Can children play rafting?

In real life, rafting is a popular entertainment activity, especially in the hot summer. Rafting can cool you down and you can also experience the excitement of water rafting. It is also very common for children to raft, but rafting also has certain risks. Generally, children under five years old should try not to raft and can play some other projects. Older children also need adult supervision when rafting.

Can children play rafting?

Rafting is defined as a high-risk activity in tourism and is a relatively dangerous tourist activity. It is not recommended for children to play rafting. It is more appropriate for them to go swimming. When they grow up, at least around ten years old, they can play some not-too-steep rafting accompanied by their parents.

Preparation and precautions for rafting

What to prepare?

Bring extra clothes. So that you have dry clothes to change into after getting ashore.

No leather shoes are allowed; flat slippers, plastic sandals and hiking shoes are sufficient.

Although it is a water-based exercise to cool down, you should also pay attention to sun protection.

Before entering the water, be sure to listen carefully when the tour guide explains the precautions and remember the safety points.

Only bring drinking water on the raft. Do not bring items that are sensitive to water, such as watches, mobile phones, cameras, ID cards and cash.

Self safety?

Do not do dangerous actions on the water, do not get off the boat on your own initiative, do not fight with each other, and do not take the initiative to grab floating objects in the water or grass, trees and stones on the shore.

Once the raft "capsizes", hold your breath and be careful not to choke on water, because a life jacket can make even the fattest person float. Always pay attention to the "guiding" safety of tourists - the water staff will rush to you immediately.

If you are not a good swimmer, try to stay close to the guide. The guide is familiar with the waterway conditions and has good boat driving skills. He can even tow your boat when you have no strength left.

Children who are too young are not allowed to participate in rafting, even if they can swim. The river conditions in the mountains are complex, with rapids and dangerous shoals everywhere. It would be very dangerous if children moved around on the boat.

Rafting skills

When drifting down the stream, you can paddle leisurely and look up at the surrounding scenery when the water surface is wide and the river is slow. However, when you encounter rapids and dangerous shoals, you need to work together and use various skills to cross the river together.

Before reaching the dangerous shoal, you can first predict the general direction of downstream; then ask everyone to put away the oars, bring their feet back into the boat and close together, hold the guardrail on the edge of the boat with both hands, lower the body, do not stand up, stabilize the center of gravity of the boat and keep it stable, and you can generally get through safely.

When the water flow in the river is deep, whirlpools often appear. At this time, you should try to avoid being drawn into them and go around them. If you are caught in the whirlpool, stay calm and let the boat rotate along with the eddy current. When you reach the outside of the whirlpool, everyone can paddle with all their strength to get out of the predicament.

Maintaining stability and avoiding collisions are the principles that must be adhered to during rafting. When there is no way to avoid it, keep the boat at an angle for a head-on collision (a side collision can easily cause the boat to capsize) and hold on to the ropes. After the collision, the boat will be parallel to the shore. At this time, the passengers on this side should pay attention to retract their feet to avoid being pinched. Sometimes the boats are very close to each other, and to avoid collision both sides have to cooperate by paddling in opposite directions or pushing the boats apart.

Where rocks are densely packed, the waterway becomes narrower, the water depth becomes shallower, and the current becomes faster, making it easy for ships to run aground. There is no need to panic at this time. You can use the oars to push against the rocks and use force to push the boat away from the ground. If this method does not work, someone must be sent into the water to pull or push the boat from the side to get it back into the water flow. The person pulling the boat must be quick-eyed and quick-handed, and pay attention to safety.

During rafting, pay attention to the arrows and signs along the way, which can help you find the main waterway and alert you to the falling water area in advance.