JoBurritt

It's me again! You guys are going to be really sick of me by the time I have our trip planned!

We want to go whitewater rafting while in CR. We've never been before, but live near the ocean, so are used to the water and we can all swim well. We range in age from 17-52. The kids are in great shape, dh is in pretty good shape, and I'm probably average for my age.

We'd like a reasonably exciting trip with good scenery, but I'm not sure we'd enjoy being thrown out of the boat, tossed onto rocks, and pulled under water! (Yeah, I know, we're wusses!)

I'd love to try Rio Pacuares, but it sounds as though it might be too difficult for us. I've spent some time on CR Whitewater's website and Rios Tropicales', too. Two possibilities I've come up with are CR Whitewater's Class II-III trip on the Reventazon and Rios Tropicales' Class III-IV on the Narajo. I like the fact that the Naranjo trip is only 1/2 hour from Manuel Antonio, whereas the Reventazon is 2 hours from San Jose. (We'll be spending time in both locations.) But, I'm worried that the Naranjo may be too crazy for us.

Has anyone done this Naranjo trip? If so, was it fun? too rough for us? nice scenery?

I'd love any advice from anyone who can recommend one of the above or another alternative for us.

Thank you!
Jo

anitas

My husband and traveled to CR last Jan. We did the white water trip down the Rio Pacuares. My first white water trip.It was great not to hard. Only one person fell out of the raft. The rapids that day were a III.

JoBurritt

Thanks, Anitas. I'm leaning more and more towards trying the Pacuares. I just don't want to be the one person who falls out of the raft!

gualalalisa

I highly recommend doing the Rios Tropicales trip down the Pacuare - have done it three times and found it awesome!

JoBurritt

Gualalalisa--

Were you an experienced rafter before you rafted the Pacuare? What do you think about it for adult beginners?

gualalalisa

I had done one rafting trip in my life before this, on Class II rapids on the Snake River in Wyoming when I was a child so I really had no idea what to expect.
My husband and I, both in our 40s, did a 3-day trip with Rios Tropicales. The first day we did the Reventazon which was an easy Class III and got our feet wet, so to speak!
After spending a night at the wonderful Hotel Turrialtico (included in the rafting price) we were picked up in the morning by Rios for the 2-day Pacaure trip. The Pacaure was a bigger challenge but I had supreme confidence in the Rios Tropicales guides so never felt overwhlemed or in danger.
That night the group of about 15 of us (including guides) spent the night in a really neat, remote rainforest encampment - my first time camping! (The camp with several tents and wooden huts featured a very clean outhouse with a flush toilet.)
The next day we rafted down to the take-out point but not before rolling out of the raft and floating on our backs through this absolutely beautiful gorge (everyone wears life jackets).
One of the best travel experiences of my life - that's why I have gone back three times!