11 Best Places for Bungee Jumping in India

I am a Kolkata boy, and Kolkata does not teach you to step off things. It teaches you to argue about whether the tram is coming. So when I started jumping off platforms across India with a friend from each region, the plan was simple: sleep cheap, eat what the locals eat, listen to the stories around each place, and let the jump be the shortest part of the day. It never was the shortest part. The days were buses, queues, bad beds, good food and a lot of waiting. This is what eleven places were like, with current heights, prices and rules.

The tallest jumps in India are no longer where most guides say they are. Devprayag and the Shivpuri towers now sit above the old 83 m mark.

The eleven places at a glance

Prices change with season and package. Confirm height, price and open days before you travel.

1. Mohan Chatti, Rishikesh: the gorge that started it

Jumpin Heights, 83 m cantilever platform, about ₹3,500 to ₹4,500, weight about 40 to 110 kg

The night bus from Delhi left late and then stopped three times for reasons nobody explained. I had the seat above the wheel, so every pothole arrived directly in my spine, and the man beside me held a plastic bag of boiled eggs on his lap and offered me one at midnight. I said no. At two he offered again and I said yes, which felt like losing an argument. I slept in twenty minute pieces, woke with my neck bent like a question mark, and got off at Rishikesh in grey light before six, smelling of diesel and egg.

My Rishikesh friend was late. I stood outside a closed chai shop for forty minutes watching a cow eat a cardboard box, and when he finally appeared on a borrowed scooter he said the bus was early. It was not early. We argued about that for the whole ride up to Tapovan. The dormitory he had found cost a few hundred rupees a night. There were eight bunks, a bathroom with a bucket and a ceiling fan that clicked once every turn, so that I lay on my back counting clicks and trying not to think about the next day. He took the top bunk and fell asleep immediately, which I held against him.

Breakfast was aloo puri and a glass of hot milk at a stall near the ghat, standing up, because the benches were taken by a family of eleven. He claimed the milk was better than the puri. I said the puri was oily and the milk had a skin on it. We went on like that over the second glass. Then we walked down to Laxman Jhula, because he said I could not come to Rishikesh and not cross it, and the bridge swayed under a crowd of scooters pushing through pedestrians who did not move. I bought a rudraksha bracelet for a price I knew was too high, and he told me so loudly in front of the shopkeeper, who then dropped the price by fifty rupees and looked wounded. We ate a second breakfast. It was not yet nine.

The jump site is at Mohan Chatti, a long jeep ride out of town along a road that climbs through forest. Jumpin Heights runs the 83 m cantilever platform there. The jeep was full, and a boy squeezed into the gap beside me and stayed asleep against the window for the whole ride. We walked the last stretch on a path that made me forget for a few minutes what I had come for. Then I remembered.

The weigh in is the first humbling moment. A number gets written on your hand in marker, and I watched a man ahead of me argue with that number for a full minute. The scale won. My number was higher than I had told anyone, and my friend read it over my shoulder and said nothing, which was worse than saying something. The harness was tight in places I will not describe. Then came the bench. We sat on it for close to an hour, in a line of nervous people watching strangers go off the edge one after another. I got bored, then nervous, then bored again, and ate two packets of biscuits I did not want. My friend kept saying the view was better than the jump. I told him that was easy to say when he was not the one jumping. He said he had jumped twice before. I said then why was he sitting here. He said for me. I did not know what to do with that, so I went to find water.

When my turn came I did not run off. I shuffled to the edge, looked at the green gorge, and he told me to stop looking. The count reached one. I do not remember two. After the jump my ankles ached for the rest of the afternoon, and the harness had rubbed a red mark on my thigh that lasted three days. We rode back in the jeep saying almost nothing. I was hungry and also slightly sick, and neither of us could decide what to eat, so we ate nothing and then argued about it at six.

Here is what the jump itself involves at Mohan Chatti, because it takes longer than the fall. You sign a form, get weighed, and a jump master checks your number against the cord he picks, since a heavier body needs a stiffer cord. Then comes a short briefing on how to stand, where to look and what to do when the cord rebounds. Ankle wraps and a body harness go on, and the jump master clips and unclips each connection while saying each one aloud. You walk out along the cantilever platform, which projects over the gorge so nothing blocks the drop, and the 83 m below you is gorge floor with a stream and boulders, not water. The count is three, two, one, and you leave on one. Pure free fall over 83 m would last about four seconds, but the cord starts pulling before that, so the real drop feels shorter and the rebound longer. You swing, hang, and are lowered or winched down to a retrieval point, where someone unclips your ankles and hands you a certificate. I stood there swaying on shaky legs for several minutes and could not feel my feet.

That evening we went down to Triveni Ghat for the Ganga aarti, because he said it was what you did. The crowd was thick, the lamps were loud and the heat of the flames reached my face from ten rows back. I was tired, my legs shook on the steps, and my ears were full of bells. A woman next to me kept elbowing me to move. I moved. She elbowed me again. We watched the lamps without saying a word to each other, and when it ended I felt nothing in particular, only that my feet hurt and my stomach was empty.

2. Himalayan Bungy, Shivpuri: the tallest tower near town

117 m standard and 111 m freestyle, about ₹4,000 to ₹5,000, weight about 50 to 110 kg, ages about 15 to 45

The next morning we left the dormitory without breakfast because the tea man had not opened, and rode the scooter up the Badrinath road toward Shivpuri with my bag on my lap. The wind was cold on my arms and my knuckles hurt from gripping the seat. Shivpuri is where the white sand beach camps line the river in rafting season, rows of tents facing the water. Our camp tent had a thin mattress, a bucket of cold water and a neighbour who sang until midnight, a different song each time and never the same key. My friend slept through all of it. I lay awake angry about the singing, angry about the mattress, and then angry that I was angry.

Dinner was dal, rice and thick rotis eaten under a bulb that pulled every insect in the valley toward my plate. I ate with one hand and swatted with the other. He asked if I was nervous about the next day. I said no. He said I was lying. I said I was not lying, I was tired, and those were different things. We both knew they were not.

Himalayan Bungy has two towers, 117 m and 111 m. I chose the 117 m standard jump and he chose the freestyle, and we spent a long time deciding who had made the worse choice. The line moved slowly. A group ahead of us took forever with their photographs, and a girl froze at the edge for several minutes while the jump master spoke to her in a flat, patient voice. I watched her shoulders. Behind me a man kept checking his phone and sighing. I wanted to tell him to stop and did not.

My mouth was dry when my turn came and I had to be reminded to breathe. The fall was longer than I expected. The pull back was harder than I expected. I hung upside down for a while, annoyed at everyone, and then was lowered into a bush. A thorn went through my sleeve. The man at the bottom unclipped me and said I had a good scream. I did not know I had screamed. My friend was already waiting, laughing too hard, with the freestyle jump behind him, and said mine looked like a sack of potatoes. Mine did look like that. We argued over the video for ten minutes and bought neither of the copies.

The two Himalayan towers work differently, and the difference matters. The 117 m standard jump is constrained, meaning you step off in a set way and the jump master controls your position. The 111 m freestyle lets you dive, spin or run off as you like, which is why it feels more dangerous and why my friend chose it. A drop of 117 m would take nearly five seconds if the cord did nothing, so the fall is long enough to think in. Bookings usually come with transfers from the Tapovan office and a video, though extras vary, so ask. The tower stands on the hillside above the Ganga, so the river shows below you as a bright ribbon. After the rebound you are lowered into the retrieval area, and the staff cut the wraps off your ankles and check your pulse and balance. I stumbled on the first step. A couple of people sat down on the dirt and stayed there, and nobody laughed.

3. Splash Bungy, Shivpuri: the afternoon we compared

109 m tower, about ₹4,000

That afternoon we walked to Splash Bungy, about 109 m, because he insisted on comparing. We argued over the price at the counter, bought two tickets and sat on a plastic bench eating roasted corn rubbed with salt and lime. It was hot and the corn was chewy and my arm shook from the morning. The wait was the worst part of the day, longer than at the other tower, and the sun reached us even under the shade. I counted jumpers. I counted again. A child sat nearby asking his mother why the people were screaming, and she had no good answer.

The jump was fine. I felt the first one had used up my nerves, so the second felt like a chore, and I said so. He called me ungrateful. I said I was honest. He said those were the same thing when you were being rude. We walked back to the road in silence and waited forty minutes for a shared taxi that smelled of wet dog, and my legs ached from standing. When it came, the driver would not stop at Shivpuri, so we got out near the bridge and walked.

Splash Bungy is the third tower at Shivpuri, around 109 m, which means a drop of nearly five seconds before the cord takes over. The set up is similar, with weighing, a briefing, a harness check and a stairway or cage ride to the top, and the count comes from the jump master, not from you. The tower leans over open ground and a thin strip of trees, and you look down on tents and camp roofs. Prices and inclusions changed with the day and the package, so I paid for the jump and skipped the video. The rebound is the part nobody describes properly. You go back up in a long, soft arc, hang for a second, and fall again, and each swing is smaller until you dangle like laundry. I did not enjoy the second swing at all and said so loudly, which made the staff laugh.

4. Thrill Factory, Shivpuri: the beginner tower

55 m tower, about ₹2,500 to ₹3,000, age 12 and above

The next morning we went to Thrill Factory, the cheapest and lowest of the three, at 55 m. I slept late, the tent was already warm, and breakfast was a stale slice of bread with jam. The place is an adventure park, with a giant swing, rope courses and a restaurant, and it felt more like a fairground than a gorge, with music playing and children eating ice cream under the tower. I felt a little cheated. I had spent two days preparing myself for something and here was a snack counter.

I jumped, dangled and thought about lunch. My friend said it was too easy and not worth the entry fee. I said that was exactly why it was good for beginners. He said beginners should start at a real edge. I said a real edge was what made them quit. Neither of us convinced the other. We took the bus back to Rishikesh with our bags between our feet, and I fell asleep before the first stop and woke with a sore neck and a ticket stuck to my cheek. We did not say goodbye properly. He had somewhere to be.

Thrill Factory is not one jump but a small park of them. The 55 m bungee is the beginner choice, and the drop would take about three and a half seconds without the cord, which is short enough to feel manageable. The park also runs reverse bungee, where you are pulled upward first, a giant swing, a rope course, and the SCAD jump, which drops you into a net without a cord at all. I skipped the net. The bungee follows the same weighing, briefing, harness and count, and the jump master here kept talking the whole time, which I found either comforting or maddening depending on the minute. Minimum age is 12, and children jumped before me, a fact my friend mentioned twice. You can pair the jump with the swing in a combo, and many people do, so I watched a group of teenagers go from one to the other in a loop, laughing and shrieking, while I ate an ice cream.

Rishikesh sits where the Ganga leaves the Himalayan foothills, and the hills around it are low, forested and steep, with the river cutting through them in bends of green and grey water. Mornings in winter are cold and the days mild, summers climb well past 35 degrees by noon, and the monsoon closes the bungee sites roughly from mid July to mid September. The best months are October to March and again in April to June if you can stand the heat. Beyond the jumps, the same stretch of river runs the rafting routes from Shivpuri, and the camps also sell giant swings, flying fox lines, rope courses and cliff jumping. Neelkanth Mahadev temple and the Kunjapuri sunrise point are the usual day trips, and we did neither because we were tired and short of time.

5. Devprayag: the highest jump and the meeting of two rivers

Maa Ganga Bungy, 200 m and above, about ₹5,000 to ₹6,000, open October to June, closed in monsoon

Devprayag is about 60 km from Rishikesh on a road that winds for hours, with the valley dropping away on one side and a rock wall on the other. We left at dawn in a shared jeep with six strangers, one of them asleep on my shoulder, and the driver stopped twice for tea and once because he wanted to. My friend from Garhwal met us at the town and spent the drive telling me the two rivers keep different colours after they meet. I did not believe him until I stood on the tower and looked down. The Alaknanda and the Bhagirathi join here and become the Ganga, and the clear green one runs beside the muddy one for a stretch before they blend.

The town clings to the hillside at the confluence, around 800 m above sea level, so the winter days are cool and the summer days hot and dry before the monsoon. The tower is over 200 m, and other figures run higher, so confirm the exact number. This is a freestyle jump, which means you decide how to leave. I decided badly. I leaned, panicked and ended up half sideways, which my friend still describes as a shape no human should make. The fall is long enough that fear turns into curiosity, and then the cord catches and your stomach arrives late. Afterwards I sat on a rock for an hour while the others jumped, and nobody spoke to me, which suited me.

The Devprayag jump is a different animal from the others. It is a fixed tower over the confluence, at 200 m and above by the figures given, and a drop that tall would last more than six seconds in pure free fall. That is why the fall feels long, and why the jump master spends the briefing on your body position. You can leave in a dive, a lean or a backward fall, since this is a freestyle jump. The cord is long, so the rebound takes you back up high above the valley, and you hang for a while with the town and the two rivers spread out below. At the retrieval point they lowered me slowly and I was dizzy. Prices run about ₹5,000 to ₹6,000, and a video is usually optional. The road in is long, so plan for the whole day, and do not book it as a quick side trip.

At Devprayag the fall lasts long enough to change your mind about being afraid, and then it ends.

Legend places Rama in penance at the Raghunath temple in town, after the war with Ravana. We climbed the steps in wet shoes, and the priest was patient with tourists who arrived smelling of adrenaline. We ate Garhwali food at a small place near the confluence, kafuli with rice and jhangora kheer, a sweet porridge of hill millet. I was too tired to enjoy it properly. Nearby, the rafting stretch below the confluence runs toward Rishikesh, and Tehri Lake, formed by the dam on the Bhagirathi upstream, offers boating and water sports. We saw neither. We slept badly in a guesthouse with damp sheets, cold water and a thin blanket, and took the first jeep back at six, with nobody saying much.

6. Mayem Lake, Goa: a jump over water

Jumpin Heights Goa, 55 m, ₹4,110 plus GST including video, ages 12 to 55, closed Tuesdays, open October to May

In Goa my friend picked me up at the Mopa airport side on a scooter, and we rode inland to Bicholim, away from the beach noise, through cashew slopes and small villages where every second house had a cross and a dog. We stayed in a cheap guesthouse with a balcony, a broken tap and a kind landlady who fed us bread and eggs and complained that we were too thin. Check opening days, because the site closes on Tuesdays, and we turned up on the wrong day once and wasted a morning. The monsoon from June to September shuts things down, and the rest of the year the heat is humid enough that my shirt never dried.

Mayem Lake is a quiet lake ringed by forested hills, and the platform sits over the water, which Jumpin Heights calls the only jump over a lake in India. The lake looked calm and slightly smug. I disliked it on sight. Lunch was fish curry rice at a local place before the jump, which was a mistake, and it sat in my stomach like a warning as I climbed the stairs. The jump itself was gentler than Uttarakhand. The cord stretched slowly and I hung there laughing in the dull way you laugh when you have survived something small. Jumpin Heights started here in 2019.

At Mayem the jump has its own routine. You pay an entry ticket for the park, register at the counter, and get weighed, since the weight window is about 40 to 110 kg. A short briefing and harness check follow, and then you climb the stairs to a platform about 55 m above the lake, which gives roughly three and a half seconds of drop before the cord catches. A tandem jump is available for two people at a higher price, and a video is included in the standard ticket. There is a cafe, and no alcohol is allowed on the grounds. The wait was shorter than in Rishikesh. The cord caught gently, I swung a few times over the water, and I was lowered to the ground and unclipped. A small boy asked me if it hurt. I said no. He did not believe me.

In the afternoon we rode to the Arvalem waterfall and the old caves near it, which locals link to the Pandavas, and sat in the spray eating roasted peanuts. Goa also has parasailing and jet skis at Calangute, and scuba off Grande Island, but my friend refused them all and said the lake was enough for one week. We argued about it on the ride home, and he was right.

7. Lonavala: the weekend queue

Della Adventure, about 45 m, about ₹3,500, best October to March

From Mumbai the train to Lonavala was crowded and the platform was worse, and I stood the whole way with a stranger's elbow in my ribs. My friend from Pune met me with a plan and a warning about the waiting time, and a plastic bag of hot bhajia. The town sits in the Sahyadri hills at around 600 m, cool and misty in the monsoon and pleasant in winter. Della Adventure runs a jump of about 45 m inside a large park, which means the day feels like a package, with queues and add ons, and the park also sells ATV rides, zip lines and zorbing. The rain closes outdoor activity for much of the monsoon, and weekends are crowded all year.

I stood in the sun for the better part of an hour, and the jump lasted perhaps ten seconds. We argued about whether the price was fair. I said no. He said it was Lonavala. We ate hot vada pav from a stall, then bought chikki from a shop on the main road, since the town made its name on it. In the afternoon we visited the Karla caves, rock cut Buddhist halls from the second century BCE, with the Ekvira Devi shrine on the same hill. The temple holds an annual fair in the Hindu month of Chaitra. We also drove past Bhushi Dam, where families sit on the dam steps in the rain, and talked about Lohagad fort and the Rajmachi trek that neither of us had the legs for. My calves ached on the steps, and I was irritable all the way back to the station.

At Della the jump happens inside a park, so you queue with people waiting for other rides. You buy a ticket, sign a waiver, get weighed and receive a briefing, then take a stair or lift to a fixed structure about 45 m high, which gives a drop of about three seconds before the cord engages. The staff were efficient and slightly rushed, and the jump master told me to smile for the camera as if that were possible. Tandem jumps cost more, and add ons like photos and videos are sold separately. After the rebound I was lowered onto a padded area and unclipped. The whole process took about ten minutes, and most of that was waiting. I did not feel anything dramatic, only that it was over, and that I had paid a lot for a short thing.

8. Kolad: a riverside jump

About 43 m, about ₹1,800 though prices range from ₹1,500 to ₹2,300, minimum age about 15

Kolad is about 120 km from Mumbai and Pune, on the Kundalika River in the Sahyadri foothills, and we went by bus and a shared rickshaw with our knees pressed together. It is humid and green for most of the year, with heavy rain in the monsoon and a dry, warm stretch from October. We stayed at a rafting camp with a leaking tent and a loud generator. The rafting was the better half of the day, brown water, cold spray and a guide who shouted constantly. Rafting here depends on dam releases upstream, so water levels decide the day, and ours ran low enough that we got out and pushed once.

The bungee tower stands on the riverbank. There is no lift, so you climb the stairs to the top, and by the top I was breathing hard and had forgotten to be afraid. The river runs below all year, so it feels like diving toward water. I ate misal pav at a roadside stall, and it was spicier than I could handle. My friend watched me cry and ate his without comment. Nearby, Sudhagad fort is a decent day hike, and the Ashtavinayak temple at Pali is within driving distance, and we saw neither. Not every place has to be a highlight, and I enjoyed the misal more than the jump.

The Kolad jump is simple and a bit rough around the edges. You book in advance, since daily slots are limited, and each person gets one jump. There is a basic health check, a briefing and a form to sign, and the staff will not refund you if you climb the tower and refuse. The tower is about 43 m, with no lift, so the stairs are part of the test, and the drop of about three seconds ends with the cord pulling you toward the Kundalika River. Video is an optional extra at a few hundred rupees. The staff were young and cheerful, the cord was thick, and the harness smelled of old rubber. I swung over the water, was lowered onto the bank, and walked up the slope with wet knees. It is a modest jump with a good setting.

9. Kothi, Manali: a jump over the Beas

About 65 m (205 ft), ₹2,999 to ₹3,999, weight about 35 to 120 kg, age limit varies from 16 to 18, best March to June and September to November

Manali sits at around 2,000 m in the Kullu valley and the mornings are cold even in May. I stayed in a hostel dormitory with five snoring strangers and a blanket that smelled of smoke. The road to Kothi village, about 13 km out toward Rohtang, was slow with traffic, and my friend from Kullu drove with one hand and complained about tourists with the other. Winters bring snow and road closures, the monsoon brings landslides, and the best months are March to June and September to November. Rohtang Pass is closed for much of the winter, and bungee timings follow the weather, so call before you go.

My friend took me first to a small place for siddu, a steamed bread stuffed with walnuts and poppy seeds, served with ghee. It was heavy and good, and I regretted it on the stairs. The jump is over the Beas river, about 65 m. The wind was sharp, my hands were numb in the harness, and the wait on the platform was cold and long. Some listings put other Manali jumps at Solang, but those are often the bungee rocket ride, not a jump. Solang is the place for paragliding, zorbing and, in winter, skiing, and the Beas around Kullu runs rafting. We did none of it.

The Manali jump over the Beas is organised and efficient. You reach Kothi, register, get weighed, and pick a package, with solo and couple options and a GoPro video often included, though prices and inclusions vary by operator. The weight window is about 35 to 120 kg, and the minimum age is usually 16 or 18. A drop of about 65 m takes close to four seconds before the cord engages, and the jump platform stands over the river in a narrow valley, so the walls of the valley rise either side of you as you fall. Cold air and wind make your hands numb, and the jump masters wrap you in a jacket while you wait. After the rebound they lower you to the riverbank, where the stones are wet and the water is loud. I climbed up with shaking legs.

We visited the Hadimba Devi temple in the cedar forest afterwards. Legend says Hadimba was Bhima's wife, and her fair is held each May. My legs trembled all the way up the temple steps, and I bought woollen socks that itched.

10. Singshore Bridge, Sikkim: a jump off a bridge

Bridge jump, height varies by listing, confirm price and operating days, best October to December and March to May

Sikkim was the longest journey. A shared jeep from Siliguri, then another to Pelling, and a final one to Uttarey, with my friend from Gangtok promising it was nearly there for two hours. The road clings to hillsides, with landslide scars and fog that arrives without warning. Pelling sits at around 2,000 m, cool all year, and the monsoon months of June to September bring heavy rain, slides and closures. We stayed in a homestay that served momos and hot butter tea, and the tea tasted like soup. Mornings were so cold I slept in my jacket.

The bridge is a suspension bridge above 100 m, and Sikkim inaugurated its first bungee facility here in 2025. Height figures for the jump itself differ, so check before you go. Wind pushed the bridge and my stomach moved with it. I stood watching the first jumper, and my friend admitted he was not going to jump at all. He had just come for the view. I jumped. It was fine, and I remember the sound of the wind more than the fall.

The Singshore jump is the only one on this list from a bridge, which changes everything. The platform hangs from the span, more than 100 m above the gorge, and the structure moves in the wind, so the bridge sways while you stand on it. The jump masters set the cord, weigh you and brief you, but the crew is small and the site is remote, so there is little buffer if weather turns. A drop of that height lasts about four to five seconds in free fall. After the rebound they lower you or draw you back up, depending on the set up, and I was not sure which. Price and operating days are not settled, so phone before you commit. I stood on the bridge afterwards for a long time listening to the wind and watching a hawk glide below the span.

Near Pelling there is the Pemayangtse monastery, dating to the early eighteenth century, and the ruins of Rabdentse. Khecheopalri Lake is sacred, and legend says birds remove any leaf that lands on the water. On a clear morning the Kanchenjunga range shows over the ridge, and Sikkim also offers trekking, mountain biking and paragliding. Pang Lhabsol in August or September and Losar in February are the main festivals. We saw none of it. We were too tired, and the fog came in.

11. Sonipat, Haryana: the roadside jump

Jurasik Park Inn, about ₹1,500 for adults, ₹500 for a children's mini jump, best October to March

Sonipat is on the GT Karnal Road, an easy drive from Delhi, flat farmland with trucks and heat. May and June go above 40 degrees, the monsoon is humid and the winter brings fog, so October to March is the sensible window. We came for lunch first. Murthal is known for its roadside dhabas and stuffed parathas, and we ate two each with butter and curd. It was too much food before a jump, which I learned late. We had no hotel, since it is a day trip from Delhi, and we slept on the ride home.

Jurasik Park Inn is a dinosaur themed park near Murthal, and the jump is a small part of it, between a water slide and a snack counter. The jump was low and noisy, with music playing, and I felt faintly ridiculous. My friend filmed it and then lost the video. Sonipat is one of the five villages the Pandavas asked for in the Mahabharata, called Sonprastha in the old story, and Kurukshetra and its Brahma Sarovar tank are not far north, though we did not go. The park is better known for its water rides than for the jump, and the jump may not run every day, so call first. I do not remember a single thing I felt, apart from the parathas.

The Sonipat jump is the smallest on this list, and also the easiest to reach. You buy a park ticket first, then the jump, which costs about ₹1,500 for adults, with a children mini jump at about ₹500. A crew weighs you, straps you in and walks you to the platform, and a crane or tower lifts you to a modest height. The drop is short, the cord is gentle, and the rebound is small. Spectators watch from a fenced area, and the music is loud. It is a good first jump for a nervous beginner, and a poor choice for anyone who wants a gorge. After the jump I got a plastic cup of water and a certificate, and the next jumper was already in the harness.

Planning your trip: how to reach, when to go, what it costs

Budget for the jump, the transfer, a cheap bed and food. Dormitory beds and camp tents run a few hundred rupees a night at most of these places, and local meals are the cheapest part of the trip. Book the jump slot in advance in peak season, carry cash for the small places, and phone ahead to confirm opening days, since weather and weekly closures change the plan.

Is bungee jumping safe in India?

It depends on the operator. Jumpin Heights follows Australian and New Zealand commercial bungy guidelines. Uttarakhand now requires every operator to follow a state safety procedure covering third party insurance, certified jump masters, ISO certified cords, CCTV and a safety checklist before every jump. A serious accident in Shivpuri in November 2025, when a cord snapped, is the reason those rules exist. Watch a few jumps before you pay, and ask who checks the equipment.

Bungee jumping in India for travelers from the USA

Most US visitors fly into Delhi, then take a road or train transfer to Rishikesh. Prices above convert to a modest amount in dollars, so check the current exchange rate. Read your travel insurance carefully, because many standard policies exclude bungee jumping unless you add an adventure sports rider. Allow a buffer day for jet lag and for the monsoon closure, roughly mid July to mid September in Uttarakhand.

Visa, flights and the body clock

American citizens need a valid visa before they board, and most tourists apply for an online tourist visa on the Indian government portal, then fill in a free online arrival card before landing. Fees and validity depend on the length you choose, and the figures quoted on travel sites disagree with each other, so read the official portal on the day you apply. Your passport needs several months of validity and blank pages. An online tourist visa works at airports, not at land borders, and it cannot be extended inside India. Apply at least a few weeks ahead.

Direct flights run from the US to Delhi and Mumbai, and routes change, so check current schedules, with one stop through Europe or the Gulf as the usual alternative. India Standard Time is nine and a half hours ahead of US Eastern Daylight Time, ten and a half once the clocks go back, and twelve and a half to thirteen and a half ahead of the Pacific coast, so your first two days will be muddled. Do not book a jump on arrival day. Sleep, walk in daylight, eat lightly and let the body settle, because jumping on bad sleep and an empty stomach is how people end up refusing at the edge.

Money, insurance and getting around

Jump prices here are low by American standards. At recent exchange rates a ₹4,000 jump comes to somewhere around forty to fifty dollars, though you should check the day rate, and card fees add a little. Small operators and camps often prefer cash or Indian mobile payments, and foreign cards sometimes fail, so carry rupees from an airport or bank machine and keep some in small notes. Tipping is not expected, though a small amount for a good guide or driver is welcome.

Read your travel insurance before you leave. Many standard policies exclude bungee jumping and other adventure sports unless you add a rider, and some define adventure sports in ways that surprise people. Ask the insurer in writing whether bungee is covered and whether medical evacuation is included. Uttarakhand now requires operators to carry third party insurance, which is separate from yours. A visit to a travel clinic before you go is sensible, since they will advise on vaccines and stomach trouble, and the stomach is the thing most likely to ruin your jump day.

For a first trip, a simple plan works. Fly into Delhi and rest for a day, take a morning train or taxi to Haridwar or Rishikesh, which takes roughly five to six hours by road, and spend four or five days on the Uttarakhand jumps, rafting and Devprayag. Then fly on to Goa or Mumbai for Mayem, Lonavala and Kolad, or north to Manali for Kothi. Sikkim and Sonipat fit best as separate trips. Book jump slots online, ask whether transfers and video are included, and keep a spare day in case rain or a closure cancels a booking.

When to go and how to dress

October to March suits almost every site. Wear closed shoes, fitted clothes and nothing loose in the pockets, since phones and keys are left in a locker. Eat lightly, as I learned in Goa and again in Sonipat.

Season by season across the eleven places

What to wear and carry on jump day

Wear closed shoes that tie, since sandals and slip ons are usually refused. Choose trousers or shorts that stay in place when you are upside down, and a top that will not ride up over your face, because the harness pulls on everything. Leave loose jewellery, watches, hair clips and chains in a locker, along with phones, keys and wallets, and expect the staff to check your pockets. Glasses need a strap or should be left behind, and contact lenses are safer than frames. Tie long hair back.

In Manali and Sikkim carry a warm layer you can take off at the platform, and gloves help while you wait. In Goa, Kolad and Sonipat carry water, sunscreen and a change of clothes, since you will sweat through the queue. In Rishikesh bring a light jacket for the morning and a towel for the river camps. Eat a light meal about two hours before you jump, and do not drink alcohol the night before. Carry your passport or a copy, your booking confirmation and cash.

One last honest point about timing. Jump slots fill up in the middle of the day and weekends, and the queues are worst around noon, so go early if you can and book the first slot. On cold or misty days, operators may delay or cancel, so keep a spare day in your plan and phone ahead.

I came back with a stack of certificates, a few good photographs and a stubborn opinion that Devprayag deserves more than a weekend and Kolad deserves less.

That is where it ends. I would go back to Devprayag. I would not queue at Lonavala again on a Saturday, and I am still not sure the Sonipat jump counts.