Bungee Jumping in Nepal

Highlights of Bungee Jumping in Nepal

• Adrenaline-rushing bungee jumping experience in Nepal.
• Nepal's only tower bungee, 80m drop over the Seti River Gorge, Pokhara.
• 160m free-fall from a suspension bridge 12km from the Nepal-Tibet border, Bhote Koshi Kushma.
• 228 metres straight down, the second-highest bungee jump on earth.
• Three sites, three completely different experiences. You're free to choose any.
• Certified jumpmasters, international safety standards, no shortcuts.
• Hotel pickup and drop-off from Pokhara Lakeside or Kathmandu Thamel.
• Pairs with paragliding, rafting, zipline, same day, same trip.
• No experience needed. Courage optional. Actually, courage is required.
• One day. That's all this takes.

Overview  of Bungee Jumping in Nepal

The Himalayan Ice Cap team has sent many people to that edge.

Guides who've been on it dozens of times still go quiet on the last few steps. Trekkers who just spent two weeks above 5,000 metres, people who've already done something hard, still grab the rail. There's something about a gorge, and a cord, and 160 metres of nothing, that strips everything back. All the mental preparation, the YouTube research, the "how bad can it actually be" self-talk, gone. What's left is just you and the air.

That's what bungee jumping in Nepal does. Not just the adrenaline, though, yes, that too. It's the specific combination of an impossibly wild river below, Himalayan peaks filling the horizon behind you, and the knowledge that you're standing on a bridge that someone bolted together 12km from Tibet for exactly this purpose.

The Himalayan Ice Cap team runs jumps across three different sites.

• Pokhara's tower bungee in Hemja is 80 metres, twenty minutes from Lakeside. Also, this is the only tower-style jump in the whole country; everyone else uses bridges.
• Bhote Koshi is 160 metres, a three-hour drive from Kathmandu—Nepal's first commercial bungee site and still the most dramatic.
• Kushma, a 228-meter bungee jumping site in Nepal, is two hours away from Kathmandu. Positioned on a 520-metre suspension bridge above the Kali Gandaki gorge, this is the second-highest bungee jump in the world.

Himalayan Icecap handles the transport, the paperwork, and the coordination. What we can't do is stand at the edge for you. That part, embarrassingly, wonderfully, is all yours.

The Three Jumping Sites

Pokhara (Hemja): The One With the View

Height: 80 meters | Type: Tower bungee; Nepal's only one | Location: Hemja, 20 minutes north of Pokhara Lakeside | Freefall: Around 5 seconds

Everywhere else in Nepal, you jump from a bridge. Here, it's a cantilevered steel tower, a platform that sticks out over the Seti River Gorge with nothing underneath it but air, water, and a very long way down. The Annapurna range sits on the horizon, Machapuchhre, the sacred Fishtail peak that no one is allowed to climb, is also often clearly visible. Green hills roll out on every side.

First-timers go here. Not because it's easy, but because 80 metres is already a serious commitment, and the setting rewards you for going through with it. Jumpers regularly describe hanging upside down afterwards, cord stretched, world inverted, as one of the more surreal moments of their lives. We believe them.

Who it suits: Post-trek in Pokhara, first-time jumpers, anyone pairing with paragliding or zipline, people who want half a day of adrenaline and the rest of the afternoon back.

What we handle: Lakeside hotel pickup, transport to Hemja, registration, and briefing coordination. You're back at the lake by early afternoon.

Bhote Koshi: Nepal's First, Still Its Best

Height: 160 metres | Type: Suspension bridge freefall | Location: Sindhupalchok District, 100km from Kathmandu via Araniko Highway | Drive time: Roughly 3 hours from Thamel | Freefall: Around 5 seconds, but they feel longer

This is where commercial bungee jumping in Nepal started. Designed and built by some consultants from New Zealand in 1999, the bridge was specifically built for commercial bungee jumping in Nepal. Want to know an amazing thing? They built the bridge with a 4x safety factor and a load-tested capacity of 4.5 tonnes. The bridge is 166 metres long, spanning the Bhote Koshi River gorge.

Before hitting the jump, you will also see a genuinely wild, glacier-fed, and fast-moving river, loud enough that you can hear it from the bridge. On a clear day, the Himalayan ridgeline that marks the Nepal-Tibet border is visible from the jump platform.

There's a quality to Bhote Koshi that the other sites don't quite replicate. The remoteness of it. The drive alone, winding up along the Araniko Highway, river visible far below, mountains getting gradually larger, builds a kind of anticipation that the Pokhara site, for all its beauty, can't match. By the time you reach the bridge, something in the landscape has already done most of the psychological preparation.

Who it suits: Kathmandu-based travellers, people who want to bridge freefall over a tower, anyone combining with a day's rafting on the Bhote Koshi River after.

What we handle: 7:00 AM Thamel hotel pickup, Araniko Highway drive, site arrival by 10:00 AM, optional rafting add-on, back in Kathmandu by early evening.

Kushma: 228 Metres, No Asterisks.

Height: 228 metres | Type: Suspension bridge | Location: Parbat District, western Nepal, 2 hours from Pokhara | Bridge: 520 metres long, connecting Kushma (Parbat) and Balewa (Baglung).

The Kali Gandaki is one of the deepest river gorges on earth. The bridge at Kushma stretches 520 metres across, and the jump is 228 metres. Let us tell you that Kushma's bungee is the world's second -highest bungee jump in the world, behind only a site in Macau. Dhaulagiri and the Annapurna massif are on the horizon. There's nothing soft about this one.

At this altitude, the free-fall is long enough that the river below changes as you fall. It starts as a glint of light, something abstract and far away, and by the time the cord catches, it's close and loud and real. Most people describe it differently from the other two sites. Not just scarier, different. The scale does something to the experience that can't be replicated at lower heights.

We're direct with people about Kushma: if you haven't done a bungee jump before and you're choosing between the three, start with Pokhara or Bhote Koshi. Kushma is for people who have either done this before or have specifically decided they want the world's second-highest jump as their first. Both are valid. We'll never talk you out of it.

Who it suits: Returning jumpers, committed thrill-seekers, travellers in western Nepal, people for whom "second-highest in the world" is the point.

What we handle: Full-day trip from Pokhara, both ways. Transport, registration, and coordination with The Cliff Nepal (licensed operator). Long drive, worth every minute.

Useful Information

Is Bungee Jumping Safe?

Want a straight answer? Then, the answer is yes. But with the right operator. Also, one of the best things to know is that bungee jumping in Nepal has a strong safety record. None of the three major commercial sites, Pokhara, Bhote Koshi, and Kushma, has a publicised fatal accident in their operational history.

The Bhote Koshi bridge was designed by New Zealand consultants to have a 4x safety factor, with a Swiss-tested load capacity of 4.5 tonnes. The cords are nylon-coated, load-rated, and replaced on schedule, not when someone decides they look worn. Pokhara's Hemja tower uses equipment with equivalent specifications and operates under the same international standards. Kushma's operator, The Cliff Nepal, is fully licensed and regulated.

The actual risk isn't the jump. It's booking through an unlicensed operator or ignoring the medical checklist.

Don't jump if you have:

• Heart conditions or irregular blood pressure
• Epilepsy or any neurological condition
• Active pregnancy
• Recent surgery, spinal injury, or bone fracture
• Serious neck or back problems

Not on that list, but uncertain? Contact us first. We give honest answers, not just reassurance.

Himalayan Icecap works only with registered, licensed operators. We have no relationship with informal or unverified jump sites, and we don't arrange jumps at any location we haven't verified.

When to Go Bungee Jumping in Nepal?

Bungee jumping in Nepal runs year-round at all three sites. The activity doesn't close for monsoon or winter the way some treks do. That said, the experience does shift with the seasons.

Autumn (September to November)

Peak season for a reason. The post-monsoon air is clear, gorges are dramatic, and the Himalayan views are at their sharpest. Bhote Koshi River runs full and fast after the rains, which adds to the atmosphere below. If you're choosing purely on conditions, this is the window.

Spring (March to May)

Our personal preference, honestly. Warm mornings, rhododendrons on the hillsides around Pokhara and Kushma, clear skies. The drive to Bhote Koshi in April, mustard fields still yellow, peaks out, river already audible from the road, is something we don't get tired of.

Winter (December to February)

Cold in the mornings, yes. But quieter, genuinely. Fewer people on the platforms, the gorges take on a harder, sharper quality, and the Himalayan views in clear winter light are often better than any other season. The jump itself keeps you warm fast enough.

Monsoon (June to August)

Everything is wet, the hills are intensely green, and the Bhote Koshi in particular becomes something else entirely, louder, stronger, the kind of wild that makes the 160-metre drop feel even more significant. Visibility is lower. The rawness of it goes up. Some people specifically want this. We understand why.

Safety Standards

Let's be honest here. The Himalayan Ice Cap team does not send people to jump sites we haven't vetted. That sounds like a basic standard. Nepal's adventure activity space, it isn't always one that everyone meets.

For the Himalayan Icecap, it means we work exclusively with Nepal Tourism Board-registered operators at verified, licensed sites. It means we confirm that cord inspection and replacement schedules are maintained, not assumed. It means the jumpmaster running your briefing is certified, not just experienced, certified, with documented training.

Our 24/7 support line doesn't clock off when you leave the hotel. It's active throughout your activity day. If there's a coordination issue, a delay, anything that needs handling, we're reachable. That doesn't mean things go wrong. It means when they occasionally do, someone picks up the phone.

Pair It With Something for More Fun

Bungee takes half a day. Here's what fills the other half, or the next one.

• Pokhara Bungee + Paragliding: Jump in the morning. Half an hour later, you're on your way to Sarangkot for a 20-minute paragliding flight over Phewa Lake and the Annapurna range. Two completely different types of airborne. Same day, same city, no rushing.
• Bhote Koshi Bungee + River Rafting: The Bhote Koshi River running directly below the bungee bridge is also one of Nepal's best rafting rivers. The day-trip from Kathmandu works perfectly: jump in the morning, spend the afternoon on the water, arrive back in Thamel in the evening with very little energy left and a very good story.
• Kushma Bungee + Annapurna Trek: Kushma sits at the western edge of the Annapurna region. Jump, then trek, or trek, then jump. Either way, you have a western Nepal itinerary that makes sense both on a map and as an experience.
• Post-EBC / Post-ABC celebration jump: The most common booking we see. You've finished the trek, you're back in Pokhara or Kathmandu, your legs still work, and you want to mark the end of something. The Pokhara jump, in particular, has become something of a ritual for EBC and ABC finishers. We've stopped being surprised by it. We've started recommending it.