On a bright and sunny Saturday morning in June my girlfriend and I arrived in the mountains near Alicante for an incredible day of canyoning in La Mela river.

Our guides Santi and Francis from Tramuntana Adventura took a reading of our temperature and provided us with face masks suitable for the water, to ensure that we were all safe to take part in the activity. They explained all about the activity and of the safety requirements. For a lot of us in the group this was our first time canyoning so it was great to get this detailed explanation from them.

Once we had squeazed into our neoprene suits we headed off to the river. After another quick run through of the rules to remain safe we hit the water and were immediately grateful to have the suits! A gentle start led us to a 4 meter drop so we harnessed up and following our guides advice descended into a deep and cold pool of beautifully clear water. The scenery is incredible and floating in the water I felt like Baloo in the jungle book, without a care in the world. We walked, crawled, swam, jumped and rappelled our way along the beautiful river. The guides know the route very well and explained where it was safe to jump, how to enter the water safely, and when we needed to use the harness and ropes to descend safely. Some of the group were not so confident jumping from some of the larger drops and this was no problem as the guides easily set up the harness for these occasions.

You are completely focused on the activity and time seemed to stand still in the river. The perfect way to forget having been stuck in the house for 10 weeks. Landing into the freezing water from 5 meters was one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life. There are numerous large and some challenging jumps on this route but with the guides there you feel completely safe taking them on. And by the time you’ve done one, you can’t wait for the next. An adrenaline rush for sure!

By time we had reached the end of the route we realized that we had been in the river for nearly 4 hours! A truly amazing experience that I can’t recommend highly enough to anyone brave enough!