Zorbing… It’s a great word isn’t it? It certainly captured my imagination when I first heard of it about 3 or 4 years ago. A friend of mine had booked for her husband to do it, and I had also seen it on a number of experience sites. It just looked like so much fun! For those of you who might not have heard of it, or don’t know what it is. two people get into a giant inflatable ball, and you are harnessed in facing one another. One you are safely strapped in, the ball is pushed down a hill and you roll down at speed tumbling over one another! I looked into it back at the time I first heard of it, but was put off by the price, which at the time was, I think, somewhere in the region of £100-£150 for 2 people. I even booked one for my brother and sister-in-law as a wedding gift just over a year ago. Though they never managed to get around to using the voucher before it expired. It used to cost a lot more money… Then, when I started writing this blog, a little over a month ago, I looked at costs again and was pleasantly surprised to discover that the cost is actually now only £25 per person (£50 for the two of you). I asked my friend at work if she would join me in doing it, and she agreed, but then she ended up with a neck injury before we were due to do it, and had to back out under doctor’s orders.
No problem I thought, I’ll ask one of my other friends… Therein was a slight problem. I honestly believed that most people would fancy trying this experience, but hardly anybody would even consider doing it with me-most thought I was bordering on insane and all of those who would; had done it already or had no couldn’t afford to do it. I was starting to think I would never get to do it, but then I remembered that my friend Liz is big on living life to the full and a bit of a crazy chick too, so I asked her on the Wednesday night if she would consider doing it with me, since I already had the ticket?
She agreed and we confirmed her details ready for the Friday 2 days later! I booked with a company called Orb 360 who operate out of Devils Dyke which is claimed to be the longest Zorbing/Orbing/Sphereing run in the UK at present. It is located in the south downs near Brighton, and is a well known spot for gliding, paragliding, hiking, mountain biking, mountain boarding and Zorbing/Sphering.
Their website says:
Ours is the longest in the country at half a mile long! A great setting for a once in a lifetime experience – spinning head over heels with a friend at speeds of 30mph you turn and tumble, scream, shout and laugh out loud
…Our venue is the largest of any orbing, zorbing and definitely sphereing parks in the country. We have the longest orb run and having visited every site in the country honestly believe ours to be the best by far.
For the water lovers we have our great Aqua-Orbs, you and friend join 50litres of splashing water and roll down the Aqua-slide…getting the idea?? This is the nearest you will get to being in a human sized washing machine – first class fun.
Unfortunately, it rained heavily that morning, so the company sent us both texts and emails to cancel the booking. Although we were gutted, I was impressed with the efficiency of their communications. It was vastly better than my experience of having my tandem sky dive cancelled due to weather. At least we had not had to waste a journey to Brighton first to learn of our disappointment! … We booked for the following Sunday, but alas, that day it was too windy, and the Zorbing company rang us to ask us if we could come any earlier, or else re-book. We re-booked for the Friday just gone, and were blessed with stunning weather! Hurrah!
We arrived at the office by the Pub at the Top of Devil’s Dyke and parked up, we filled out a brief health questionnaire (although this is not a dangerous activity, and if you are normally able to ride roller-coasters, then there is no reason why you cannot Zorb according to the staff there). We then collected our voucher and walked down to the actual Zorbing run (about 5-10 minutes walk). I must admit, looking down the steep drop from Devil’s Dyke was daunting, but I was almost disappointed when I saw the actual run, it was actually quite a gentle slope! Also, although the office is at the Top of Devil’s Dyke next to the pub, the Zorb run is actually a good 5-10 minute walk away, and it seems almost misleading to say that the run itself is ‘in’ Devil’s Dyke, rather just off to the side of it.
We were asked to take our shoes off, and get in. Well, I say ‘get in’ … I was in fact told that I needed to do a ‘superman dive’ into the little hole. This was easier said than done, since the hole is not terribly large, and it’s not terribly low either. I now understand the following restriction from their website:
Now we know God makes us in all shapes and sizes and that’s all good but unfortunately the God of Orb only makes one size and you will need to be within the weight limit of 15.5 stones – no porky pies as we have scales….
I couldn’t help visualising larger people waddling around with the zorb stuck on their hips and waddling around looking like a zorb with legs! It made me think of the story from Winnie-the-Pooh where Pooh Bear’s bottom is too big to squeeze out of the rabbit’s burrow hole after eating too much honey for tea and ends up having his bottom used to hang pictures from until he slimmed back down again…
Then it was Liz’s turn. I love the picture of her as she was anticipating her entrance, her expression was priceless! She made it in on her first attempt, but I like to think this was because she had learned from my mistake! Haha! We had opted for Liz to go backwards and me to face forwards. Initially, this might seem like Liz drew the short straw, but we had asked first which was the more ‘extreme’ experience, and they were quite clear that facing backwards was the easy option, and that going forwards was more extreme. Initially this didn’t seem logical, but I can only assume that it’s because you are already rolling forwards down a hill and thus if you face forwards, you have the illusion of going faster, whereas going backwards in essence works against the forward roll?
It was incredibly hot and stuffy in the little ball. I guess it’s a greenhouse effect, so it’s a good job that we didn’t need to be in for long. The harness was also not terribly comfortable, and I recommend wearing some kind of sports bra, or something to reduce the strange shape it contorts the female shape into (enough said). I wished that I had bought one of the high necked Orb 360 tee-shirts at that moment, as I was slightly concerned that our helmet cam video could have become X-rated . Thankfully, this wasn’t the case, as I pulled my top up at the front and down at the back to compensate.
I was actually surprised that neither of us felt even slightly queasy afterwards. Rolling down at 30 miles an hour, I did anticipate maybe a little nausea, but we were pleasantly surprised, and the staff said it’s rare that people experience nausea. Generally if they do, it tends to be afterwards briefly. If you haven’t already watched the video of our experience (at the top of this post). Please bear with it, First you’ll see it from a spectator’s view and then you will see it from the ‘Zorbernaught’s eye view’ (from Liz’s helmet camera-from about 2:30 onwards). It still makes me laugh out loud watching it!
Extreme Experience Rating 7/10
This was fun, and as you can see from the video, we laughed like hyenas! The reason this isn’t a 10, is that this actually wasn’t as extreme as I had imagined. I would certainly recommend it, and I am very glad I did it and that I’ve ticked it off my list!
I wish with hindsight, that the Orb 360 staff had asked me to tuck in the loose straps after tightening my harness, since they kept hitting me in the face when I was upside down in the roll, and I wish the staff had used a bit more common sense and not stopped and stood right in front of my friends and family and obscuring the view as they were filming my experience… Since it doesn’t last very long any way, this is a simple ask, and to be honest, it’s common sense really. I did also have a bad experience with one member of the staff in the office who was extremely and unnecessarily rude to me on the phone when I had a query afterwards (I had not received my video within the time frame they promised and I was making enquiries about Aqua Orbing at the same time)… When I explained to the man (Paul Butler), that I found his tone to be unnecessary, he actually became very aggressive and agitated and in the end I felt I had to hang up rather than continue to listen to his aggressive, rude tone. Also, since he is the ‘MD’ it seems pointless trying to complain.
This is a crying shame, because I do intend to try Aqua Orbing at some point and also paragliding too, and now, having been spoken to this way-there is no way I would ever book with them again. It seems I am not the only one who feels this way (4 out of 5 reviews on this site are all warning people about their hideous customer service and this site displays 4 out 7 reviews as being poor customer service too… Pretty poor show, considering what they’re selling is meant to be FUN). My feeling re Orb 360 is DONT BOOK WITH THEM. I just spoke with another red letter type experience provider to check that the service they offer is NOT with Orb 360, and they have assured me they will not use them either. They used to offer experiences with Orb 360, but their own customers had some awful experiences with turning up to find the site closed, etc.
On that note, it is worth mentioning, that being near to the coast, and also so high, Devil’s Dyke is particularly prone to high winds (hence gliders and paragliders are consistently there). This does mean that there is a higher chance of your experience being cancelled due to weather. The experience day provider I just spoke to regarding zorbing did say that they seem to get far fewer cancellations with their new zorbing company in Surrey (which is probably nearer to me).
Aside from the Orb 360’s crappy attitude to customers however; I would highly recommend a visit to Devil’s Dyke. I cannot tell you how the Zorbing run compares with other zorbing sites, as I have nothing to compare it with (yet), they currently claim to have the longest run in the UK, but to be honest, both Liz and I felt it would have been more fun if it were a slightly shorter run any way, as the novelty did wear off when it slowed down on the gentle slope and we almost started having a slightly bored conversation to the effect of ‘I wonder when this will ever end’?
The location is undeniably stunning, and there are some fantastic walks around, and The Devil’s Dyke Pub at the top, by the car park serves nice food and offers spectacular views over the South Downs, out to sea in the distance, paragliders taking flight off the hill and microlights and gliders (and even model gliders) flying in the area.
There is also usually an ice cream van parked in the car park near the orbing office, so if you are hot and sweaty after zorbing, you can cool off with a nice ice cream whilst you watch the goings on.
I actually really want to do Aqua Orbing (also called Hydra Zorbing) now too! Not to be confused with the little balls you see floating around on paddling pools with toddler’s inside at shopping centres. Aqua Zorbing involves up to three of you sloshing around unharnessed in 40 gallons of water as you roll down the side of a hill in your zorb! Apparently there are no height restrictions for this either (since there is no harness) so younger ones over the age of 7 can participate in this fun activity too if they aren’t tall enough for a regular zorb harness.
FYI This video is of Aqua Zorbing:
Useful Tips
- Wear Shorts rather than jeans, as it gets very hot in the Zorb
- Wear a high necked tee-shirt (especially women) as it could get embarrassing otherwise
- I recommend ordering the head cam, and also taking someone to film you rolling down the hill from the top. Helmet cameras were only £12 for 2 or £7.50 for one with the company we booked with.
- If you have long hair-tie it back (pretty obvious really)
- If you want a more extreme experience-face forward
- If you want a more sedate experience-face backwards
- If you have loose straps after tightening your harness, tuck them in, mine kept hitting me in the face on my way down.
- Height restriction – Minimum height is 5ft 2in – they haven’t had anyone too tall yet but if you are 7ft their website says “please let us know you are coming as you can also help change the light bulbs!”
- Weight Restriction – 15.5 stones
UPDATE:
I have since been Hydro-Zorbing in London, and had a much more pleasant experience… Please check out that post here.
Hydro-Zorbing in London
- Emma’s Charity Skydive
Bungee Ball (Sling shot) experience in Paris
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Emma Learns Aerobatic Flying in a Stunt Plane
Emma
3-2-1 BUNGEE!
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Emma's Bucket List 
For those of you in the States wanting to do it (I know it’s not as popular there as it is here. I have found this company http://www.zorb.com/smoky
as an aside. I just had a call from the ‘charming’ Paul Butler calling me the C word (I’m a lady, so I’m afraid I wont repeat the actual word he used).
He acted like a total bully sweaing at me, and I have also found out that he was very aggressive with my baby-sitter when he rang my home phone to try and abuse me there before he rang me on my mobile number.
He tried to threaten me with legal action for not representing a ‘balanced’ review, but I believe I have. I would like to re-iterate that the experience was worth having and very fun-but the man I dealt with in the office: Paul Butler has been extremely rude and abusive to me and if you read the reviews from other sites-several other people too.
In summary, the other staff were nice, the setting was beautiful, the experience was fun, but I could not possibly recommend ANYONE to book with this company because the MD is a rude man who thinks it appropriate to treat people without basic respect, and I will NOT be booking my water zorbing or my paragliding with them… In fact, I would just never book anything with them again.
I was looking to buy an experience for a friend – I definitely won’t be going to that company…. Mr Butler sounds like a charmer…. He will lose his business with that attitude 🙂
Thanks. I do hope so-I hate to thing of this vile man making money with such ruthless ethics after reading other people’s experiences too!
I booked an “ultimate package” for my daughters 16th birthday. This included a wet orb and dry orb She wanted to do one orb with her brother and one with her boyfriend. The offer also included 2 t-shirts. Prior to booking I rang to ensure that it would be ok for her to swap orb partners. I was assured that this was fine and there would be no problem with this.
We deliberately arrived at Devils Dyke early as we were under the impression that we could spend the day watching orbing etc, whilst eating our picnic etc. We were very rudely told by the lady in the office to go away and come back in an hour. When we returned a hour later I was told that my daughter was not entitled to the t-shirts that were advertised as part of the offer. When I asked why this was, the lady in the office was extremely patronising and said it is because she is swoppig orb partners – she then said to me “don’t you understand?” I thought her attitude was very rude. The owner of the company came and spoke to us and confirmed that my daughter would not be entitled to her t shirt as she was swopping orbing partners. I explained that we were not expecting 3 t-shirts. we were happy with 2! I also explained that no-one had told me, when I phoned, that if she swapped partners she would not get her t-shirt. The owner was adamant that she cannot have her t-shirt.
This seems so petty to me. We were only expecting the service that we had paid for, nothing more. I found the staff in the office to be unnecessarily rude – at the end fo the day its only a t-shirt and my daughter wasn’t desperate for one but we had paid a lot of money and were not demanding anything other than what we had paid for.
I would not use this company again. They made me feel unwelcdome and were rude and did not give us what we were entitled to.
The staff at the actually Orbing field were very nice and helpful. However, they are completely let down by the rude lady in the office and the owner who was also unhelpful and rude. I would nto recommend this company to anybody and would not use them again which is a great shame because it is a beautiful location and only 1 hour from my house.
That is absolutely atrocious Vina! …But look at it this way-would you ever want to wear anything branded with their logo now after this experience any way? I doubt it! LOL
I love this post Emme, I recently moved from Liverpoo, to Brighton Marina so it’s nice to see something I would love ot do is possible so close to home… although I certainly won’t be using Paul Butler’s company after your horrible experience… it just shows how muck spreads doesn’t it… I hope they’ve learn’t their lesson. Anyway I love the vids… I wish more bucket listers (myself included) used videos…. it’s like a little gem of insight xxxx
It most certainly is! Thanks for the comment-I didn’t realise you lived close to me when I started looking at your blog! We should get together and tick some bucket list items at the same time-I often struggle to find people mad enough to do the crazy stuff I want to do. http://govouchers.co.uk have an offer on at the moment for 25% off all experiences at the moment-so I just booked a helicopter flying lesson, wacky racing and a segway rally! I also want to race a hover craft and go indoor sky-diving at Airkix in Milton Keynes.
Hey Jen-did you see the comment from Pod London below?
Sounds like a great thing to do!
Sorry to read about your bad experience with the customer service part of this.
Thanks Jeff, yes it’s a shame-and he’s the only one that appears to sit in the office too, so dealing with the arrogant, nasty little man is pretty inevitable. It might be better if he employed someone with some reasonable people skills to work in the office and manage his business for him as he is definitely losing custom because of this.
I definitely have to advise against booking anything at Orb 360 and paying money in advance, especially if you’re not a resident of the area: My harness ride (for 2 people)was cancelled due to unsuitable weather conditions (consider wind, too!!!) and as I was in the area on holiday for a short time only, I couldn’t do it at all. I asked for at least a partial refund of my 50 quid, which was rudely rejected. I was briefly instructed to sell my voucher on ebay… where nobody happens to be interested, of course.
The customer service of Orb360 is extremely unhelpful, they will respond after about 2 or 3 weeks, and if you’ve got a complaint or inconvenient request they won’t answer at all. I was really looking forward to the ride, but ended up paying a lot of money for NOTHING. If that’s how they earn their money… fair enough. I can imagine that the experience might be great, but getting it is the hardest part!
Summary: don’t do this!
Awww, I’m sorry to hear that happened to you. Hopefully you can try it somewhere else, where they actually value their customers. I would recommend it,
I am going to do my Water Zorbing with Pod London Zorbing ‘The UK’s LARGEST Zorbing park’… So far their people skills are AMAZING, and I haven’t even booked yet! I posted a comment on their Facebook page under a status update they made (I follow a lot of experience providers on Facebook) and said something to the effect of “I know it’s cheeky, but how about a discount for being the first person to ‘like’ and post a reply? I’ve been zorbing, and water-zorbing is on my bucket list too!”
They came back immediately and this was the dialogue that followed:
Pod London Zorbing
Me
Pod London Zorbing
How lovely is that? So there you go. Mention my blog and they might even give you a 10% discount! NOW THAT IS WHAT YOU CALL GREAT PEOPLE SKILLS AND CUSTOMER SERVICE! BRAVO POD LONDON ZORBING and I hope you get some referrals at Orb 360’s expense because of it!
Also I just looked and hydro zorbing was ever so slightly more reasonably priced that crappy Orb360 any way! WIN-WIN!
As a follow up-I booked the Hydra Zorbing experience yesterday on the Valentines Special offer, which was 20% off! Hurrah! I spoke to the same lady who responded to me online (only because she happened to pick up the phone), Hannah, and she was lovely. This is the nearest competitor to Orb360 and they are so so so much nicer so far, I can’t wait… Watch this space for a new post about my experience (probably towards late May)…
We went back in 2009 and it was booked as part of my stag weekend, we were in Brighton enjoying the sunshine and other event that were planned.
My best man discovered a missed call after our round of golf asking for him to call Orb360.
When he called they explained that due to high winds the event was going to have to be cancelled, we would have to rebook. He explained that we couldnt/didnt want to rebook but would have a refund and do something else. The man on the phone didnt think this would be a problem but we would have to talk to the office staff monday-friday (it was a saturday)
We contuinued our weekend and had a brilliant time.
Come monday we rang and were told that we could not have a refund and would have to rebook as the site was waterlogged. We explained that we were in the area on the day and it was glorious sunshine and also that they had cancelled and suggested we could have our money back.
We also explained that our goup had come together for a stag weekend and some of us had travelled from abroad to be there, its not like we could do this any weekend.
Anyway to cut a long story short after many letters/emails and phone calls we managed to get 90% back. When we questioned what possible reason could there be for them keeping the 10% we were verbally attacked and told not to contact them again as the money they kept was only £5 per person! They added that if we did call again they would ‘consider it harrassment’ and pass on our details to their legal dept. As another review stated they have many depts but seem to be lacking a customer service team!
Its a real shame as we were really up for it but the dealings we had just felt very amaterish and unprofessional. Unfortunately I can not comment on the event itself as we never did it.
We went a couple of years ago too.
I was given an Orb360 gift voucher, worth £50, for my birthday. I didn’t notice that the voucher had a 6-month expiry date, written in very small writing at the bottom. When I called to see if they could make an exception, I was told: “If we make an exception for you, we’d have to do it for everyone.”
Hmmm… so this has obviously happened to other customers…
I was asked to write to the ‘Managing Director’, who would make a decision. This was that as a concessionary offer I could buy the gift again at half price! Out running on the Downs soon after, I happened to see they have an office installed in the side of the Devils Dyke Tavern. I thought I’d ask again in person, not believing they could really take that stance. After waiting for 10 minutes at the window as the guy inside, fully aware of my presence, continued to work on his computer (rude!), I explained the situation again and was told that my gift voucher was so old it would be too complicated for the IT Department to handle. Managing Director? IT Department? Just how big IS Orb360?
Customer Service department – that’s what they need! This company took money for goods they did not, and now refuse to, deliver. They are a terrible example of a Brighton business and an embarrassment to the multitude of other small businesses in Brighton who pride themselves on their customer service and ability to treat customers as individuals, not just pound signs.
Summary: Great idea, outrageous customer service
Hahaha! I’m sorry, this is terrible service, but your comment is so spot on it’s funny! The office is like a postage stamp, and no large organisation would allow their staff to be so rude and ignorant towards their customers
Hi Emma, Thank you for your great comments about Pod London zorbing, we are looking forward to seeing you this season for your Hydro ride….lets hope the sun is shining on the day you choose, as the experience is so much better when its sunny.
Check out and ‘like’ our facebook page ‘Pod London zorbing‘ for discount and offers, our season starts the 31st March until the end of October so we look forward to seeing lots of you down there for some zorbing fun!!
I hope so too, the video and pictures will look great for the blog if it’s sunny… We probably wont come until some time towards the end of May at the earliest as it is mine and a friend’s joint birthday gift to us from me, and we both celebrate our birthdays in May! 😀
That is not a problem at all Emma. You can either book your voucher online or over the phone. We have all weekends still available for May and the Bank holiday at the beginning aswell. see you during the season
I can’t wait! I did chuckle… My stats for today have shown about 8 searches for ‘Paul Butler’ and Zorbing or ‘Devils Dyke’ today… Hehe. I hope the’s people see this post and find their way to you instead-you’re far more deserving of their custom!!! 😀
This sounds like great fun despite the bad customer service. I definitely want to try this one day 😀
I’d recommend Pod London!
Hi All – it appears that ORB closed and re-opened elsewhere. They have failed to honour a voucher that I was given and judging by lots of the comments, this company is dodgy. If anyone has any contact details, please do send them to me as I want to start an investigation at the small claims court. Thanks, Alexis
The address for the business is:
orb360 ltd, The Mallings , 112 Malling Street, Lewes, East Sussex, BN7 2RJ
The Director is:
Paul Butler
Their PR Firm are
Midnight Communications – orb360@midnight.co.uk
I believe he has since set up another company called http://www.inaspin.com but I notice that their telephone number is also ‘currently not in use’, so I guess he is going ‘tits up’ on that brand too…
Let us know how you get along and whether you get any joy!
Hi,
I read your review and others reviews. I have to just say that I did zorbing with Orb360, had a great time and had dealings with Paul Butler who I found to be a really nice guy! I also took a group of people down to the segways on the seafront which I believe was run by Paul as well and again had a great time. I guess that not everybody’s experience has been bad. I don’t think the segways are running anymore which is a shame as it was amazing fun and I would have defo done it again!