www.CostaRicaTicas.com

I need some photo opps and the rafting looks pretty cool. Does anybody know how the rafting is in mid August. It seems like there would be plenty of flow. Maybe too much?

Thanks for any help.
EO

Great time for rafting. Lots of rain to swell the rivers.

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Alex Levine

We just got back from a trip with Exploradores. We have been several times at it was good.

I go with them also. was the water level high enough you were not dragging all the time.
fred757

It was good 3 weeks ago.

How much is too much and how much is not enough? I actually think the ride is sometimes wilder when the water is LOWER. It really all depends on the particular stretch of the river you're on at any given place and moment. One thing that is for sure is that the rainy season brings much greater flow and that means faster water current overall. However, it also means higher water levels and that can mean at some points most of the water flowing OVER the rocks rather than AROUND them. In a large inflatable raft that means that you more often bounce harmlessly over them if you hit them at all then you would if the water were a little lower. Sure, you travel faster but is it as exciting as when you have to respond quickly to steer around the rocks (or bounce back and forth between them like a ball in a pinball machine)?

There ARE some rivers where they become unrunnable at certain times of year. For example, the Naranjo River near Quepos is only run from May to December. I also believe the Class V San Miguel section of the Sarapiqui is also only runnable (by rafts) during the rainy season (though I might be wrong about that). Also, you should be aware that even rivers that ARE runnable year-round may have different difficulty ratings at different times of the year (e.g. class IV for a particular stretch one month and class III during another).

This was all probably more than you wanted to know about rafting in CR, but I'll throw out just a little more advice to address your particular interests. You indicated you're planning on going on this tour largely as a "photo op" I assume so that you can show pics of you doing other things to folks at home other than consorting with prostitutes. Rafting is definitely a fantastic option for this. HOWEVER, you should be aware that "self-photos" while you're in the heat of the action (the ones you'd be most interested in) are next to impossible. The rafting companies know this and that most of their tour participants would like to have photos of themselves running the rapids (not just the ones looking for an alibi), so they have a professional photographer who positions himself at key points in advance of the rafts and takes the photos of everyone. The catch is that those photos always cost EXTRA, nearly always quite a bit extra. Some outfits will offer to sell you a nice 13X9 of just yourself (for $10 or more), but what most of them have taken to in the last few years is trying to sell you a photo (or even video?) CD of your entire tour including all the OTHER participants (ie 95% of the photos you're paying for you have little or no interest in). There will definitely be a number of decent pics of just you or just your raft group on the CD, but you'll have to purchase the WHOLE CD and they'll probably charge at least another $30-40 for that. I suppose if its your first raft trip and you don't have any other photos that could still be well worth the added expense for you. If you're a cheapskate or a guy who has been on many raft trips and already has plenty of pictures like me, then that CD may seem a bit too pricey. You COULD see if one of your fellow tour participants is interested in splitting on the CD (with one of you promising to send a copy to the other). If they're purchasing the CD anyway they may even be happy to e-mail you the pics of just you or your raft gratis (although if I were depending on these for my "alibi" I probably wouldn't want to rely on them to remember).

Another thing that you might want to do even if you plan on buying the CD at the end is to bring your own camera, which you can pull out to use during the more placid stretches of river as well as during your lunch stop on the riverbank as well as before and after the rafting portion of your trip. I often do this. If you decide to go this route, I recommend you DON'T bring your expensive camera. I always use a cheap disposable WATERPROOF camera for this sort of thing and it usually takes pretty decent shots. Think very carefully where you try to stow your camera. You'll want it to be readily accessible (if you plan to take any pics while ON the river), but you also don't want it to get in your way (or worse come loose and get lost) while you're paddling through the rapids. AND don't count on taking ANY photos during those hectic moments.

All told, some other type tour might be easier and more economic for purely photo op purposes. For example, you don't have to worry about your camera being waterproof when on a canopy tour. Stowing the camera so that it is secure and out of the way but still readily accessible (while wearing thick leather gloves ) is still a concern. Also, as with the rapids, taking pictures WHILE you're busy zipping down the cables will probably be completely impossible. But it is much easier to take your own action shots or at least hand the camera off to one of the guides or other tour participants to take some of you while you're flying through the air will be much more practical than the similar situation while rafting. The pricey marketing (upselling) that is standard with the rafting companies, hasn't seemed to have taken over so much with the canopy outfits and it is much more common to "do-it-yourself".

thanks for that sizable /informative post.

I was on the pacuare river in may and the whole river was at classIII

it made the every four or five class rapid drag the raft on rocks.

was planning on doing it three times in two weeks but the river stayed at class three the whole time.

thanks
fred757

yeah, a LITTLE dragging of a soft bottomed raft is not so bad, but when you wind up actually getting HUNG UP on the rocks that is no fun at all (dragging my KAYAK whose rotomolded plastic bottom is starting to look like a brillo pad is another story). Being at the very end of the dry season, May is probably the lowest month of all. I bet if you had gone just a couple of weeks later you'd have had a much different experience.

BTW, there is yet one other factor which can have a drastic effect on river water levels and that is the amount of water that is stored up, diverted or released for other uses such as drinking water, hydropower, etc. I don't THINK they've been able to build any dams upriver of where one goes rafting on the Pacuare because of environmental and recreational opposition but I could be wrong. I do know that is an issue on some of the other rivers in CR. For example, many of you are already familiar with the Cachi dam in the Orosi Valley which is at the headwaters of the Reventazon watershed. What not as many of you may realize is that there's actually yet another dam and even larger lake (Lago Angostura) further downstream and just a little upriver from Turrialba.

And, while we're talking about other factors, how about the question of water QUALITY. We all know that is an issue at various COASTAL locations mostly due to local sewage dumping but ALSO partly due to various contaminants that get washed down to the rivermouths. Naturally the highest concentration of any contaminants will be furthest downstream after all the various communities (and agricultural fields) along the way have had their chance to contribute to it, but even way up in the highlands river pollution levels can be quite high (as anyone who has ever looked at the Rio Torres running through San Jose will attest). Again, as far as I know, there are no communities of any size near the headwaters of the Pacuare, but the Reventazon runs from Orosi past Tucurrique and Turrialba on its way to the Florida and Pascua sections where many people go rafting. Of course, Turrialba is much smaller than SJ, but it is still a town with sewage to dispose of and where do you think they do that? Do you think they're any better at treating their wastes than communities like Jaco or Tamarindo? hmm My advice would be if you do the Reventazon and sit in the front of the raft, you might want to try to keep your mouth closed.

Prolijo;


I always do just the Paucare for rafting. I stayed in turrialba for about five days one time. took three days of kayaking instruction from costa
ricarios located in town. the small river i was on definitely wasn't getting any tiolet water dumped in it.
I did one raft trip with ticoriver located in turrialba on the paucare river. they put in higher on the river than others- can't remember how many extra rapids you got. their rafts seemed slightly smaller than the exploredores rafts.

food wasn't that great in town/nightlife kind of slow. came back to the del rey and rechecked in early. you could do that 6yrs back probably can now based on my observations in may.

fred757

My little friend can't swim. Would something like this be dangeroous or freak her out or is it normal for non-swimmers to participate with life jackets on?

I presume this is a pick-you-up at your hotel type of event? How much for the day? Finally, clothing - shorts, swimsuits, or something warmer?

Thanks.

/Dan D.

with the life jacket you would float immediately and you can only kind of dog paddle in them anyway. have the travel agent call the raft company
at the travel desk while your down there.

they pick up at all the hotels around san jose. around 99 bucks on the credit card.

breakfast at the takeout building- you change after breakfast into swimsuits and t-shirt. baggage gets locked up in a baggage area.
then you go rafting.

this is with exploredores outdoors

fred757

Thanks Prolijo, I have done whitewater rafting in No CA & Oregon. The photo op was a throw away. I was looking for something more adventurous than just touring and found it. Expeditions Costa Rica had a package that included better food & a free CD with a group of only 2- 6. That meant we went right from the Hotel to the river & didn't drive around SJ picking people up. The water was alot wamer than what I am used to and it was my best day trip by far.

EO

this river is rated top 3 out of ten in the world- for the scenery,warm water temp, rapids, etc.

stopping att three or four hotels is not that bad.

how much is expeditions costa rica charging per day.

how much better is the food on this companies outings?
turf and surf?

the 99 per day trips have a good breakfast and lunch on the river.

fred757

Do you need to be a swimmer?

Not really. Some people might freak out a little IF they fall out of the raft, but there really isn't much reason to. You basically just float as Fred described. The important part is to keep your feet pointed downstream until your raft pilot gets close enough for the rest of your raft to haul you in.

What do you need to wear or bring?

T-shirt and shorts or swimtrunks are fine. The water is normally pretty warm. The one thing you didn't mention that might not occur to you is footwear that can get wet. Its also a good idea to bring an extra towel and a change of dry clothes to use at the end of the trip (which is secured while your out on the river). And some money to tip the guides and purchase any extras that you might want (such as the photo CD and any premium beverages back at the lodge)

How much is Costa Rica Expeditions charging per day?

PACUARE CONNOISSEUR RAFTING - CLASS III-IV $149 or about $50 more than their regular service
REVENTAZON CONNOISSEUR RAFTING - CLASS II-III $129 or about $30 more than their regular service (although Rios Tropicales offers their regular Reventazon trip for just $75).

How much better is the food on this company's outings? Turf and surf?

It sounds pretty much the same to me except maybe dressed up a little. Cheese and cold cuts, fresh fruits, etc. with in this case some ceviche thrown in. Here is the link to their Menu.

I believe the CD is normally about $30, so IF you were planning to purchase the CD anyway then that accounts for most of the price difference for ONE of you right there (for the Reventazon trip at least). OTOH, if you're going in a group of 2-3 or more anyway, you'd only need to purchase one CD for your GROUP and you could just make copies later. So it basically comes down to how much the other "benefits" are worth to you. The food selection sounds pretty much the same to me. The guides double as "white-gloved waiters" so maybe that aspect is dressed up a bit. As Fred said the stopping at 3-4 hotels is not so bad, but I suppose that part is worth something. And the tour is limited to no more than 3 rafts instead of the usual cattle call nature of most other tours on the river. You'll still may bump up against other tour groups while on the river because with the rising popularity of these tours the rivers often get pretty crowded but the put in and take-out for your group might run more smoothly and your lunch stop will be more intimate.

Its your own call, but speaking only personally it doesn't seem worth the added expense to me. Particularly considering I've done these rivers before and don't care to purchase any more pics of me rafting (or if I did would split the cost with others).

IF you cant swim pick another sport IMHO. ww rafting drowns many ppl who can swim.