Describing a day with Behana Canyoning in one word.….RAD!!! And no, it’s not canoeing like a lot of people mistake it for. Canyoning is a little more epic, a little more adventurous, and a little more challenging. It involves abseiling down cliff faces with some waterfalls right by your side – sounds like fun right?
If you have ever been to Behana Falls you know that the walk up can take a while and it really does test out your fitness levels, but when you’re on the Behana Canyoning Tour you get the luxury of being driven up in the van all the way to the top to conserve your energy for cliff jumping – yup, there is some of that too!
The guides who are incredibly fun with a side of crazy, take care of you from the get go. They show you the ropes (literally) and run you through a full safety briefing, get you confident abseiling, laugh at you when you’re trying to squeeze into your wetsuit and make sure your harness, helmet and equipment are good to go.
The short walk up reveals Behana George which has to be one of my favourite waterfalls in Tropical North Queensland. If you haven’t seen its beauty, put it on the list! There is a quick photo op at the start of the tour and then we start cliff jumping. I have done this tour 2.5 times now (the first time we got rained out) and I am still a chicken shit when it comes to the 10mtr jump…but I do it anyway so I don’t look like a wuss. The guys, without hesitation jumped off the 13mtr rock platform, and two of the girls showed no fear as they took on the big one also…well done Eliza and Eleanore (insert high fives here).
After some very rad cliff jumping, it’s on to the first abseil. Now this is a little nerve racking for some (yes me) but you just have to do it and you’ll very proud of yourself. I also need to add in here that the scenery the entire way throughout this journey is absolutely breathtaking. Down the creek we cruise rock sliding, belly flopping (well I do) and taking on little fun obstacles along the way. I don’t want to give too much of this tour away, but the second abseil…hollly shit. Don’t hesitate, just do it. Most of the crew nailed it and owned it, a couple of us had that that look of worry on our faces but still smiled and for the camera cause it’s a moment that needs to be captured (insert shakas here).
Midway through the tour, we stopped for a quick refuel back at the van which is needed. Climbing up through the bush head butting tree branches is by far the hardest work of the day in those super thick wetsuits. During our perfect Cairns ‘winter’ (which just means the months of the year that you don’t sweat) everyone wears thick wetties as the water is pretty fresh to say the least. You can also transform yourself into a ninja if you need too.
There is plenty of wild life on the tour also so keep an eye out on all things that move. A couple of hours in we found a huge python sunning himself on the rocks and the guide told us that there are quite a few local resident pythons.
This particular tour had given me the opportunity to invite some local adventure enthusiasts as Sam the owner of this rad company asked me to host a day for social media influences. The crew loved it and their GoPros were capturing every jump, abseil, rock slide and all of the laughs. Within 24 hrs, photos of the day were posted, the videos were up and they were awesome! Jacinta Pink posted the first video for us to relive the fun. Check out her Instagram page and be inspired to get out and explore your own back yard with her photos and epic vids.
Taylor from the Crayseas also put an epic ‘point of view’ vid together from his GoPro strapped to his chest. It puts you right in the moment and gives you a different perspective of the tour – check out it out on the Crayseas insta page.
This adventure tour ticks all the boxes. If you feel like you’re not so adventurous but want to get out of your comfort zone and have an experience that you can walk away from smiling ear to ear and proud as punch – this one’s for you. It’s safe, the guides really look after you and there are options for everyone. It really has to be one of the best tours in Cairns!
A huge thanks to Sam Day for bringing his passion to life in a place that absolutely blows your mind. If you have ever had the chance to meet Sam and chat to him about it, you can’t help but smile with him while he talks about his love of the business he has built.
Cheers to everyone that has joined me on this adventure and making it so much fun. Stay RAD.
Ps Check out the video we made a couple of months ago!
