Asahan River



Flowing from Lake Toba, the biggest Crater Lake in the world, through the staggering Sigura-gura Dam, passing the valley of the Bukit Barisan Mountain Range, before pouring into the Malacca Straits at Nibung Gulf, the Asahan Riveris not merely a major river in North Sumatra but also an endless stream of excitement for river rafting enthusiasts.

Centered at the Bandar Pulau Sub District in the Asahan Regency, North Sumatra Province, the Asahan River track is touted as the 3rd best whitewater rafting in the world, outranked only by the Zambesi in Africa and the Colorado River in the United States.

The white water rafting course of the Asahan River is a 22 Kilometers stream of endless adrenalin rush that starts right at the front of the Sigura-gura dam at theTangga Village and ends at the town of Bandar Pulau which is the river’s estuary. Asahan is an outstandingly fast and continuous river with its water debit reaching up to 120 meters per cubic per second. With an average depth of 5 meters the river’s sophisticated characteristics and the swift currents have shaped the courses to have difficulty levels of grade four to five (in the scale of 1 to 6). This is what makes the Asahan River a world class rafting scene, since it fits perfectly with the professional or skilled rafters from all over the globe.

The rafting course is divided into four sections with varying characteristics and grade difficulties. Just off the floodgate of Sigura-gura Dam all the way to the Parhitean Bridge, the ‘Never-Ever-Ends’ is the first section of the river. Living up to its name, the section offers an endless 3.5 Km or 20 minutes of endless thrill of interconnected lines with difficulty grades measuring at 4 to 5. Here, pure adrenalin rush prevents rafters from even adjusting their seats along the course.

With approximately 2 grades lower than the first section, the second section or the‘Hula-Huli Run’ starts from the Parhitean Bridge and ends at the Hula-Huli Village. The 2.5 Km course has grade difficulty between  3 to 4 and is considered a fair course, nevertheless,  still not advisablefor beginners.


The third or Middle Section is known to be the most challenging part of the entire course. With some of the most difficult rapids and difficulty grade reaching to 5 plus, this part of the river has even been dubbed as ‘The Nightmare’.  To conquer this section, aside from years of experience and more than fair skills, it takes a whole lot of nerves  and mental readiness.

The Fourth and final section of the course is known as the ‘Halim Run’ and is considered the easiest and safest section. This is the part of the river where beginners and common tourists can enjoy the relatively safer white water river rafting activities that usually last for 3.5 hours.

Annually, the river becomes the scene of the international Rafting event: The Asahan Whitewater Festival (AWF).  Held since year 2000, the event initially focused only on Kayak International championships until 2003. But since AWF 2 in 2001, the inflatable raft became one of the main races next to the whitewater kayaking.

The Whitewater Kayak Championships are participated by world class kayakesr from all over the globe. The event is divided into 3 categories: head to head, down river and rodeo.  The event has recorded many great names in international kayakaing: such as Tao Berman, Jay Kincaid, Mike Abbot, Jared Meehan, Alan Ellard and many more.

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