twiz

My fiance has rafted once and it wasn't all that challenging. Am I cruel to take her on a III and IV class rafting tour?
thnx

shillmac

She's not 80 or 90 is she?

She'll do fine! She's a woman, after all!!!!!

dfarmer

My first experiece with white water rafting was this year, Pacure River, III/IV.

Believe me most everything scares me!

I was fine, now the raft probably still has my hand and foot prints in it! I would definately do it again!

Quique_Tico

If you raft in summer time the "class" will be a little different, with less water than the rain season. But Do it, It is always great!

MaureenB

Just make sure you go with an outfitter that is honorable, has well-maintained equipment, and knows what they are doing. We have rafted a number of times, but my young teen daughter and I had one very bad experience when the outfitter mislead us into taking a "duckie" (inflatable kayak). We agreed for the flat water, and he promised to put us in the big raft for the rapids. But, first thing we knew, we were headed for a Class III rapid with no way out-- except to get tossed into the very cold Colorado River. It was not good. This happened in the first half hour of the trip, and we had to leave at lunch time because the weather was rainy and we were getting hypothermic. We fortunately were able to go to a hot springs on the way to our cabin and thaw out! Haven't had the interest to white water raft since, but know I have to get over that fear. Believe me, it is cold water, you get numb really fast, and the rapids hold you underwater and toss you against the rocks till you're sure you're not coming up again. Sorry to be a bummer...

trevorjoyce

I agree the rafting is great and when we went in CR we chose a trip on the Sarapiqui to have a calmer ride than the Pacuare. However,it was rainy season and when we hit the first rapids 2 folks did fly out...they were not happy and hated the trip. The guides were great and did tell us afterwards that the rapids were class III, IV that day. We (slightly older parents and our 15yr old son) loved it; I asked if our guide thought we could have handled the Pacuare and he said definitly yes...so...although we saw a lot and had fun...I'd go for the Pacuare and as long as your fiance is fairly adventurous, it should be great. There are a few major companies that do it there..Adventure Naturales, Costa Rica Expeditions and Rios Tropicales. There are a couple overnight trips there that look fabulous and people write here that they are good, but they are more costly...good luck!

Ryan

You know here better then we do. Is she comfortable in the water and someone who isn't afraid of turbulant waters of a class IV river?

If the answers to both are yes, then go and enjoy. If the answer is no, then make sure you have an understanding about selling the ring.

Jessie_

We had Tara as a guide with Rios Tropicales. She told us that women actually do better than men and get thrown out and injured less. We pay more attention out of sheer terror I think. Speaking for myself, we have been on the Reventazon and the Pacuare many times and I have never been thrown out but my husband has! First time we went we were in our mid 40's. My husband had rafted some serious rivers in West Virginia in the past but I had never been rafting at all.

Go for it!

twiz

Thank you everone for your input!

This is "the fiance" writing and it was helpful to hear your views. I am 28yrs old, adventurous and a very good swimmer. We are definitely going to go for it! Would hate to miss out on such a great experience over a tad of fear, right?

Will also make sure we go with a reliable tour. Our travel book lists a few of the common ones but if anyone went with one that stood out please reply.

We'll be there the first week of December so expect the waters to be pretty high (right?).

Thanks again.

swigswig

I did the Pacuare 2 days ago for the 2nd time. It is the greatest rush you may ever have. I did flip and I was fine-you wear a helmet and a lifejacket and there are also kayakers following you. So while you think you may just wash away in the river, you quickly feel hands jerking you right back into the boat. It was a real rush. I am a 28 yr old girl from Texas .