The harbours of Cornwall are becoming more and more popular docking destinations for the superyachts of the rich and famous. Hollywood stars and business moguls are among those who have bees spotted coming on board luxury boats with price tags in the tens of millions of dollars. Although these celebrities can enjoy the entertainment facilities that these boats are kitted out with, we think that they’ve got the wrong idea. You can have much more fun on the water, and for a tiny tiny fraction of the price, on a raft.

A raft is a simple vessel which relies on buoyant materials in order to stay afloat. They’re simple enough to be improvised out of various materials, like wood, vegetation or plastic containers, but can make successful watercraft when well constructed. If you come for a rafting adventure, it could be that building the raft is part of the fun. Alternatively, you might use a readymade raft to go on a voyage of discovery, or to enjoy the most famous area's water sport - surfing. Whatever you decide to do, the trick to having fun in a raft is to have a laugh and not take it too seriously. Bring your family and friends and go messing around in the water, you’ll be surprised at how much you enjoy yourself.

Kind of adventures you can have

• Raft Building: This is an activity in two parts. The first is a test of ingenuity and resourcefulness, as you’ll be tasked with constructing a raft that will float in the water under the weight of you and your team. Wooden poles, barrels, and lots of rope are usually the key ingredients, which, when you add a bit of creative thinking and elbow grease, can produce a seaworthy vessel. Your success in the second part will depend on your performance in the first, because it’s time to set sail on the Cornish Sea and put your handiwork to the test. Will you complete a voyage around a course or go exploring on the bottom of the sea? Will your knots hold true or come apart under the pressure? You never know exactly what will happen in this frantic activity, but one thing’s for sure - you’re going to laugh for the duration, about 2 hours.

• Surf Rafting: You might have heard of white water rafting, splashing down river rapids in an inflatable raft. Well, here there aren’t any rivers which are suitable for this activity, and you have to think a bit more outside the box. If you take a raft out onto the waves, you can enjoy the surf without the stress of trying to stand up on the board, and in the company of your friends. It’s pretty easy to catch a wave when you’re in a raft and, paddling like mad with the rest of the crew, you can ride them all the way to the beach. In a session of 2 hours, you’ll have the chance to ride a bunch of waves and maybe try some cool tricks too.

• Coastal Rafting: A more tranquil option is to go on a voyage of discovery along the coast on a raft. But it doesn’t have to be too slow and steady - you can combine rafting with coasteering, to make this an amphibious adventure of rock climbing and cliff jumping at the best spots along the coast. Getting from one to the other is also part of the fun - those rafts don’t have motors so you have to paddle! It also means that you can traverse a large part of the coastline in just 2 hours.

Where can you enjoy a rafting experience in Cornwall?

It should come as no surprise that the best place to enjoy rafting in Cornwall is the watersports capital of the Southwest - Newquay. Since the 1960s this has been a surfer’s paradise, where waves that come off the Atlantic ocean provide ideal breaks for surfing. Numerous other watersports have become popular here, with many of them taking advantage of the waves. You can ride the waves in a kayak, on a paddleboard and on a bodyboard, or now, on a raft. If you’re going to do raft building, you’ll start on a sandy beach before setting sail on a relatively calm part of the sea. There won’t be huge waves barrelling towards you, but your raft will have to tolerate a bit of a swell. The coastline away from the Newquay seafront is a treasure trove of rugged beauty, precious wildlife, and natural climbing walls and diving platforms where you can enjoy a safari or the extreme sport of raftsteering - that’s rafting and coasteering together.

Newquay is a great place for a fun day out - followed by a great night out - but it’s not the only place in this region where you can have a rafting adventure. A more chilled out option is Padstow. Not only is it less touristy, it’s also set on the shores of the beautiful Camel Estuary. This tidal channel has plenty of sandy beaches which you can transform in a temporary shipyard to put together the finest raft that old oil drums and bits of wood can create. Then it’s out onto the sheltered waters of the estuary to see if your raft can do what it was built to do and take you sailing across the sea, or if you’ll have to get back to the beach by swimming.

Requirements to do this activity

Raft building is a top tier team building activity. The whole group has to work together, and a variety of different skills will come in handy when designing and building the raft. Depending on the size of the group, it can be split up into several teams, and the most successful team can be chosen after a series of races and activities out on the water. Groups can include children as young as 5 years old, making this a great activity for a family, birthday party or youth group, but it’s also fantastic fun for a group of adults, whether it’s a stag or hen do or a corporate away day.

If you’re going to take a raft out on a safari, to try coasteering or to catch some waves, it will be big enough for 6 people and your guide. Children over 8 years old are welcome on open safari trips, but, if you organise one privately, you can take 5 to 8 year olds as well. When it comes to this activity on the coast around Newquay, everyone in the group needs to be over 12 years old.

There’s nothing like a raft for a great day out, just decide how you want to enjoy it and we’ll organise it for you.