National White Water Centre

The National White Water Centre is located in Bala in the heart of the Snowdonia National Park. The centre is the UK’s original white water rafting venue with almost 40 years of experience. Set in stunning Welsh hills, the dam-controlled River Tryweryn has high flows ideal for exhilarating white water rafting and canyoning adventures on natural rapids throughout the year.

ULTIMATE RAFTING
This is our Ultimate Rafting, offering three runs of the absolute best of UK whitewater rafting.
The focus is on maximising the river features blasting through world-class grade 3-4 rapids on a river course impressive enough to have hosted international whitewater events. Your raft guide will allow plenty of time to feel the power of true whitewater. You'll surf back into huge rapids, playing, laughing and screaming all the way. This is totally immersive whitewater fun at its best.
What we are offering is more akin to rafting abroad than it is to a UK rafting / river float trip. The flow is dam-released so it's bigger than any UK river could hope to offer on a typical day.
Whilst we can't guarantee the sunshine, we can guarantee continuous stacked rapids every single time we raft. This is why we remain the UK's leading whitewater rafting company after 40 years.

RAPID SESSION
This trip is a fantastic shorter session, consisting of two runs down our world class rapids. It provides an exciting whitewater rafting experience for those who are on a budget or are time-limited; perhaps trying to fit this in as a multi-activity day or as a quick adventure on the way into / out of Eryri (Snowdonia).

The Rapid Session runs the same stretch of world-class grade 3-4 stacked whitewater rapids as the Ultimate Session, although it focuses on running straight through the rapids rather than stopping and playing on the river features.
(If rafting is the main activity of the day and you're looking for the a totally immersive whitewater experience, you may prefer to book our Ultimate Session).

The Rapid Session is no river float, it's a fast, fun adrenaline rush and because the flow here is dam-released, it's bigger than any UK river could hope to offer on a typical day.
Whilst we can't guarantee the sunshine, we can guarantee continuous stacked rapids every single time we raft. This is why we remain the UK's leading whitewater rafting company after 40 years.
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RAFTING SAFARI
The Rafting Safari is also on the Tryweryn, but it is on the lower section where the gradient is less steep. This is more of a river journey, starting at the centre and travelling 4 miles to Bala. The rapids are still exciting, but they are further apart with more flat water in-between.
The minimum age for this session is appropriately lowered to 10 years old. In places where it is safe to do so, younger rafters will be able to jump in and out of the raft and play in the water, if they want.
You will hit three class 2-3 rapids and a class 4 rapid for a massive grand finale (unless you choose to avoid it)!
There is no bus journey time at all at the start, since the trip begins at the centre. At the end we will transport you on a 10 minute journey back to the centre to access hot showers and the café.

ORCA EXTREME
The session for the seriously adventurous.
Under our expert instruction you will learn to take on the rapids yourself in a 2 person raft. Only for those with previous white water paddling or rafting experience; this is an extreme session.


CANYONING ADVENTURE
Climb, swim and slide through a pristine Welsh river.
An offsite adventure where you will traverse, jump, scramble, slide and swim to descend the drops and pools.
of a steep mountain river.


If you don't fancy the adventure of the river, don't worry: there is a riverside walk, café and picnic areas which give you the opportunity to take in the splendour of the surrounding in the heart of Snowdonia National Park, and the breath-taking scenery of the area offers a magnificent retreat, not only for the water sports enthusiast, but for everyone.