Lia Ditton - 50 Water Adventures To Do Before You Die. The Worlds Ultimate Experiences In, On and Under Water

Published by Adlard Coles Nautical
an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

50 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3DP

www.adlardcoles.com

Bloomsbury is a trademark of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

This electronic edition published in 2014 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Copyright Lia Ditton 2014

First published by Adlard Coles Nautical in 2014

ISBN 978-1-4729-0113-2

ePDF 978-1-4729-0114-9

ePub 978-1-4729-0115-6

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Contents

Introduction

Liquid or solid, salty or fresh, water in its many forms offers endless possibilities for adventure. More than 95 per cent of the underwater world remains unexplored. The pleasures to be had on the water, in the water and under water are exciting and boundless.

As a licensed captain and a professional racing sailor, I am fortunate to have spent more than 10 years in and around the water. Ive sailed the equivalent of four laps of the globe and am the 53rd woman ever to row the Atlantic. Ive also been badly stung by a mauve stinger jellyfish and driven a leaky yacht through Hurricane Kyle, yet the sea, the oceans, the rivers and the lakes continue to fascinate me.

Expert advice, the right equipment and experienced guides, where appropriate, are key to staying safe and each adventure details the requirements for best practice. For each chapter, I interviewed an enthusiast an athlete, a tour guide or keen participant passionate about the activity chosen. This enabled me to live the experience of the adventures I have not yet personally undertaken and for this I am indebted to my interviewees. Writing this book has already inspired me to get a packraft and visit Alaska, to learn to row like a Venetian in Italy and try iceboating in Siberia, to name but a few.

Choosing only 50 adventures was a challenge in itself. I aimed for a balance of well-known and lesser-known adventures across a broad range of water sports. Then I set about researching where the ultimate place to do each activity would be, if you could do it only once. Each adventure therefore relates to a specific geographical location not just paddleboard yoga, but paddleboard yoga in a 10,000-year-old geothermal crater in Utah, USA. Not just windsurfing, but windsurfing the Lderitz Speed Challenge in Namibia.

Furthermore, I was on the hunt for the best experiences. White-water rafting the Grand Canyon in Arizona may be a classic, but white-water rafting aficionados actually rate the rapids higher for their variety on the lesser-known Futaleuf River in Chile, where the scenery is alpine but equally breathtaking. Likewise, Mexico and the Philippines may be popular destinations for swimming with whale sharks, but only the Australian Federal Government enforces interaction guidelines. At Ningaloo Reef in Australia, eco-tourism at its finest offers you the opportunity not only to witness the whale sharks, but to do so while helping marine biologists collect important data about them.

Of course, with affordable flights servicing more exotic destinations every year, the worlds watery places have never been more accessible. The adventures span the globe, listed by continent and by country, but it is also worth noting that many of the adventures can be found in all sorts of places around the world. There really is no excuse.

This book offers challenges both achievable and aspirational, carefully considered to accommodate every mood, budget and level of daring-do. Each adventure is categorised in four ways:

Location

Complexity

Cost

Lasting Sentiment

Adventures range in complexity from hardcore (Row the Atlantic Ocean) to as easy as taking a mud bath (Bog snorkel in Wales) and every variation in between. In fact, in among the incredible tests of endurance lies a healthy range of more practical activities for the general reader. If inner tubing the Colorado rapids isnt quite your thing, lunch for two in the Ithaa Undersea Restaurant in the Maldives just might be!

Cost is an important consideration. Cost and time tend to go hand in hand the longer the adventure, the higher the cost so I steered away from highly involved one-off expeditions. The longest adventures, such as packrafting in Alaska and sailing a leg of the Clipper Race, should take weeks rather than months. Each adventure has been given one to five coins to represent the financial commitment involved. This excludes flights unless otherwise stated, but does include all necessary equipment.

Finally, what you might take away from each adventure has been summarised under the caption Lasting Sentiment. From the descriptive a wicked wet assault course (Canyoning in Switzerland), to the observational amazing how the body adapts (Freedive the Blue Hole in Egypt), these sentiments may be your first indicator of which adventure might best suit you.

All the accompanying images have been sourced from individuals who heartily recommend the adventure to others, or from businesses associated with helping you get there. Be it kayak-camping in British Columbia, coasteering in the Channel Islands or a felucca cruise down the Nile, a watery experience awaits you!

So whatever floats your boat, make this book your bucket list. With 50 water adventures to do before you die, get sampling our planets finest offerings: the weird and the wonderful in water adventures.

Lia Ditton

Bog snorkel in Wales