What to Wear, and Who Cannot Come

What the operator gives you

A thermal flotation suit, a life jacket, goggles and a hat. All of it is included and all of it is necessary.

The suit is the important item and it does two jobs. It is windproof and insulated, which is what makes two hours in an open boat at speed survivable rather than miserable, and it is buoyant, which is a safety feature you will hopefully not need to think about.

The goggles matter more than people expect. At speed, cold air and spray hit your face directly, and eyes water enough to be a genuine nuisance without them. Wear them from the start rather than working it out at forty knots.

The hat is there because the suit's hood is not always practical and a bare head loses heat fast. Take it even if you think you will not want it.

What to wear underneath

Layers, and this is the only clothing decision that is yours.

A base layer and a fleece or light insulated mid-layer is right for most of the season. In spring and autumn add another layer; in high summer a fleece over a long-sleeved top is usually enough. The suit handles wind and water, so nothing you wear underneath needs to be waterproof.

Avoid jeans. Wet denim is heavy, cold and takes hours to dry, and although the suit should keep you dry, spray finds cuffs and collars.

Gloves are the item most often forgotten and most often regretted, especially by anyone holding a camera. Your hands are the part the suit does not cover, and cold hands ruin a boat trip faster than anything else.

Wear shoes with grip that you do not mind getting damp. You will step down into a moving boat and across a wet deck.

Sunglasses are worth having in addition to the goggles, not instead of them. Light off water in a narrow fjord is stronger than people expect, and the goggles are clear rather than tinted.

Passengers in thermal suits before boarding

The thirty minutes before departure

Check-in is half an hour before the boat leaves, and it is not padding. The whole allowance for the trip is two and a half hours from meeting to return, of which two are on the water.

In that half hour you check in, get issued a suit and find one that fits, put it on over your own clothes, collect a life jacket, goggles and hat, and sit through a safety briefing that covers where to hold on, how to sit and what happens if anything goes wrong.

Then boarding, which is a step down onto a moving boat and along to a seat. Take the briefing seriously; the useful part is the seating advice, which is where most first-timers get it wrong.

Arriving late means missing the suit fitting, and the suit is not optional. The operator's own note says to be there thirty minutes early, and that is the reason.

Who cannot come

The restrictions are firm and worth reading before booking rather than at the pontoon.

No one under fourteen years old, and no one under 140 centimetres tall. Both apply, so a tall twelve-year-old is still not eligible. This is the restriction that catches families out most often.

Not suitable for pregnant passengers. Not suitable for people with mobility impairments. Both are about the same thing: a small fast boat transmits every impact through the seat, and boarding involves stepping down into something that is moving.

Anyone with a back or neck problem should think hard about it too. Two hours of repeated impacts is not neutral, and this is one of those cases where the sensible thing is the scheduled cruise instead.

None of this is the operator being difficult. A RIB is a genuinely physical boat, and the alternative on the same fjord is a good one.

Cameras, phones and everything else you are carrying

Bring a camera. Everybody does, and the trip is worth photographing.

Keeping it dry is your problem to solve. Ask about a dry bag when you check in rather than after the first close pass at a waterfall, and if you are using a phone, a lanyard or a zipped pocket is worth more than confidence. Things dropped over the side of a boat in a fjord are not recovered.

Keep it simple. There is no time and no stable surface for changing lenses, and a bag on your lap is one hand permanently occupied. One camera, secured, is the right answer.

Leave anything you do not need at your accommodation or in the car. There is no meaningful storage on a boat like this, and the suit has no useful pockets once it is zipped.

Food and drink are not included and there is nowhere to consume them on board. Eat before you go.

One more thing that catches people: there is nowhere to put a bag down. Whatever you carry stays on you or between your feet for two hours in a boat that is moving, so the smaller the better.

Before you book

From marina to water

1. Arrive thirty minutes early

   Flam Marina, east side of Flam, about ten minutes on foot from the port along the waterfront.

2. Suit, jacket, goggles and hat

   Issued and fitted over your own clothes. Find the right size rather than the first one handed to you.

3. Listen to the seating advice

   Where to hold on, how to sit and how to absorb the impacts. This is the part first-timers get wrong.

4. Step down into the boat

   The boat is moving even at the pontoon. Take the offered hand and mind the collar.

5. Two hours out and back

   Alternating between speed and stopping. Goggles on from the start rather than after the first spray.

6. Return the kit

   Suits come off at the marina. Allow a few minutes at the end before you are away.