Teesta River Rafting - Melli, Kalimpong - Timings, Accessibility, Best Time to Visit
#17 of 19 Places to Visit in Kalimpong
Distance (From Kalimpong): 18 Kms
Trip Duration (Including Travel): 4 Hours/Half Day
Place Location: At Melli
Transportation Options: Bus / Cab
Travel Tips: None
At a distance of 18 km from Kalimpong Bus Station, Teesta River Rafting is the most popular adventure sport activity in Kalimpong, West Bengal. Teesta River has become one of the most popular hotspots for White Water Rafting in eastern India and among the must include things during Kalimpong Tour.
Teesta River with its green surroundings is the best choice for Rafting in Kalimpong. The Teesta river rafting has carved out deep ravines and gorges in Sikkim meandering through the hills with Kalimpong lying just off the river. This makes for quite an exciting and enthralling rafting experience.
Ideally rafting can be done enroute, between Gangtok to Darjeeling, Gangtok to Kalimpong or Gangtok to Siliguri. The routes for non-swimmers are gentle and easy without much rapids involved. However for the swimmers and experienced clients, the routes are more adventurous with high grade rapids providing quite a thrill. The rafting trips for non-swimmers in Teesta River start mostly at Melli Bridge and culminate at Geil Khola in Kalimpong. This is a 12 km stretch which takes 1-2 hours.
The rafting trip for Swimmers and experience clients starts at Tarkhola and ends at Melli. It is a 20 km stretch and takes 2-3 Hours. Another way is to go down to Teesta Bazaar, which is the main hub for rafting. Here you will find the River Rafting Center of GTA Tourism. They organize the rafting on Teesta River.
The best time to raft on Teesta is from March to June and September to November. Avoid visiting during the months of heavy rainfall i.e. July and August. Make sure you pay attention to all the instructions carefully given by the guide. Also prefer to go for the activity in groups of 4, 6 or 8 as per the operator you choose.
Rafting with Camping: Rs. 3200 per Pax (6 to 10 Persons), Rs. 2300 per Pax (11 to 20 Persons) & Rs. 2000 per Pax (Above 20)