Daring Activities

Daring Ways to Spend Your Time

Well one thing's for sure – there is very little enthusiasm for potholing!

When it comes to daring activities, Bungee Jumping, Deep Sea Diving and Parachuting all come near the top of the poll whilst Abseiling and BASE Jumping come near the bottom but none of them come close to the unpopularity of potholing.

Bungee Jumping

Bungee jumping got the most votes in our survey and is amongst the cheapest of the daring activities with prices starting as low as £49 per jump. The highest bungee jump in the UK is at Chepstow and that can cost you as much as £250. At 400 feet, Chepstow will cost you 62.5p per foot but you won't have much time to enjoy each individual foot as you are going down! The UK Bungee Club website has a list of all the places in the country where you can have a go.

Deep Sea Diving

At the other end of the cost spectrum is our second most popular activity – Deep Sea Diving. If you join a club you can expect to pay between £175 and £300 to learn whereas going to a specialist centre will cost in the region of £400. If you get really enthusiastic it will cost you in excess of £2,000 for all your own diving gear. The cost of individual trips to popular dives depends mainly on the number of people involved and there's no doubt that you get better deals as a member of a club.

Parachuting

Your first parachute jump will be the most expensive because it will cost in the region of £250 even if you do it for charity. For this price you will get basic instruction, hire of equipment and a ride in a plane to the drop zone. If you get the bug then a complete "rig" will cost about £1,500 but after that each individual skydive will cost as little as £20.

White Water Rafting

Did you know the UK has its very own National White Water Centre? The centre, located in the Snowdonia National Park, welcomes youngsters and prices are as little as £49 per day. One thing to remember though is that you must be able to swim a minimum of 25 metres. You'll also need to hire a wetsuit but that will only cost £5 or so.

Mountaineering

The term mountaineering covers a whole range of levels of difficulty and a corresponding range of prices. It will cost you a lot more to climb Everest than it will to have a 5-mile hike with your local Ramblers! First things first – get hooked up to your local club or Rambler group. The main thing you need is experienced guidance and if you get involved with the right crowd that comes free of charge. After you have bought your boots and all-weather gear you will find that costs are minimal unless you are planning something sensational in a distant land.

Abseiling

There are several companies on the Internet that advertise an abseiling experience for as little as £80 per day. The cheapest way is to get a group of about 5 people together who all want to do it because group discounts are substantial.

BASE Jumping

BASE jumping is certainly the most dangerous of all the activities featured in our survey. To put it in perspective, you are 43 times more likely to get killed or injured doing this than you are doing a parachute jump! Still keen? We recommend that you look at some of the BASE jumping videos on YouTube before deciding that it is right for you and we don't want to be the ones that encouraged you to do it!

Potholing

And so finally we come to potholing especially for the 1% of you that hanker to give it a try. We are reliably informed that Yorkshire, Lancashire and the Peak District provide some of the best caving systems in the world and you can join a group for a day for as little as £49. Have fun!

See all our surveys