Black Water Rafting - 4 Hours - Charleston

Experience an incredible Black Water Rafting adventure through the amazing Nile River cave system.

The 4 hour Black Water Rafting adventure in the Paparoa National Park stands out as an experience that let you explore, understand and enjoy a journey through an unmodified ancient cave system, so you can experience the unique feeling to step back in time entering this amazing place.

You are fitted out with wet suits, wet suit booties, gloves and a helmet at our company base at Charleston (25 mins south of Westport and 25mins north of Punakaiki ) before embarking on your adventure. With your cave buddies your guide will take you to The Nile River Rainforest Train to journey through the sub-tropical appearing typical West Coast rain forest surrounded by towering limestone cliffs of the Nile River Canyon.

Once arrived at our train station in the rainforest a short walk and a short climb up some steps leads to the entrance of the cave system. Entering the darkness you will explore the ancient voids of the enormous Nile River cave system where you meander through a calcitic paradise of stalactites and stalagmites in the upper dry levels of the cave.

Once down in the lower active levels of the cave, you will discover and experience a place you won’t forget that quickly - a slow moving underground river illuminated by a ceiling coated in a mesmerising glow-worm colony. On this river you will float in your tube out of the cave using only the natural light of this simply breathtaking display of glow-worms.

You will emerge from the cave into a remote and untouched rainforest covered limestone valley leaving its tranquility floating down the rushing bubbling waters of the low grade Nile River Rapids to where you started your adventure.

After returning on the Nile River Rainforests Train a hot shower awaits you at our base in Charleston.

Experience this incredible award winning journey through a stunning cave system to enjoy the mesmerising glow-worms.

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