COLOMBIAN EXTREME SPORTS & EVENTS
Colombia, with its incredible mountains, rivers, caves, oceans and lakes, is an amazing place to try a range of extreme sports.
Nestled between verdant mountains carved by the Fonce, Suarez and Chicamocha Rivers, San Gil is a small, picturesque pueblo in the Santander Department of Colombia.
San Gil
From this so-called capital of Colombian extreme sports, San Gil, to other more obscure destinations, Colombia is one of the best countries on the continent for adrenaline highs.
White water rafting, caving, kite-surfing, bungee jumping, paragliding and much more.
People’s immediate thoughts of Colombia are definitely not adventure sports, but Colombia is rapidly becoming a top adventure sports tourist destination.
If adrenaline and extreme sports drive your passion and make you feel alive, you should take a look at what Colombia has to offer for you.
This Latin American country is one of the world’s best destinations to practice extreme sports.
San Gil
For a small pueblo, San Gil packs a lot of punch and is undoubtedly Colombia’s adventure capital and is easily accessible from Bucaramanga or Bogotá. San Gil is located close to the beautiful and tranquil pueblo of Barichara, giving you the chance to experience the best of adventure sports and a colonial Colombian experience.
From the small pueblo, you can arrange any number of activities in the beautiful landscapes of the surrounding area, including bungee jumping, abseiling, white water rafting, paragliding, ziplining and caving. There is such an abundance of adventure at your fingertips that it is possible to partake in more than one activity in a day.
The true paragliding hub of the country is here, around San Gil. The real treat is a spectacular 40-minute flight over Colombia’s largest canyon, the majestic Chicamocha.
Paragliding over this magnificent spectacle could well end up being your most memorable Colombian experience.
Perhaps one of the most spectacular destinations within easy reach of San Gil is the Parque Nacional del Chicamocha. The park is located at the top of the stunning Chicamocha Canyon, with visitors able to enjoy a breathtaking paraglides over the canyon. There is a 6 km/4 mile long cable car journey which goes from the park down to the river at the bottom of the canyon and back up to the top of the opposite mountain. Other activities available at the park include a giant swing over the canyon, a zipline, a petting zoo, abseiling down a waterfall as well as a water park.
The Fonce and Suarez rivers, near San Gil stretch for 16 km/10 miles. Beginners tend to head to the Fonce, while the Suarez is blessed with large waves, similar to those of the ocean, which offer an extra adrenaline surge. So if you are experienced and want to try something seriously extreme, you can dare to venture into the waters of the Suárez River, the bravest in Colombia.
Rio Suarez
Bungee jumping in San Gil offers an amazing jump of over 70 m/230 feet from a crane suspended over the Fonce River. The beautiful surroundings and white water river below, which heavier jumpers can even dunk their head into at the base of the jump, make it the best spot in Colombia for bungee jumping.
In summary, adventure tourism in San Gil offers a wide range of extreme activities for all tastes and experience levels. Whether you are seeking the thrill of rafting, the freedom of paragliding or the challenge of bungee jumping, San Gil has something for every adventurer.
San Gil is the perfect destination for those seeking an adrenaline rush in a spectacular natural environment. Get ready to live the adventure of a lifetime in the capital of extreme sports in Colombia!
Medellín
Medellín is quickly catching on to the burgeoning adventure sports culture with paragliding, trekking and cycling being popular in locations around the city.
Paragliding provides spectacular views of Medellín’s landscape, which, with mountains surrounding the metropolis, is even more breathtaking from above. The surrounding countryside and pueblos offer an excellent backdrop for cycling tours.
The Natural Reserve San Rafael is located about two and a half hours from the city and is home to a large number of bird species, 20km/12 miles of hiking and cycling trails and has rivers perfect for swimming and cliff jumping. The reserve also has cocoa and coffee plantations, monkeys and other wildlife.
San Rafael
The Andes mountains make for a great backdrop to any extreme sport and Medellín is no exception. One of the most popular extreme sports in Medellín is zip lining.
Most zip lining tours will take you through the jungle, giving you a chance to see some of the area’s flora and fauna. You can also fly over the city, giving you a bird’s eye view of Medellín. Others will guide you through canyons and waterfalls, so there is plenty of variety to choose from. If you want an extra dose of adrenaline, relax in hammocks 152 m/500 feet in the air. The best of these tours start in Medellín and go to La Ceja nature reserve, where you can explore a variety of ecosystems.
San Felix is one of the best destinations for paragliding in Antioquia, a pueblo in the municipality of Bello, located about 20 minutes north of Medellín.
What makes it special are the wonderful views of the Aburrá Valley that you can contemplate from the heights.
Paragliding San Felix
Santa Fe de Antioquia is not only one of the most beautiful pueblos in the department, but also an ideal destination for extreme sports. Rafting, bike tours, paragliding and hot air balloon flights, among others.
Guatapé is defined by its gigantic monolithic and the beautiful reservoir, a place where you can kayak, water ski, rowing, sail, jet ski and canopy. Also too you have the possibility of parasailing and paragliding.
El Peñol, Guatapé
Jardín is part of the Pueblos Patrimomio (Heritage Towns) and here you will find the Jardín de Rocas Nature Reserve, the Cueva del Esplendor, Cerro Cristo Rey and the Salto del Ángel Waterfall.
El Salto Del Ángel is a stunning waterfall where visitors can engage in the adrenaline-pumping activity of waterfall rappelling. This adventure allows you to descend the waterfall’s cascades, while being surrounded by lush tropical scenery. This is an exhilarating way to experience the power of nature up close. Hiking, horseback riding, rappelling and aerial cable cars, among others are popular.
Urrao has the famous Páramo del Sol, the highest point in the entire department of Antioquia and an ideal setting for hiking and high-level mountaineering. In addition, there is the Las Orquídeas Natural Park and the Penderisco Valley, places where you can go horseback riding, hiking, rafting and sport fishing.
In Támesis, there is climbing, abseiling, boating, torrenting and hiking. This is a municipality that will surprise you with the beauty of its landscapes and the warmth of its people.
Rock climbing
The Andes mountains tower over Colombia’s terrain and ensure the country is ideal for both hiking and mountaineering on foot, and ascending and descending rockfaces.
Suesca around 60km/37 miles north of Bogotá, is an ideal location for rock climbing, trekking and rafting opportunities. The pueblo is considered the birthplace of rock climbing in Colombia and possesses a large number of natural cliffs and over four hundred climbing routes ranging in difficulty from beginner to advanced.
Suesca
In addition, Suesca is also a perfect mountain biking destination with numerous routes and trails. If you love high-altitude mountaineering, you can hike up to 5,000 m/16,404 feet in Colombia.
The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Purace, El Cocuy, Los Nevados National Natural Park and the Nevado del Huila, Colombia’s highest volcano, are all excellent options.
Tobia
Located only 90 km/56 miles outside Bogotá, Tobia is the closest option to Bogotá for rafting, canopy zip lining and canyoning.
The rafting takes place on the stunning Río Negro river, which perhaps does not have the extreme difficulty level you will find in San Gil, but it will bring your adrenaline up a few levels. The 200 m/656 feet high canopy zipline is daunting, passing over numerous hiking trails.
Tobia
La Guajira and La Calima
One of the trickiest extreme sports to master, kite surfing, is becoming more popular in Colombia, as the country is home to two of the best ocean and freshwater kite surfing spots in the world. This is due to the numerous locations that offer ideal conditions – strong winds and a large body of water.
La Guajira, in the northernmost tip of the country, is excellent for advanced kite surfers, with Cabo de La Vela’s halcyon waters and end-of-the-world winds making the small, tranquil coastal town a great place to ride waves.
Kitesurfing La Guajira
Calima Lake, near Cali, sustains 30-35 knot winds for most of the year and hosts a number of kitesurfing tournaments. There are plenty of schools for novices as well as places to rent equipment.
Elsewhere in the country, Tominé and Chivor are close enough to the capital to make them popular destinations, while San Andrés, Cartagena and Barranquilla also offer warm waters for kitesurfing.
Cuidad Perdida/Lost City
Located close to Tayrona National Park in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is the Lost City/Ciudad Perdida.
It is thought to have been built in the ninth century, 650 years before Machu Picchu and was only discovered in 1972, making it one of Colombia’s greatest treasures.
While many might claim that this is not strictly adventure tourism, the fact that the city can only be reached via a gruelling 44 km/27 mile hike across rivers and mountains in the stifling heat and humidity of the jungle might suggest otherwise.
The circular hikes last between four and six days, depending on how much you want to push yourself, stopping at a variety of locations on the way, including rivers and indigenous settlements.
Despite the stunning location and huge historical and cultural significance of the Ciudad Perdida, the trail is still refreshingly bereft of tourists compared with the likes of Machu Picchu.
Trail to Cuidad Perdida
Rosario Islands
Thanks to its 3,000 km/1,864 mile coastline on both the Pacific and the Caribbean, along with its many islands, Colombia offers a very wide choice of sites to dive.
The Rosario Islands are a collection of mainly uninhabited islands located less than an hour by boat from the centre of Cartagena. The islands have sparkling clear waters and extensive and colourful coral reefs, making them perfect destinations for diving, snorkelling and kayaking. They also have an open water aquarium.
Other locations include Isla Malpelo, Capurgana, Sapzurro, Barú and Taganga.
The Gorgona and Malpelo islands are difficult to get to, but provide the opportunity to observe some of the ocean’s star turns – whale sharks, humpback whales and hammerhead sharks.
Rosario Islands
San Andrés and Providencia
The idyllic Caribbean islands of San Andrés and Providencia are renowned for their fantastic diving and snorkelling opportunities, both offering spectacular access to stunning sea life.
Johnny Cay Bay is a popular diving spot in San Andrés and both islands have a large number of diving centres offering shallow dives, deep sea dives and snorkelling.
Providencia is home to the world’s third largest coral reef, while San Andrés and Providencia make up 10% of the Caribbean’s coral reefs.
Reef landscape, Providencia
Caving or Spelunking
Explore the depths of the caves of Rio Claro in Antioquia, Cueva de la Vaca, Santander or Cuevas Caja de Agua, Huila.
Go deep into the earth, through small narrow tunnels leading directly to caves sometimes more than 20 m/66 feet high. Discover fauna living in total darkness as well as breathtaking rock formations, thousands of years old.
Abseiling
With no shortage of waterfalls, Colombia is a great country to practice abseiling and rappelling.
There are amazing spots to enjoy this extreme sport throughout the country, but several experiences stand out above the rest. The giant Fin del Mundo waterfall in the depths of the jungle in Putumayo Department, Juan Curí waterfall in the Chicamocha Canyon and Barandillas waterfall near the small town of Tobia, which is 75 m/246 feet high.
Juan Curí
Surfing
Another popular extreme sport, surfing, is especially good on the Pacific Coast, where waves are larger and more reliable than on the comparatively calm Caribbean.
Surfing hotspots on the Pacific Coast include the small villages of Bahia Solano, El Valle and Nuquí. The best times for surfing in Colombia are from December to March and from July to September.
Cycling is a sport greatly appreciated by many Colombians. In the country, it plays out on the well-maintained roads and mountainous terrain. The most popular areas with mountain bikers are San Gil, with the Chicamocha canyon route, Armenia, Quindío with the Penas Blancas, Medellín with the Santa Elena and Guatapé routes and Salento with the Alegria and Simón Bolívar courses.
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