Guide · Packing

What to wear for rafting in Ubud, from shoes to sun cream

You will be soaked, sun-baked and climbing wet stairs within the same morning. Here is what the listings ask you to wear and bring, and what the bases provide when you arrive.

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Editorial team, rafting-ubud.comUpdated October 24, 20266-minute read9 sources

The tour for this guide Ayung River rafting with lunch near Ubud 4.7 (2,435 reviews) 2.5 to 5 hoursBuffet lunch, showers and towelsAges 5 to 65 from$26per person Check availabilityFree to cancel until 24 hrs before your start

Pack this

01Wear: Swimwear under quick-dry clothes you do not mind soaking.¹
02Feet: River sandals or water shoes, not loose flip-flops.
03Bring: Sun cream, a change of clothes and a plastic bag for wet ones.
04Papers: A passport or ID card, as the listing asks.
05Provided: Gear, showers, fresh towels and changing rooms on this site's trip.

Dress to get completely wet

The first rule of what to wear for rafting in Ubud is simple: assume everything on you will be soaked. The trip this site books asks you to bring swimwear, and the operators say the same in different words. Sobek, one of the Ayung operators, calls quick-dry clothes ideal for rafting.¹

In practice that means swimwear underneath, and over it a light T-shirt or rash vest and shorts that dry fast. Cotton holds water and turns heavy; synthetic sports fabrics shed it. A long-sleeved top in a thin fabric is worth considering if you burn easily, as you will sit in open sun on the calmer stretches.

The air is warm, so warmth is rarely the problem on the Ayung. The climate estimates for the valley put average daytime highs at 26.5 °C in July and 29.7 °C in November.² Wikipedia gives daytime temperatures of 20 to 33 °C at low elevations in Bali.³ The bigger risk is sun and the chill of wet clothes on the drive back, not cold water.

Your clothes through the morning

From hotel to lunch

At the hotel

Swimwear on

Swimwear under light clothes, sun cream on, ID packed.
At the base

Gear up

Helmet and life jacket fitted; bag in a locker where offered.
On the river

Soaked

Everything gets wet; quick-dry fabrics help.¹
After the river

Shower and change

Showers, fresh towels and changing rooms on this site's trip.
Lunch

Dry clothes

Wet clothes into the plastic bag, dry ones on.

Shoes for the river and the stairs

Footwear matters more than anything else you pack. The trip this site books warns of a large number of steps down to the river and back up, and asks you to wear water shoes for that walk. Its packing list names river sandals or shoes.

Other listings agree. One rafting and swing listing recommends waterproof sandals or secure shoes and calls flip-flops not ideal for rafting. Green Bali Rafting's listing advises against flip-flops too. Sobek's list asks for secure water shoes or sports sandals.⁴

The reason is the path, not the raft. Wet stone steps, mud and a steep climb out of the gorge punish a loose sole. Choose sandals with a heel strap or neoprene water shoes that will not slip off when wet, and break them in before the trip. Old trainers work in a pinch, but they stay wet for the rest of the day.

Month by month

Daylight and rain in the Ayung valley

Hours without sunDays with precipitationSeason

Bars give the sunless hours at mid-month, which we calculate ourselves; the line counts rainy days (1 mm or more) in the NASA POWER estimates for the Ayung valley, 1991 to 2020.²

Item by item

What to pack, and why

Item	Why	Asked for by
Swimwear	Under everything else	This site's trip
Water shoes	Wet steps and the river bed	This site's trip
Sun cream	Long stretches in open sun	This site's trip, Sobek
Change of clothes	For the drive home	This site's trip
Plastic bag	Wet clothes afterwards	This site's trip
Insect repellent	River banks	Bali Bintang run
Passport or ID card	Booking and insurance	This site's trip

From the packing lists in the listings and one operator's own page.⁴

Three kinds of footwear

What to put on your feet

Best grip

Water shoes

Neoprene, closed toe

Steps: Good grip when wet
River: Stay on in the water
Listing: Asked for

Book the trip

Good choice

Strapped sandals

Sports or river sandals

Steps: Secure with a heel strap
River: Dry fast
Listing: River sandals named

Book the trip

Avoid

Flip-flops

Loose, no strap

Steps: Slip on wet stone
River: Easily lost
Listing: Called not ideal

Book the trip

Decision helper

Not sure what to pack?

Find your question and the short answer

I burn easily in the sun I only have trainers I want photos of my own I am going in the rainy season I am travelling with a big bag

Long sleeves and sun cream

Sun cream is on the packing lists, waterproof on Sobek's, and you sit in open sun.⁴

Wear old ones

Water shoes are asked for; old trainers grip but stay wet.

A sealed case on a lanyard

Some bases also sell photos at the finish as an option.⁵

Pack a dry layer for later

Some trips run in all weather; you will be wet regardless.

Leave it at the hotel

Luggage and large bags are not allowed on this site's trip.

What to bring when rafting, and what to leave

The listing for this site's trip gives a clear packing list: a passport or ID card, comfortable shoes, swimwear, a change of clothes, sandals or river shoes, sun cream and a plastic bag for your wet clothing. Green Bali Rafting explains why the ID matters on its own trip: it is needed for the insurance.

What to bring when rafting is only half the list; the other half is what to leave at your hotel. The trip this site books does not allow luggage or large bags. Some bases have lockers: Bali Bintang's base camp lists them, and a combination listing names lockers, towels and showers among what it provides.

Valuables stay at the hotel: rings, an expensive watch, anything you could not bear to see sink. Sunglasses on a strap are useful in the calm stretches, but loose ones end up on the river bed. If you want to carry a phone, use a sealed waterproof case on a lanyard, and remember that a guide's instructions come first when the raft hits white water.

Checklist

Your rafting bag

Wear

Swimwear under quick-dry clothes
Water shoes or strapped river sandals
Waterproof sun cream, applied before

Bring

Passport or ID card
A full change of clothes
A plastic bag for wet clothes
Insect repellent

Leave behind

Luggage and large bags
Jewelry and valuables

Video

What to expect on your first whitewater trip

The video loads only when you tap play.

Sun, insects and the rest of your skin

The Ayung gorge is shaded in places and fully open in others, and you spend most of a morning in the open. The trip this site books lists sun cream in its packing list. Sobek specifies waterproof sunscreen.⁴ Put it on before you leave the base, not in the raft, and cover ears, the back of the neck and the tops of the feet.

Insects come out along the river banks. The Bali Bintang run asks guests to bring insect repellent as well as sunscreen and a towel. Apply it before the briefing, so it has dried before you touch the paddle.

A hat will not survive a rapid, and the base hands you a helmet in any case; Green Bali Rafting names a helmet and life jacket among its gear. A cap is worth wearing on the walk down and on the drive, and leaving with the driver or in a locker before you launch.

Rainy-season clothing

In the wet months the advice changes only a little. Wikipedia describes the west monsoon from about October to April, with heavy rain particularly from December to March.⁶ The valley estimates show January with about 310 mm of rain, against about 22 mm in August.²

One Ayung listing runs in all weather conditions and asks guests to dress appropriately. Since you will be wet anyway, a raincoat does little on the river. What helps is a dry layer for afterwards, kept in a bag in the car or the locker, and a spare plastic bag for the wet clothes you peel off.

Rain also makes the stairs slicker. On a wet day the case for shoes with real grip is even stronger, and the climb back up after the river deserves extra care. Ask the guide which sections of the path are slippery, and take the handrail where there is one.

Packing for children and for a long day

Children need the same list in smaller sizes, plus a little more thought. The trip this site books accepts ages 5 to 65, so a primary-school child can be in your raft. Pack a full change of clothes for each child, a towel they can wrap up in after the river, and shoes that fasten firmly, as small feet slip out of loose sandals on wet stone.

Life jackets come from the base, and the U.S. Coast Guard notes that adult sizes may not work for children and that child sizes exist.⁷ When your child is fitted, check that the jacket sits snugly and does not ride up above the chin or ears.⁸ Put sun cream on them at the hotel and again at the base, and keep a snack for the climb back up.

For a long day, add what the river does not need. A Mount Batur sunrise hike with rafting starts its walk at 4:00 AM and asks for comfortable shoes and a light jacket on that listing, so two sets of footwear go in the bag: hiking shoes for the mountain, water shoes for the river. A combination day with an ATV ride asks you to bring comfortable clothes and a change for muddy, wet tracks, which means one more bag for the dirtiest kit.

What the base provides

You do not need to buy any rafting gear. The trip this site books includes rafting equipment and a professional guide, along with drinking water. Other listings name the pieces: a helmet, a life jacket and a paddle.

After the river, the same trip includes shower facilities and fresh towels, changing rooms and a restroom. Some operators, Sobek among them, also hand out a waterproof bag for belongings during the trip.⁹ That changes what you need to bring: a towel is optional on a trip that supplies one, but a dry change of clothes is not.

If you book a listing that does not mention towels or showers, pack a quick-dry towel and plan to change in the car. Check the included list of the exact listing before you leave, so you are not the only rafter on the bus home in wet shorts.

Your morning