On any given warm weekend in Charlottesville, many University of Virginia students make the pilgrimage to Hatton Ferry to spend the afternoon drifting down the James River on a tube.  Tubing is a great, leisurely activity, where you can simply relax on tube while the current lazily floats you down the river.  UVA students love this activity because it’s a great break from the stress of school.  Honestly, how much better can it get than relaxing and getting sun on a river that does all of the work for you?

The trip begins at Hatton Ferry, about 25 miles south of Charlottesville.  Most people go with a group of friends, and everyone has their own tube.  It’s also a good idea to have a couple of tubes to tie coolers onto, so that you don’t get too dehydrated.  It takes over three hours to get down the river, so once you leave, you’re in it for the long haul..  If you don’t have the time to take a whole weekend to drive to the beach, tubing is a wonderful way to go out on the water.

A cheaper approach to tubing is to buy your own tube, so you don’t have to rent one for 20 dollars from James River Runners.  The catch is that you have to make sure to have a car parked at the ending point of the river.  If you’d rather let them do the work for you, (the option my friends and I take), you can simply show up at Hatton Ferry and rent a tube from JRR.  They will take you on a bus to the starting point of the river.

JRR recommends making reservations on weekends, as they tend to get booked (i.e. run out of tubes).  Here is the link to their website if you’d like to have a closer look!

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