Skydiving, rappelling, hiking and trekking are just some of the proposals that are installed in different parts of the country, as a consequence of the fact that the category of adventure is taking on more and more relevance in Uruguayan tourism. So much so that the company specialized in selling Bigbox experiences sold, in the last year, about 900 adventure catalogs in your action options ($2,000) Y extreme ($5,990).
Asked about the public that consumes this offer of activities, the head regional company, Esteban Silva, said that the public is varied although in general the concept of the category points to a young public.
According to Silva, the proposals are very varied, “and they range from those that are for extremes to those that are for those who want to connect with nature”. Of all the available list, the autogyro stood out –among the most extreme–: an experience in which the person flies a small helicopter after attending a class, another example is airping: one night in a tent suspended on a cliff and follow the parachute jump. And for those looking for a more moderate adventure experience, he highlighted the baptism of flight: an experience in which the person knows how an airplane works and makes a short flight over Montevideo, and paragliding.
In addition, he highlighted that the country has a lot to offer for this type of tourism. “There are proposals in the sea, proposals in the mountains… it has a geography that helps it a lot,” said Silva.
Looking ahead to the summer season – a time when tourism becomes more important –, Coffee & Business collected information on some adventure tourism proposals to present a general panorama of the offer in Uruguay.
Skydiving
Skydiving Punta del Este has a proposal for skydiving in tandem mode, through which the client lives the complete experience: the plane, the jump, and the parachute flight accompanied by an instructor.
According to the company’s sales and marketing director, Luis “Paco” Abelenda, the activity lasts approximately half an hour: 25 minutes of flight in the plane, 30 seconds of free fall —from jumping out of the plane to opening the parachute— , and six minutes to reach the floor.
“The experience of free fall is short, but it is also one of the most intense that a person can live,” said Abelenda. In addition, she explained that the total experience is a combination of ups and downs, because both before and after the free fall, the person lives calm experiences. “On the flight it goes super calm, at three thousand meters high,” he said, adding that on days with good visibility you can see Cabo Polonio and Montevideo. Later, he stressed that when the parachute opens “you go from madness, to being hung from a pile of strings in total silence”, an experience that for him is semi-religious.
Asked about the age of people who can make the parachute jump, he said that the company encourages people to be at least eight years old and added that whenever customers are minors they must have parental permission. As for the maximum age, he said there is no limit as long as the person is in good health.
The activity takes place at the El Jagüel airport in Punta del Este, and is always skipped by prior schedule. “During the year we work mainly on weekends, but during the season we work almost every day,” said Abelenda-
The jump is worth $5,600.
Rappelling, zip line and trekking
“We are not what we have, we are what we live,” he said in an interview with Coffee & Business the person in charge of AZK Arequita Alternativo, Gustavo Alzugaray. And that is the motto that led him to create an adventure tourism proposal, with various activities open to the public.
Although the company has a variety of offers for customers, according to Alzugaray, rappelling: a descent system on vertical surfaces using rope techniques, is the “star” of the place due to the demographic conditions of Cerro Arequita. In addition, it is the activity most chosen by those who visit the place because it is easy to do: “It can be done by anyone who wants to live a different experience, a ride with adrenaline,” said the person in charge of AZK Arequita Alternativo.
pexels
The public is varied although in general the concept of the category points to a young public
Among the other activities that the place has, the zip line and a new product invented by Alzugaray stand out: a tactical rappel, which fuses a rappel with a zip line. “It’s like going down the hill in a manual hot air chair,” he explained in the interview.
In addition, they have several trekking modalities and all of them under the modality of guided visits to preserve the place.
According to Alzugaray, the cost of the activities varies between those that are not technical, such as trekking —which lasts at least an hour and a half—, which cost approximately $350, and those that are technical. For example, he said that the highest price is canyoning —which is like rappelling, but for water—, which costs $1,250.
He stated that whoever calls beforehand gets a discount.
Bicycles, horseback riding and hiking
Experiences Villa Serrana has proposals for mountain bikes, horseback riding and hiking in the virgin area of the town: “Where there is greater diversity of flora and fauna”, according to the owner of the company, Angélica Biramontes.
Horseback riding is what they started with, and the offers in this regard are various: from a class with a ride of between two/three hours, to cumulative rides lasting several days. Biramontes also highlighted an intermediate proposal: horseback riding for the day, which includes lunch and the possibility of doing field work.
“In general, we go to the field together, we give the person the opportunity to walk with the horse, to learn how to prepare it and ride it,” Biramontes explained.
Regarding the prices, he said that the class with the short ride costs $1,500 while the full day costs $4,200.
The hiking that can be done through the company is not extreme, but rather interpretive of what is in the environment. For this reason, the hiking proposal includes nature guides: “It is not a lot of walking, but rather a walking to observe,” he explained. And he said that the central objective of the activity invites people of all ages to participate.
pexels
The public is varied although in general the concept of the category points to a young public
Biramontes said that the company has a two-for-one promotion on hiking activities until the end of the year, so two people can do the walk for $1,200.
Finally, the owner of Experiencias Villa Serrana said that, for now, bike rides are free. The bicycles are for rent, for one day they have a value of $900 and for half a day $600.
