By Dianne Bayley

Rugged, intense and spectacular in its beauty,  it’s adventure heaven. And whatever your preference, South Africa has an activity to keep that adrenalin pumping.

With some of the best climbing in the world, Cape Town is particularly well endowed. There are literally hundreds of bolted and natural routes on superb quality Cape granite or Table Mountain sandstone within the city limits. With climbing schools and mountain guides in all the main centres, even beginners can have a magic experience here.

For those who like throwing their bodies out of airpolanes, Skydive Cape Town offers some of the best adrenalin fixes around: Looping it up over the Cape West Coast with Melkbosstrand, Bloubergstrand, Table Mountain and Robben Island forming your backdrop.

Feel like floating? River trips range from serene and scenic to grade five whitewater washing machines. There are more than a hundred listed paragliding or hang gliding launch sites, and many more less well known, with schools in every centre. Also up in the air are opportunities for helicopter rides, balloon flights, aerobatics, skydiving and microlight flights.

Thousands of kilometres of hiking trails abound all over the country, in desert, forest, mountain or coastal environs. Many have mountain bike trails too. Some hikes are a bit more luxurious - like walking from hotel to hotel with someone else carrying your luggage. (You are on holiday, after all!)

Magnificent, easy horse trails through vineyards, on the beach or in the mountains are a delight for the equine fan and - for the more adventurous and experienced - there are horseback safaris in big game country.

At 216 metres, South Africa is also home to the highest commercial bungee jump in the world. There’s also lots of abseiling and bridge swinging.

Of course, seekers of true beauty could also combine adrenalin, tranquility and sheer beauty on the treetop canopy tour in Tsitsikamma?

The art of canyoning - known as kloofing in South Africa - is another hot favourite, with self-guided and escorted trips.

Adventure trips in South Africa

180º Adventures has offices in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg, and activities countrywide.

Active Africa Adventure Tours offers Western Cape-based adventure tours covering the full adrenaline spectrum.

The Adrenaline Adventure Activity Guide lists stuff adventurers can do on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast: abseiling, archery, deep sea fishing, scuba diving, hiking, microlighting, kayaking, whitewater rafting and more.

Adventure Purists offer various adventure package tours which include a variety of activities across South Africa.

AR.co.za is the website for South African enthusiasts of adventure racing - a new sport made popular by the Eco Challenge television series. The site offers news, upcoming events, advice, features and more.

Ashanti Travel Centre, based in Cape Town, offers a wide range of packages for adventure junkies, including kloofing, scuba diving, bridge and bungi jumping, great white shark diving, kite boarding, paragliding, sandboarding, skydiving and abseils off Table Mountain.

Cape Sports Centre on the Langebaan Lagoon caters for kitesurfers, windsurfers, mountain bikers and kayakers. They sell and rent equipment, offer lessons and tips, and provide various adventure packages.

Downhill Adventures offers the Cape Great Eight Adventure Experience, a combination of the best and most exciting adventures available in this area: shark cage diving, sandboarding, mountain biking, surfing, tandem skydiving, abseiling, sea kayaking and quad biking.

Exploration Society of Southern Africa - A non-profit organisation founded in 1988, Essa provides a platform for “the conceptual and physical exploration of the Southern African landscape”. The society organises expeditions, holds discussions and presentations by world-class adventurers - and throws good parties.

Extreme 3 Adventures will take you on the ultimate extreme sport adventure tour of South Africa, with activities such as scuba diving, kite surfing, white water rafting, mountain biking, sky diving, power kiting and abseiling.

Felix Unite Adventure Travel is a comprehensive adventure tour operator, providing trips throughout Africa.

Glenmore Ecoventures offers loads of adventure activities at Glenmore Beach on the KZN South Coast.

Kamala Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape offers the Sheercliff Adventure Centre, with a wide range of adventure sports: a gorge glide, abseiling, mountain biking, rock climbing, hiking, paragliding and the 4×4 Samil mountain ascent.

Oribi Gorge Resort near Port Shepstone in KwaZulu-Natal has the Wild Five: abseiling, whitewater rafting, the Wild Slide (a foofy slide 120m along a steel cable 160m above the ground), the Wild Swing 100m into a gorge, and hiking and mountain biking.

Otters Den, a river lodge on an island in the Blyde River at the foot of the Drakensberg near the Kruger Park, offers whitewater rafting, hot air ballooning, kayaking and abseiling.

The SA Orienteering Federation is the controlling body for the sport of orienteering in South Africa, with a number of affiliated clubs.

SEAL Adventures offers abseiling, rafting, quad biking and other activities in and around Knysna in the Western Cape.

Stormsriver Adventures operates a wonderful, somewhat strenuous trip called the Stormsriver Challenge: abseiling, tubing and mountain biking.

Travel Unite is a Cape Town-based adventure tour company operating in southern Africa.

Wildthing Adventures, based in Gauteng, specialises in both soft adventures for all age groups - from eight years and older - and more adrenaline-pumping activities. These include canoeing, rafting, bridge jumping, mountain biking, abseiling and overland rafting expeditions.

Abseiling, rapp & bungee jumping

Abseil Africa
Face Adrenalin
Govertical Mountaineering Adventures
Oribi Gorge Resort
Over the Top Adventures
Pure Rush Industries
Roc ‘n Rope Adventures
Paragliding, hang gliding and flying
Aero Club of SA
BigSky Aviation Adventures
Microlight Association of SA
Microlight Aviation in SA
Microlighters.co.za
SA Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association
SA Power Flying Association
Skydancers
Skydive Cape Town
Rock climbing and mountaineering

Mountain Club of South Africa
South African Climbing Info Network
SA Bouldering
Climb ZA
Wildways Mountaineering
Cape Town School of Mountaineering
Peak High Mountaineering
Roc ‘n Rope Adventures -
Alard’s Bigwall Climbing Site
SA Mountain Magazine
Adventure Dynamics
RockSport Mountain & Outdoor
UKZN Mountain Club -
Wits Mountain Club
Rock Addiction
City Rock Indoor Climbing
Exploration Society of Southern Africa
De Bos

Mountain biking

Mountain Bike South Africa
South African Mountain Bike Tours
Beach and Bush
Daytrippers
Eden Adventures
Mountain Biking Africa
Outeniqua Biking Trails
Cycle Lab
Pedal Power Association
SA Cycling
Bicycling Magazine
Canoeing, rafting and kayaking

Coastal Kayak
Eastern Shores Kayak Safaris
Gravity Adventure Group
Hardy Ventures
Infinity Marine’s Sea Kayaking
Intrapid Rafting
PaddleYak Sea Kayak Store
HiSide Group
Sunwa Ventures

Hiking

SA National Parks
Cape Nature Conservation
Johannesburg Hiking Club
RockSport Mountain & Outdoor
Footprint Hiking Club
Hiking.org.za
Hike Cape Town
Boksburg Hiking Club
Hiking South Africa
Mountain Club of South Africa

Horse riding and trails

African Horse Company
Amadiba Trails
Ant’s Nest Horseriding Safaris
Bhangazi Horse Safaris
Biggarsberg Horse Trails
Bokpoort Horseback Adventures
Cape Nature Conservation
Der Kap Ritt
Equus Horse Safaris
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife
Fynbos Trails
Grootbos Nature Reserve
Horizon Horse Trails
Horseback Africa
Kaapsehoop Horse Trails
KwaZulu-Natal Horse Trails
Mkulu Kei Horse Trails
Rand Hunt
Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve
Riding for the Disabled
SA National Equestrian Foundation
Spier Horse Trails
Thornview Horse Trails
Trail Linx
Tswalu Kalahari Reserve
Wait a Little Horse Trails
Wine Valley Horse Trails
Xplora Tours

Skydiving and base jumping

SkydiveXtreme
Skydive Cape Town
Aero Club of SA
Go Skydive
Tandem Skydiving Adventures
Parachute Association of SA
Johannesburg Skydiving Club
Pretoria Skydiving Club
Skydive Citrusdal
Witbank Skydiving Club
Pietermaritzburg Parachute Club

Scuba diving

Adventure Diving Safaris
African Odyssea
Aliwal Dive Charters
Amatikulu Tours
Coral Divers
Dive South Africa
Dive the Big Five
Dive Travel Centre
Extreme 3 Adventures
KwaMnandi Dive Lodge
Pro Dive
Scuba Shack
Touch Africa Safaris
The Great White House
Source: SouthAfrica.info