Activities · Ubud
Rafting the Ayung river
The island's classic raft run: two gentle hours through a jungle gorge near Ubud, suited to first timers and children, with the honest catch waiting at the stairs.
The Ayung, in the gorge west of Ubud, is the island's classic raft run and its most forgiving: a couple of hours on water lively enough to be fun and gentle enough for first timers and children, between walls of jungle, past waterfalls and the occasional carved cliff face.
What the run is like
The rapids are entertainment rather than combat: splashy, short and frequent, with calm stretches between them for looking up. Operators provide the raft, guide, helmet and jacket, and most include a shower and a meal at the end. You will get soaked, which is the point, and phones survive only in the dry barrel.
The honest catch
The gorge is deep and the river does not come to the road: every trip starts and ends with long flights of concrete stairs, hundreds of steps in each direction, in heat. Fit visitors barely notice; anyone with knee trouble should count this as the actual difficulty of the day, well ahead of the rapids.
When the river is worth it
The wet season raises the flow and sharpens the ride; the late dry season can leave stretches shallow enough to scrape. Either way the run operates most of the year, and the trade offs by month sit in the seasonal guide. Operator prices and minimum ages vary and will be published only dated, on rule pages.