Rafting in centina

The alarm woke us up at 8am and we rushed to get ready for rafting at 9am. As the place was literaly over the road we didnt need much time really. When we got over the road we were greated with our skipper and his mate who was going to take pictures of us for 100 kuna.

We left in a battered blue minibus copey and i were surprised it was just us but thought we must be picking people up. We didnt and we carried up a road then the driver kept asking locals questions and turning the van round. They explained that the road had collapsed under heavy rain so were unsure if it was open. It was, so we did another 3 point turn and headed up twisting and winding roads, some of the mountain had been sheered off too. We finally got the place at cetina river we were kitted with helmets and life jackets and off we went down the river, just me, copey and the skipper..

As we were going down the river he only gave us 3 commands, stop, forward and backpaddle that was it. we headed down the river it was quite calm in parts but got better later on. We overheard one of the other skippers say that ours was the most experienced but the craziest too. He asked us if we wanted to take the route walking later on or swim in a freezing cave... Erm cave please. We went there and climbed up the waterfall, the water was freezing, good job i had bought some proper sandals the night before as copey was struggling to climb with his valeros on, and the aldernators would of had no chance..

The skipper told us to follow him and he dived into the cave and swam to the other side. We followed, f*** me it was freeezing cold.. 9c doesn't sound cold but it was. We made it across just before sport d*** could kick in. We climbed up more rocks in the dark, he flashed his light to where our feet should go, if we slipped we were off back down the rapids without the raft... We managed to get through ok and watched the cameraman guide the raft down the roughest part of the river, no one but the experts were going down there. We continued down the river and he asked us if we wanted to jump off the cliff into the river, ermmm... Yes we will, i was surprised copey wanted to as he is scared of heights.. He did it though and jumped in first, it was a hell off a drop too, we enjoyed it that much we did it again!

Further down he asked if we wanted to swim in the rapids, yes, yes and yes.. We followed the skipper as he demonstrated how to do it. Basically jump in with feet forward and go feet first and push off the rocks with your feet if u hit any. Man the water was cold again but we ended up going down two sets of rapids, it was awesome. We got back into the boat and went down a few more rapids, we had hit the worst so we were allowed to take off our helmets and our vests, either that or we had conquered the river and it was more scared of us now! We got back to the van further down the river and looked at the pictures, hopefully i will have them online soon, some classic face pulling and cheesy grins. Best day so far for only £17 for half a days rafting. If you end up in Omis and go rafting head to the hut on the edge of the town near the studenac shopping centre, the skipper is completly nuts and makes the rafting exciting.