With the start of the rainy season, it seems the island has turned green overnight. The waterfalls are gushing, the rivers are flowing… it’s time to get the adrenaline pumping with Lombok Rafting!

Our staff work hard and everyone deserves some fun, so it was on a sunny morning we piled everyone into the car and headed to Lombok Rafting in Lingsar.

Lombok Rafting is located in Batu Mekar Village in Lingsar, around a 25 minute drive from Mataram, 45 minutes from Senggigi, and 1 and ¼ hours from Kuta.

Although there are several companies offering rafting in Lombok, we chose Lombok Rafting because it is a professional company, which has been operating for many years, and the only licensed operator in Lombok.

Most importantly, they are the only rafting business that carries full insurance for their guests.

The drive to Lombok Rafting Basecamp passes quickly, travelling through the green countryside planted with rice fields and fruit trees, following the road up into the foothills of Rinjani.

The road is in good condition and we arrive at the Basecamp, where there are a number of thatched buildings housing a kitchen and restaurant, toilets (including western style), equipment storage, and several berugaq (Lombok’s traditional lounging pavilions).

The Basecamp is surrounded by lush jungle vegetation with fabulous views over the rice terraces. We relax on one of the berugaq and are served fried bananas and coffee while waiting for the other guests to arrive.

There we meet Pak Amang, one of the owners of Lombok Rafting, who explains about the business and how it was created.

All the Lombok Rafting staff are athletes who love rafting and regularly compete in white water rafting competitions throughout Indonesia. With years of experience in white water rafting, they have been trained in accordance with internationally established safety standards and all love their jobs.

Safety is their main priority and maintenance of their rafts and equipment is carried out regularly. One raft can cost between Rp 12 – 20 million each, so keeping everything in good condition is important.

Reassured we are in safe hands, we don our safety vests and helmets and climb aboard the open tray cars for the short trip through small villages and jungle tracks to the entrance to the rafting area.

From there, it is an easy 10 minutes’ walk to the starting point on the river, through fruit orchards filled with mangosteen, rambutan, mangoes, bananas and durian.

Arriving at the river, the leader gives a safety briefing and instructions on riding in the raft. He also explains the code signals used while rafting – such as “BOOM” which means you need to lean back and hold on, there are rapids ahead!

There are two other groups with us, including two female tourists from Perth and a group from Gili Air. Each raft can carry a minimum of two people and a maximum of six, including crew.

In total there are 5 rafts; one raft carries a safety team of four to six experienced guides to make sure that everyone is safe, and another raft carries team members who will take photos and video of the adventure, which they share free of charge with their guests at the end of the trip.

Satisfied we are all ready, the crew helps everyone into the rafts and off we go.

Although the river is only around 1 ½ metres deep in most places, the current is quite strong and we race towards our first set of rapids with a mixture of excitement and fear.

“BOOM” yells the guide and we all lean back and clutch the ropes as we go bouncing across the rocks, foam spraying in our faces. Laughing, we come out the other side and race towards the next set of rapids.

Each of the rapids have different names such as Jeram Lilin (candles), Jeram Pelangi (rainbow), Jeram Bidadari (angels), etc.

After around 2km or so, we reach a point in the river where the rapids become a steep waterfall, which is likely to overturn the raft.

For safety, at this point we get out of the rafts and walk around the river bank a short way to the top of the waterfall – and then prepare for an exciting 6m jump into the river below.

The water is deep under the falls and everyone yells as they jump from the rocks above. Some decide to climb down the river bank instead.

Once everyone has made their way down, we climb back into the rafts and race off again towards the next set of rapids.

At each set of rapids, the rescue boat is waiting to make sure everyone gets through safely, together with the photo and video team who are capturing the excitement of the rafters.

It’s an amazing journey as you travel down the river, preparing for each set of rapids, squealing and laughing as the adrenaline kicks in.

Some points along the way are calm and this gives rafters the opportunity to enjoy the natural beauty of the sights along the river; jungle greenery, small local houses, and people bathing in the river, as they have for centuries.

After riding a few sets of rapids, we come to a calm point in the river and take a short break to get our breaths back. There is a small waterfall nearby that drops into a whirlpool at the bottom, which is a nice place to relax for a while, taking a break in the natural jacuzzi.

Then it’s back to the river again, and more yells and laughter!

Further along we stop at another calm spot for a drink of water before heading into another set of challenging rapids. The trip is roughly 6km long and thoughtfully paced to allow guests to recover between rapids and enjoy the experience.

Towards the end of the trip, it starts raining but it doesn’t really matter – we’re all wet anyway and everyone is having too much fun!

Finally, after around an hour and a half, we come to the end of the adventure and reluctantly climb out of the rafts, already making plans for the next trip.

The crew pulls the rafts out of the river and we make our way through a little village with an interesting Balinese temple, where we pause to take more photos and then hop back in the waiting cars for the short drive back to Basecamp.

Back at Basecamp, we re-join the other groups with everyone chatting excitedly about the experience. We change back into dry clothes and gather in the restaurant to enjoy a delicious traditional lunch of chicken, rice and local vegetables, with fresh fruits and a welcome cup of hot coffee. We catch up with the girls from Perth who said the trip was “Awesome fun! Totally worth doing!”

We agree!