Visitor safety is an important topic in adventure tourism but remains underexplored. Using a psychological approach, this study applies and extends Rimal and Real's risk perception attitude framework to include personality traits and emotions to understand adventure tourists' safety behaviours on site. Focusing on tidal-bore watching activities in China, this study consists of two phases: interviews with nine local stakeholders followed by a field survey involving 302 visitors. Cluster analyses were conducted and three visitors' groups were identified that varied in risk perception attitudes and safety behaviours. Mediation analyses were conducted to explore the role played by worry during visitors' decision-making related to safety behaviours. Based on the findings, this study provided managerial insight for developing risk communication strategies to engage visitors in self-protective behavior. This study also provided recommendations on how to improve visitors' safety and to protect their lives in adventure-tourism sites in China.