sites which include Lion’s Head, Signal Hill, and Dassklip Pass, is a thrilling adventure. Paragliding is considered an extreme sport but for those who have no experience, tandem Paragliding is the solution – with an over-sized, specially designed tandem glider and two harnesses, the sport now invites all who wish to explore the skies and soar the mountain tops, but don’t want to learn to paraglide on her own. Being the passenger besides the one in control you’re afforded the fantastic views of the mountains, ocean and earth below you. Once you’ve paraglided you’ll want to do it time and time again.
Tandem Skydiving is hailed as the ultimate Adrenalin sport! The views from the plane on the 30minute trip up to 9000ft are amazing. Once you hit the 9000ft mark you jump freefalling for the first 5000ft before the parachute is opened. Not only is the jump itself an amazing adrenaline rush, it combines with stunning aerial views of Cape Town, Hout Bay and Cape Point on a 4-5 minute parachute ride back to earth.
2. On the Mountain
Abseiling off Cape Town’s magnificent Table Mountain is one of the most stimulating experiences in the world. begin your mind-blowing adventure there’s a choice of hiking up the mountain on among its many gorgeous routes or taking the seven minute trip on the revolving cable tramway, the panoramic views from the car are some of the best in the world. Abseiling off the mountain entails stepping off the top at 1000 meters above sea level, and repelling into pure oblivion, while surrounded by amazing views and the wide stretch of the blue Atlantic down below.
If plunging into thin air doesn’t appeal to you why not mountain bike up this magnificent natural wonder. Mountain Biking day activates on Table Mountain have been carefully designed to offer clients of all experience levels a challenging, fun-filled experience. There are two amazing mountain bike trails that will take you on a magnificent tour of the mountain. The trails showcase some of the most breathless views of Table Bay, Robben Island, Lions Head and the city bowl.
3. In the Sea
You don’t get more extreme than coming face to face with one of the worlds most feared creatures. Great White Sharks are prolific in the oceans around Cape Town. Dyer Island is possibly the best place in the world to view these magnificent predators. The island is a bird sanctuary and a breeding site for the Jackass penguin. Adjoining it’s a second smaller rocky island called Geyser rock, which supports a large seal population. Separating Geyser and Dyer is a channel aptly named “Shark Alley”, arguably THE prime spot in the world for encountering the Great White shark. Shark cage diving is an extremely popular adventure activity – you leave on a boat which will take you to shark alley, it can then take up to an hour of chumming before the first shark appears. Once the sharks have settled down, the first group of cagers prepare to enter their cage while the rest retreat to the back of the boat or viewing platform to witness the spectacular proceedings, eagerly awaiting their turn in the cage. The bait line is slowly drawn towards the cage. As the bait line approaches so too does the Great White. The cage experience has been described by some as an emotional, heart-stopping and truly thrilling experience. Read the rest of this entry »