White Water Rafting Gopeng

Start of white water rafting adventure

Thinking of doing white water rafting? Perhaps you should consider Sg. Kampar in Gopeng, Perak. Kampar river is rated to difficulty level of 2-4 and is approximately 7km long depending on the rainfall. This means that it is very suitable for beginners to moderate rafters. For the more experienced rafters, they would have it easy but the scenery surrounding the river is well worth the trip as well.


If you're starting from KL, a good time to begin your journey is at 900am and that would allow you to reach Kampar by lunch time. But why Kampar and not Gopeng itself? Kampar is a good place to use as the base to get to Kampar River because it is only 1/2 hour away from there plus it has a 3 star hotel called Grand Kampar hotel which possibly is the only decent hotel within a 30km radius. Things can get a little complicated so let me recap: Kampar River is in Gopeng, but you should stay in Kampar to get to Gopeng which is only 30 minutes away . Phew..there, I got it out of my chest.


Hotel at Kampar

 Nomad Adventure provides a very detailed service for outdoor adventures around Sg Kampar. I'm not their spokesperson nor do I get anything from them but they did do a great job in organising the trip which I think deserves recommendation. They do provide service to pick you from the hotel which was very welcomed indeed. From the hotel, we travelled to Gopeng, passed Gua Tempurung and finally to their base camp which they named it Earth Camp.

Walking towards Earth Camp

The walk from our drop point to Earth Camp brought us close to nature. The Earth Camp is basic but has adequate facilities including toilets, the tent, tree chalets and many more.

The tent at Earth Camp

Around Earth Camp

Tree chalets are an interesting accommodation

I got my "Kampung Adidas" slippers for MYR10. Highly recommended by the Nomad team, the slipper is made of rubber and slips on to your feet. It is light and water resistant which makes it very handy in river. Once I got it on, I put on the protective gears provided by them which includes hard hat and life jacket.

Safety Equipments are a necessity!

Earth Camp is located at the downstream of the river. Therefore to get to the starting point of our rafting adventure, we need to take a truck to go upstream of the river.

The starting point of our excitement



Inflatable boats stacked up

Once we were there, we get to choose our boats by the river on a "first come, first serve" basis. Typically one boat is reserved for four guests. Depending on the intensity of the river, usually there is at least one supervisor in the boat. For challenging rivers, there will be two, one in front and the other at the back.



Getting into our boats

  As you can see Kampar River is not exactly docile.

This is the ominous river

The rafting journey is approximately 7km long. The exit point is approximately midway between Earth Camp and the starting point. However on very special occasions, you might be able to travel all the way back to the Earth Camp on boat for a total journey of 10+ km! This special occasion occurs only when it rains and thus bringing in extra flow to the river. On the flip side, the rain cannot be too heavy so much so that you're forced to evacuate the river due to safety.

The end point at Earth Camp

 We were very lucky that day and had the privilege to go all the way as it was raining lightly. We disembarked at Earth Camp. Naturally the first thing I did after getting out of the river is to change into dry clothes in the open top toilet. The cubicle is spacious enough to only fit one person in and is equipped with rain shower facilities.

The open top toilet cubicle

While I was changing, our food is being prepared ala BBQ style. After changing into clean clothings, I chilled out with a can of cold beer while waiting the food to be prepared. At around 700pm the food is done. Chicken, prawns, fish, lamb are all on the menu together with fries, sausages, noodles and rice. While some of the food are charred, I was too hungry to be bothered although some might think otherwise.

Our dinner on BBQ tray



Food is served buffet style

 Finally after a hearty meal, we bade farewell to Earth Camp and their friendly hosts. For the more adventurous, you can opt to stay a few more days in their accommodation as they have other activities to enjoy such as caving, absailing, hiking etc.

Leaving in a truck

Would have been better if......if I have brought mosquito repellent along with me.