Swimming with sharks, sliding down volcanoes and other extreme travel ideas for thrill-seekers
Would you walk the plank?
Extreme travel is the thought of taking my 6-month-old kitten to the vet. Getting her into the cat carrier with exposed arms that turn into an abstract work of art (the colour palette dominated by blood red) is all the adventure I need.
For others, it is an 18-hour-long train ride with the MIL, being sandwiched between two wailing babies on a flight or attempting to exit a local train at Dadar station during rush hour.
And then there are actual adrenaline junkies, who’d rather swim with sharks and dive into caves than complain about their adolescent kitten’s defiant ways.
The definition of extreme travel, as discussed, is highly relative but what it means in terms of a travel experience, is a ‘holiday’ centred around extreme sports. Most of the activities suggested require a certain level of fitness, ensuring safety regulations are in place and of course, the burning desire to get your adrenaline pumping. For those who would rather cave dive than simply dive deep into their wallets to shop while on vacation, we’ve curated a list of extreme travel experiences for you.
Plank walking
Walking the plank brings to mind visions of a one-eyed pirate, copious amounts of rum and man-eating sharks and piranhas. The Huashan plank walk in China on the other hand, is a different kind of thrilling.
Set about an hour away from the city of Xi’an, is Mount Hua or Huashan — home to one of the most dangerous hikes in the world. Once you conquer this hike (5-7 hours depending on your fitness levels and bolstered to some extent by a cable car ride), you can get ready to walk the plank.
Mount Hua is the only site in the world that offers this extreme travel experience — you get to walk across the rickety narrow planks of wood nailed to the edge of a mountain that is 7,000 feet high. While the mandatory safety measures promise to make the thrilling experience completely safe, the long drop can make even the bravest of extreme travel enthusiasts weak in the knees.
It is however the ideal spot for adventure junkies to hang with friends.
Volcano boarding
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Surfing down molten lava like a character from a Marvel movie is what you might picture when you hear the terms volcano boarding. This isn’t that – at all. Because anyone attempting that wouldn’t live to tell the tale. Unless you’re Thanos.
Volcano boarding is in fact practised on the hot, crumbly slopes of volcanoes. Cerro Negro volcano, near the city of Leon in Nicaragua, is the only place you can go to for this extreme travel experience.
Its origins can be traced back to Australian Daryn Webb who allegedly slid down the slope on a fridge (and other experimental devices) back in 2004. Over time, this activity was developed as a tourist attraction.
Today, you have to attempt an hour-long hike up to Cerro Negro before you can get strapped onto a sand board (equipped with adequate safety gear) and pushed down a 728m high (approximately 2,400ft) slope.
Cerro Negro is an active volcano — though luckily for thrill-seekers, it hasn’t erupted since the earthquakes set it off in 1999. If making an active volcano your playground is your thing, get sliding.
Storm chasing
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Essentially a road trip motivated by a fascination for extreme weather. Just tweak your family road trips a little – replace the toasty weather with a cyclone – and you should be good to go.
For all those who think that this impractical travel plan is absolutely bizarre, join the club. For others, who can’t wait to get their adrenaline pumping, the good news is that there actually are travel companies and magazines dedicated to this thrilling form of extreme travel.
The best part? You can do it in any part of the globe as long as you have an eye on the weather app.
Siri, what’s the weather like this month?
Shark diving
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There are two kinds of people in this world – some associate sharks with the DreamWorks production Shark Tale, and then there are the other kind who flinch even at the sound of the Jaws soundtrack.
If you identify with the latter, then this extreme travel experience might not be the best fit for you — or offer up the opportunity for you to face your fears.
There are two ways to play it. Shark cage diving is underwater diving or snorkelling where the observer remains inside a protective cage — offered the world over, some of the most popular sites for this form of extreme travel include South Australia and South Africa.
The other way is to strap on your scuba gear, leave the shield at home and get up close and personal with some of the most beautiful creatures in the world. The greatest dive spots in the world are home to a range of shark species — all you need to do is dive in.
Cave diving
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From being a shark’s hors d’oeuvre to swimming into deep dark holes, this list just gets better and better. Pretty self-explanatory, cave diving entails underwater diving in caves filled with water.
Since cave diving is one of the most challenging forms of diving, it’s recommended that only a certified/expert diver takes the plunge. Unlike other forms of diving, a diver cannot choose to stop where he or she might please and swim back up to the surface — cave diving involves swimming through really long tunnels for an extended period of time.
There are multiple underwater caves that offer this extreme travel experience.
However, some of the most stunning sites include the Cenote Angelita in Tulum, Nereo Cave in Sardinia and the Chandelier Cave in Palau home to breathtaking limestone stalactites.
Hranická Propast in Czech Republic on the other hand, is the most challenging and the deepest underwater cave in the world.
Canyon swinging
We usually associate swings with our carefree childhoods. But like everything else that comes with adulthood, even ‘swinging’ can get a little harder – think swinging with a 300ft drop under you.
Canyon swinging draws from our favourite kindergarten activity — just remember to bring along that devil may care ‘tude from the good old days.
Most canyons across the world now offer recreational canyon swinging. Some of the better known ones are the Nevis Swing in New Zealand which is on of the biggest in the world with a 300m arc, and the Interlaken canyon swing in Switzerland with a 90m drop.
Frozen waterfall climbing
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An advanced form of climbing, ice climbing is one of the most dangerous and thrilling adventure sports and requires special skills.
There has been quite some hype surrounding frozen waterfall climbing in the adventure sports circuits and it gained popularity in India thanks to two Indians who documented their frozen waterfall ascent in Spiti Valley, Himachal Pradesh.
Heckman Falls in Canada, and frozen waterfalls of Michigan which range from 20 ft to 210 ft in altitude, are popular sites for this extreme travel experience.