Rafting in North Sulawesi
As we already wrote in our blog about white water rafting in Bali, we find rafting a super fun, adventurous activity because you can actively enjoy the often-beautiful surroundings of the river. Although it sometimes seems to be very hard going when you trying to conquer a ‘wild’ river with a raft, in practice it is not so bad. As long as you are in reasonable condition you will only have some (slight) muscle pain.
Rafting over the Nimanga and Ranoyapo rivers
In Sulawesi, we also went rafting, in the region of Timbukar west of Manado. This is next to the region of Sawangan/Airmadidi, one of the most popular locations for rafting in North Sulawesi. There are some rivers you can raft over. One is the 9 km long trip on the Nimanga River. The rafting takes one and a half to two hours and takes you through beautiful landscapes. You have some spectacular level 3 rapids. You will also have a chance to see black macaques and many different species of kingfishers.
You will be picked up at your hotel in Manado at 9 am. The drive to Sonder village in the highlands of Minahasa where rafting begins, takes about 1.5 hours. The programme includes coffee and lunch. There are many agencies that organise rafting, including Safari Tours & Travel and Manado Rafting.
Besides the Nimanga River, AVM tours also organise rafting excursions on the Ranoyapo River, which is also called the “river of the gods” by the locals. This excursion, which we did ourselves, offers just some more views than the one on the Nimanga River and lasts about three quarters of an hour longer. Because the programme takes longer, you will also be picked up at your hotel in Manado an hour earlier. Lunch, snacks and coffee etc. are included.
Other locations in Sulawesi for rafting
It will come as no surprise that Sulawesi offers many opportunities for rafting, thanks to its humid rainforest climate. Although we can’t speak from our own experience, there seem to be fantastic locations for white-water rafting on the Sa’dan River in Tana Toraja. For the experienced and fearless rafter, you even have category 4 and 5 rapids here!
