Tara River Canyon - 2nd Deepest in the World

Montenegrin north is an ideal place for everyone who wants to make activity holiday, enjoy unique nature and taste amazing organic food. One of the most popular activities lately is the white water rafting.

When it comes to rafting in Montenegro, first association is river Tara, where this activity is often organised. Tara is the UNESCO protected in one part of its flow, for the significance it makes in the natural heritage. It is well known that tiny Montenegro has the 2nd deepest canyon in the world - Tara canyon. The water level is the highest in May, just when we decided to take the action.

Tara Canyon from the air, close to the Djurdjevica Tara bridge

Our experience started when we were invited by our friends, Bacika team, to join the rafting adventure. Our team departed the city of Niksic in the early morning, to come to the agreed spot, the camp called Modra Rijeka, just at the breakfast time. The camp is located very close to the border with Bosnia and there are a lot of Bosnian tourists and people coming to raft here, as well. Modra Rijeka is a starting point for many rafting teams who don't have their own accommodation and restaurants. There we started with a delicious breakfast, made with organic home-grown ingredients. After the breakfast, it was the time to get prepared for the adventure. 

Camp Modra Rijeka, source Monte River FB

Good to know is that during the summer, the river is much lower, so this means it is less demanding and you don't have to be super fit to join. 

Our host invited us to the equipment room, so we can all choose the appropriate sizes and helmets, including water-boots, too. All the equipment was brand new and smelled fresh. The first plus for our host, before the adventure even started! :) 

The camp is not close to the rafting starting point by foot, so after getting ready, we were seated in 2 SUV cars and the rafting team took us to the raft-start. It's a short drive, that takes about 10 minutes. The initial plan was to take place from Brstenovica spot, where you experience first adrenaline shots in the numerous water rapids, but the river was super big and our responsible host Bacika, decided that we will start from the next station, lower than Brstenovica.

For the record - there are many different rafting trips on Tara. For the bravest ones, there is a two-day tour, starting high up in the mountain range of Durmitor. From there you go the first lap, which is just half of the road and then you make a break and sleep in the woods, in the camp. The next morning you are finishing the route, from Brstenovica to Bosnian border, where the trip ends. 


Part of our rafting team

We were bringing our rubber boat by ourselves which is a great way to light up the team spirit even before it's started. The boats aren't waiting for you in the water, every squad brings the one for them, provided by the organiser, of course. We were now getting ready and the squad was diverse - women, men, young boy... It was a group of 8 persons plus the skipper. 

Note that you can bring cameras that aren't waterproof if you really want because you can take photos at the stops you are making during the rafting. The modern boat kit includes the waterproof bag to keep your things safe.

Tara was enormous when we reached its shores, it looked like there is no bottom at all! It was an early spring and the snow started melting from the mountains, making Tara river look too deep and dangerous. And we started! 

The river was wild, moving us from left to right, but our skipper was really confident and he taught us exactly what to do to make it safe but still interesting.


Adrenaline Shots

The adventure is not only on the boat. We made several stops on our way. First one was in the woods by the lake, with such a magical spring, part of Tara waters, drinkable on its entire flow.


Thirsty - No Problem, Drink the River Water

This was a perfect stop for some photos and videos. Numerous boats passed by us, waving and saying hi, while wild Tara is pulling them hard. 

First Stop

After a short break, we continued the journey. While you are getting lower, the river gets wilder and the adrenaline is hitting all the time. Our merry group was delighted. We were enjoying so much, laughing and paddling to the fullest. Our next stop was an absolute highlight of the day as we visited waterfalls on Tara with cold freezing water but beautiful. We were amongst the first rafters that season, so a little shop by the waterfalls (reachable through the woods or by the boat) was still closed. But, whoever visits in the summer season, can expect a refreshment on the road down the river. 

Waterfalls 

After a photo session, selfies and group photos by the waterfall, we embarked again, for the last sequence of the day. 

Waterfalls on the 2nd stop

The river was naughty and frisky, making us enjoying even more, now already deliberated all the fears, doubts and thoughts. Adrenaline was governing our boat and it all felt so good. We were passing the rapids fastly and it felt like the boat is a snake that flows down the river with the natural instinct. It was so interesting that it felt as a blink of an eye when we reached the Montenegro-Bosnia border. 

Sceneries by the road 

The SUV cars were waiting for us to get us back to the camp, we took the boat out of the water, placed it on the top of the car and got back to the camp. Lunch was waiting for us and we hurried to get dressed and ready to eat. Delicious meat and fish, with soup, were smelling so good and we were very hungry and tired, so everyone enjoyed the lunch, really. The day ended in a perfect atmosphere with new friends, retailing the day and sharing photos. If you ask us - a must do adventure in Montenegro!

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