Forward! Hard! Duro, duro!
I could hear our guide’s voice behind me, yelling us to paddle stronger as we quickly approached the next rapid.
I tightened my grip and paddled as hard as I could, sputtering water out of my mouth and bracing for the wave to hit us.
Woosh!
Water splashed all over me and I found myself teetering on the edge of the raft with my arms flailing in the air.
Yeison grabbed my jacket and pulled me back in, preventing fall number 2.
Yes, we were voluntarily white water rafting the Pacuare River, a 108 kilometer long river that is famous for being one of the best places for rafting in the world.
Were we crazy?
Probably, but then we were in good company with lots of other locos who wanted to brave the rapids and go on an adventure like no other.
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White Water Rafting Costa Rica – Pacuare River
The Pacuare River is on the Caribbean side of the country, bordering Talamanca mountain range.
Not only is the river one of the best in the world, it’s home to a huge range of wildlife and the indigenous communities.
I had been anxiously wanting to white water rafting the Pacuare River after everything I’ve heard about it and now I can finally kick it off my bucket list.
I can also say that it’s one of my favorite things to do in Costa Rica!
Book Your Rio Pacuare Costa Rica Rafting Tour and get $5 OFF
Rio Pacuare One Day Trip
Our one day tour consisted of rafting 19 miles from San Martin to Siquirres on Class III and Class IV rapids.
Rapids are classified on a scale of 1 to 6, 6 being deathly dangerous and 1 being very small and easy. So class 3 and 4 rapids were right in the middle and quite large.
We got picked up bright and early at 5:40 AM in San Jose for a long bus ride to the river.
After a full breakfast, we reached the river shore and started getting ready for our exciting adventure!
You’ve probably seen Jurassic Park right? Remember how beautiful the park was with lush jungle?
That’s pretty much what came to my head when we reached the river (except for the dinosaurs).
Everywhere you look is green green green! Especially since we are in rainy season so the forests are abundant and thriving.
It felt so peaceful and serene to gaze at all the nature around us.
Start of the White Water Rafting Rio Pacuare Costa Rica Tour!
Our guide taught us the different commands and what to do in case of emergency.
At this point, there was no turning back and all I could do was set my nerves aside and enjoy the beautiful ride.
The first rapid came pretty fast, just a few seconds after we pushed off.
As we twisted and turned, I couldn’t help but scream “Wheeeee!” It was like going on a roller coaster and I do love roller coasters!
Yeison has done this exact Costa RIca white water rafting tour before probably like 10 times, so I was expecting him to be some what of an expert.
He’d already gone through the worst possible scenarios so imagine my surprise when he was the first one to fall off the raft! We hit a rapid and plop!
He fell backwards and disappeared into the water.
Thank goodness for guides. Our guide Otto grabbed Yeison and yanked him back onto the boat like nothing.
“Haha you fell first!” I teased Yeison.
But the teasing didn’t last long as we hit another rapid and I had to concentrate on paddling and keeping myself from falling!
As we rafted down the river, I couldn’t help myself from saying “wow” every two minutes.
There were beautiful cascading waterfalls, birds flying everywhere and intense jungle on both sides.
The air I breathed felt like the purest and freshest air on earth and I just wanted to savor that feeling.
At one point, it started pouring down rain but none of us cared.
I looked up to the sky, closed my eyes and embraced the water falling on my face, relishing every drop.
It felt magical, almost unbelievable that we were in a place so beautiful. This was pura vida.
Around halfway down the river, the class IV rapids started appearing and quite a few of them too. It was time for the true test of our strength and skill.
Forward hard!
This rapid looked pretty intense and from the sounds coming from the other boats, it seemed like a few people fell out or were very close.
Although my shoulders were hurting, I took the paddle and went forward hard.
I’m not sure what happened right after because the next thing I remember, I was in the water and I could feel myself slipping underneath the boat.
I threw up my hands to grab onto anything and I miraculously got hold of the safety line. I tugged on it, pulled myself up and then all of a sudden, I was on the raft again!
Otto the savior pulled me up and thankfully I was only underwater for a few seconds.
But my joy didn’t last long, I had to grab my paddle and get ready for the next rapid!
As we approached the next rapid, I was looking at Yeison who was sitting across from me in the back.
I paddled hard, hanging on tight to get through the next rapid, looked up and saw everyone fall out of the raft!
It was just me and Otto left and our boat was quickly swirling away from the rest of our companions.
I threw out the handle of my paddle for someone to grab but we were too far. Paddle backwards now! Otto yelled.
I paddled back as hard as I could to get closer to our group.
Otto pulled up one guy, then the girl with Yeison on his way but we were missing one!
I looked around frantically but I had to keep paddling since another rapid was quickly approaching.
We’re missing one!
By that time, everyone was scrambling around on the boat trying to get situated and I saw a raft float next to me with our last companion in it.
Phew! At least he was saved!
Towards the end of the tour, everyone in our raft had fallen in at least once (actually everyone fell twice but me).
There were a couple class IV rapids left until the end and by that time, we felt like pros. And when the end of the river came, I didn’t want to get out.
Stepping out of the raft, my head spun a little bit as the adrenaline was still pumping through my body.
I steadied myself when I had two feet on the ground and let out a wild woop!
That was insane! I yelled out.
Can we do it again?
The End of the White Water Rafting Tour
What a beautiful and exciting day it was. The Pacuare white water rafting is definitely one of the best tours I’ve done in Costa Rica so far, living up to all the expectations.
Watch our Pacuare white water rafting Costa Rica video to see the all the excitement for yourself!
If you’re in San Jose, I highly recommend doing this tour, it’s one of the best day trips from San Jose!
Booking Your Tour
You can also book this tour as an interconnection between San Jose, La Fortuna and Puerto Viejo de Talamanca.
For example if you are in San Jose and need to get to La Fortuna, you can book this tour and the tour operator will pick you up at your hotel in San Jose and drop you off at your hotel in La Fortuna.
Also works for pick up in Puerto Viejo, drop off in La Fortuna/San Jose or any connection between the three.
Book Your Rio Pacuare Costa Rica Rafting Tour and get $5 OFF
What to Know About Rio Pacuare White Water Rafting Tour
- Pick up time from San Jose is around 530-6 AM and you will get back around 5 PM.
- Itinerary is: pick up; travel to operation center in Siquirres; light breakfast; transfer down to river start; safety talk; rafting tour; transfer back to operation center; change and have lunch; transfer to your final destination
- Wear clothes that can get wet and dry easily and wear your swimsuit underneath.
- I recommend wearing either a rash guard or quick dry shirt instead of just a swimsuit
- Waterproof cameras only! We attached our GoPro to Yeison’s helmet. Just make sure to bring the helmet mount.
- Must have water shoes or adventure sandals like Chacos or Tevas with a heel strap and a front strap. Cosed toed KEENs hiking sandals were perfect.
- If you want to wear sunglasses or if you wear glasses, you must have the strap.
More exciting things to do in Costa Rica!
Balsa River rafting Class 2 and 3 (La Fortuna)
Snuba (Matapalo, Guanacaste)
Buena Vista Combo tour (Guanacaste)
Doka Estate coffee tour (Alajuela)
Isla Tortuga day cruise (Gulf of Nicoya)
Alex says
Hello,
We are planning to do the water rafting day trip on the Pacuare River.
If the borders are open we will do that on november 16th.
We have are own transportation 4×4, so we do not need transportation from San Jose or something. We do we have to drive to? What are the time schedules for departing and arriving?
What are the prices if we come by our own transportation?
Greetings
Alex
Annie says
My husband and I will be staying at Lost Iguana in early March. Is that a good time to experience the Rio Pacuare Whitewater rafting? Can we be picked up at our hotel?
Sammi says
Hi Annie, March is a good time, though the river levels are a tad lower due to the dry season but it’s still fun. They can pick you up at Lost Iguana but there is an extra $40 USD total fee (for 2-8 people).
Kathryn says
We are flying from the west coast of Canada and arriving around San Jose about 8:30 pm with two 17 year olds on March 15th. We have rented a car for two weeks and plan on going to the Arenal Area, then Monteverde area, over to the Pacific coast and to Manuel Antonio. We don’t plan on going into the city. We think we’d like to do the one day rafting on the Rio Pacuare and I see that we could meet the company at their operation centre. It would seem we will be getting the teenagers up early (painful!) on quite a few days on this trip because it will be high season. We will need to find a place to stay not too far from the airport given our arrival time and are trying to figure out what makes the most sense accommodation wise if we are heading east to do that one day river raft when it is out the way of our itinerary. Would it make sense to stay one night then drive toward the Rio Pacuare area and stay one night before rafting the next day? Then it seems it would be a very long day to drive all the way to the Arenal area for the next night. If you have any advice, we would love to hear it. Such a GREAT blog! Thanks!
Sammi says
If you guys are flying out of San Jose Airport, my recommendation would be to stay your last 2 nights in San Jose. Return the car when you get to San Jose, stay the two nights at a hotel near the airport on the San Jose side (Like Hampton Inn, Holiday Inn Express San Jose AIrport), do the Pacuare rafting the day before you fly out and then get an airport shuttle/taxi the day you fly out. That way you guys don’t need to drive because it’s a long drive super early in the morning to get to their operation center and you can also return the car a couple days earlier, not to mention that it will be an extremely tiring and long drive after rafting all day under the sun. Better to schedule it so you can take the transportation from San Jose (You can even do this as a trip from La Fortuna but you can save that day for enjoying La Fortuna instead and do the trip from San Jose since you don’t plan to see the city).
kathryn Zdriluk says
Hi Sammi, I’m so sorry that I did not see your reply and I wish I had! I’m not sure how that happened because I was looking for it. Your advice makes TOTAL sense, but we have now booked 3 nights in Alahuela because we arrive so late and thought to rest and explore for a day and then do the rafting.
We only have our last 5 nights to plan which will be out on the Pacific coast (driving to the airport from the coast for an overnight flight out of San Jose). We are considering a base for 3 nights on the coast and then another to stay 2 around Manuel Antonio (although I am apprehensive about how busy the park will be mid March). It’s hard to decipher what would be the best base(s) coming from Monteverde. If you have any thoughts on that, I would be most appreciative. Thanks again ,
Kathryn
Sammi says
Manuel Antonio is very nice but you don’t have to stay right in Manuel Antonio since you’re renting a car, you can find a hotel in Quepos or outside of MA and just go to the park 1 day.
Sammi says
Hi Patrick! Thanks for the feedback and glad you had a great time! Glad you enjoyed it, this tour is one of our favorites! It was my pleasure to help you and we hope to see you in Costa Rica again on eday 🙂
Patrick says
If you are considering going rafting on the Rio Pacuare, DO IT!!!
It was easily one of the major highlights of a recent trip to Costa Rica for me and my brother. The scenery is spectacular and the rapids are a total blast. And if you’re going to do it, definitely book through mytanfeet. Samantha was so incredibly helpful in getting our reservations. She also provided advice on where to park our rental car for the day for our pickup from La Fortuna and even contacted the hotel manager of the parking lot we used to make sure our car would be ok! Truly above and beyond help!
Plus, we got a $10 discount on the price for each of us.
Thanks again, Samantha!
Sorin z says
Thanks a lot for the guidance, you guys are awesome. One last question. Is it safe for people that don’t know how to swim?
Sammi says
There is no rafting or swimming experience required, since everyone has a lifejacket and helmet. If you fall out of the raft the lifejacket will keep you afloat. Just make sure to keep your legs up as well and the guide will pull you back in quickly. There is a section of the river that is very calm and you can get jump out and float if you like (always with a lifejacket) but that’s all the swimming you’d do on the rafting tour. I would advise to tell your guide that you don’t know how to swim though so he can place you on the raft and make sure you don’t fall out to make you as comfortable and safe as possible.
Sammi says
Hi Sorin! Yes Rios Tropicales can pick up at La Fortuna/Arenal as long as there is a minimum of 2 passengers. You can get our $10 discount and book the tour here
Sorin says
Is the 1 day rafting pacuare tour available for pick up in Arenal as well?
Best
Sorin
hannah says
Awesome write up, I am dying to go now. Ive only been White water rafting once in Maine, class 4 & 5, very challenging and cold, but so fun. Maybe this will be my birthday destination.
Sammi says
We hope you are able to go! It is a lot of fun and it’s warm in Costa Rica 🙂
Dan says
Enjoyed your write up on this adventure. We have wanted to try both times we visited but never went. We have two smaller children that wouldn’t be able to raft and haven’t found a way for both of us to raft together while the kids are watched. Would love it if one of these outfits had a daycare.
Usually because of the kids, we split up the activity, so one of us does it while the other does the activity, then the next day we switch. Having been to this area, is there anything else to do while not rafting?
Sammi says
Hi Dan, yes since Rio Pacuare has bigger rapids they need to have a certain height and weight requirement. Unfortunately tour companies don’t provide a day care service since they don’t have the staff or extra space, I have seen only resorts with kid centers but that would be nice.
Which area will you be in? The rafting is on the Caribbean side but people go from either San Jose, Arenal or Puerto Viejo to do the rafting.
Dan says
After researching a little more, I’m thinking of staging somewhere and doing a transfer with the tour company. The family could hang out in the hotel or city while one of us goes and rafts. We could do it at the beginning out of San Jose, or later on when we’re in Puerto Viejo area.
Sammi says
Hi Dan, you can definitely do that too and you could even do it this way so you and your wife could both do the rafting (separately but at least you can both do it). You can do the rafting tour from San Jose to Puerto Viejo and meet your family in PV and then your wife can do the rafting from Puerto Viejo to San Jose and then meet you guys in San Jose. The only thing with the transfers is that it requires a minimum of 2 people so someone else will need to be doing the same transfer but we will check to see.