White water rafting in Costa Rica is world famous, but our company elevates the fun to a life changing experience. How? We start with just you and your hand-picked team, add some remarkable rivers, and extraordinary places to camp, then horseback riding for you, and pack horses to haul the equipment, some ropes, harnesses, hiking, waterfalls, canyoning - and you end up with white water adventure par excellence.
Tour Itinerary:
Day 1: Arrive in Costa Rica - ready for real adventure. We'll meet your flight into San José and quickly pass through the city as we head for white water, stopping on the way for a look at the famous landmarks in Cartago and then the Orosí Valley. Your driver is also a raft fanatic, and he'll answer a lot of questions and make you ask a lot more about Costa Rica's splendid white water.
Day 2: White water kayaking, a/k/a Duckie Dunking. Getting wet in white water duckies. The Pejebeye is a small river, but filled with excellent rapids to teach yourself self-guiding skills - in inflated kayaks (Duckies). The river is classified Class III, but it is almost non-stop dropping, with very few eddies and lots of technical stuff. We'll start with the lower (Class III) section, then if you are up for harder action, we'll go higher in the canyon and try on the Class IV. You'll thank us when it's over that we have a safety kayaker along to rescue you.
Day 3: Arduous hiking into Costa Rica indigenous lands. Just arriving at the Top Pacuare is adventure in extreme. We'll load all the raft equipment plus camping gear into 4x4's (with a winch on front) then ascend to a small farm in the mountains. Then everything - rafts, paddles, kayak, tents, cook stove, and, hopefully, the food - gets strapped onto the horses.
For five hours we're either riding or following horses down to the river, with wild, wild views and steep trails and isolated splendor of jungle all around us. We're camping next to the river tonight; if you want a shower you'll have to get in under a boulder for the spill-over. Above us on the river there are only a few indigenous villages and wild animals, so the water quality is extraordinarily beautiful.
Day 4: Kayak in pristine Class IV white water. Eat well, for today you'll need 7,000 calories. The choice of raft, hard-shell kayak or duckies depends on how you did on the first river. The Top Pacuare is so remote, and so technical, that all the rapids appear even more huge. The descent is in isolated splendor. If we see another human being it will most likely be one of the Indigenous people, fishing or laundering or playing on the river banks. Civilization reappears when we reach the first bridge. And tonight the reward is a hot water shower in town.
Day 5: Costa Rica canyoning adventure. A day off - from the white water, at least. Today you'll earn some Boy Scout badges. Ropes and harnesses, climbing shoes and long underwear - hardly sounds like a leisurely day in the tropics, does it? We're into the jungle for about an hour hike up to the canyon, and about 5 hours getting back out. If you have never experienced canyoning, there is nothing quite like the combination of waterfalls, rocks, jungle, ropes, harnesses, and unfiltered wild noises to make you concentrate.
Day 6: White water rafting on the Pacuare River. The final adventure - an expeditionary journey on the spectacular Pacuare River (Class III and IV). On our way to the river we're stopping at a friend's workplace for some instruction on handling some of the wildlife that lives around the river. Once on the river our small (and, by now, very cohesive) expedition allows us to make some exploratory hikes and play in the river hydraulics, while we eagerly take on the center of the big rapids.
It's fun trying the nearly impossible! This technical river is challenging as we maneuver through awesome rapids, broken by short calm stretches which offer views of the pristine rain forest and cascade after cascade of crystalline waterfalls. The first day you will continue developing skills and teamwork that are absolutely necessary for late today and all day tomorrow - you'll learn to rescue each other, to rescue yourself, to guide the boat into eddies, to unflip a boat. The powerful rapids will thrill you, while the savage beauty of the surroundings will humble you.
We'll stop for some very surprising side hikes into virgin forest and areas where the canyoning and rope skills and tree climbing you learned earlier will come in very handy. By late afternoon we make camp in the jungle, where the animal noises are overwhelming and the smell and taste of the wild is unfiltered by man's inventions. Bring along your guitar or harmonica Sleep well, for tomorrow brings yet another day of adventure.
Day 7: Second day on the Pacuare River. The second day on the Pacuare. This is when all the training, all the knowledge, all the quick thinking of the past week will pay off. Today there are 4 Class IV rapids and almost non-stop action between, with twisty entrances and gnarl holes. The Pacuare is threatened by plans for a massive hydroelectric project, so we'll enjoy it while we can even as we at our company continue to work to prevent the river's destruction.
Day 8: Departing Costa Rica, a sad but essential moment. Today is good-bye. We'll head back to the airport at early light, as the mists fill the valleys and the sun beams through in radiant glory, and you promise yourself you'll be back.
Notes:
Airfare is not included in the tour price.
Eight day adventure for 4 persons: US $2,800
Eight day adventure for 6 persons: $2,600
Eight day adventure for 8 persons: $2,480
Eight day adventure for 10 persons: $1,980
Price Includes:
- All food (no limits on which restaurant, or any item on the menu)
- Snack food and an ice chest with bottled soft drinks and water while on the road
- Laundry, and tips for intermediate guides, drivers, waiters, etc
Price Excludes:
- Your airline tickets
- Alcoholic beverages
- Your exit visa for Costa Rica ($26 per person)
- The (optional) tip for your principal guide (who shares the tip with all the other major activity guides who come and go during the trip)
Also see tour packages in:
Central America and Caribbean
Costa Rica
Canoeing/Kayaking/Rafting
Hiking & Trekking
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