White Water Rafting in Costa Rica: Everything you need to know
White water rafting in Costa Rica is a must! It is a GREAT way to get a little adrenaline rush and adventure while also seeing more of the Costa Rican landscape and even some wildlife (we saw a sloth and poison-dart frog!)
Along with zip lining, white water rafting was one of our FAVORITE experiences in Costa Rica!
The La Fortuna/Arenal area provides incredible rivers with class II to class IV rapids, providing fun for all adventure levels.
Here is everything you need to know including who to raft with, the logistics of getting to the river, cost, time it takes, what to bring (and not bring) with you and more!
- Why should you go White Water Rafting in Costa Rica?
- Who to Go White Water Rafting With in La Fortuna
- Our Experience with Arenal Rafting Company
- EVERYTHING to Know About White Water Rafting in Costa Rica with ARC!
- White Water Rafting Alternatives
- white water rafting in Costa Rica will be a highlight of your trip!
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Why should you go White Water Rafting in Costa Rica?
When it comes to Costa Rica, there are LOADS of excursions and activities to do, and you will notice rather quickly that they all are a bit costly. If you start doing too many of them, the cost of your Costa Rica trip may sky rocket!
If you are trying to keep costs at bay, you should do some research and really decide what is worth seeing and doing! White water rafting should be on that list!
We were on the fence about whether it would be on our list of activities.
However, after one local waiter said one thing we MUST do is white water raft and the very next day a friendly stranger told us that she had just gotten back from one of the most fun days on the river, we decided we HAD to add rafting to the list.
Why Go Rafting in La Fortuna?
Costa Rica has a lot of white water rafting, so why do it in La Fortuna?
While it is true, the Pacuare River in Costa Rica is known for its WORLD CLASS rapids, it is located on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica.
If you are headed to the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica or are specifically visiting Costa Rica for its white water rafting, this is completely fine!
HOWEVER.
If you are headed to Costa Rica for the first time and only have about a week (like us!), then rafting in La Fortuna will put you in a much more central location.
The Balsa River is located just south of La Fortuna which will put you near the incredible Arenal Volcano and the hot springs around it, plus closer to epic places like Monteverde.
How to spend 8 days in Costa Rica seeing sloths in Manuel Antonio, zip lining in Monteverde, white water rafting in La Fortuna and more!
Who to Go White Water Rafting With in La Fortuna
Specifically, our stranger friend recommended rafting with Arenal Rafting Company because they had the time of their life. We took their recommendation and agree 100%!
The whole experience with Arenal Rafting Company was safe, smooth and fun!
ARC is organized and the guides know their stuff, are fun and they ADDED to the experience, making it an even better.
The guides do a great job of taking control of the raft but letting you be a part of the paddling. It is a perfect mix of participating, but knowing someone who is experienced is actually in control.
Bonus: they point out wildlife they find! On our trip, they showed us a sloth (or peresozo ;)) and a poison dart frog along the way, which ended up being our only poison dart frog sighting of the whole trip!
Our Experience with Arenal Rafting Company
Our group consisted of someone who had been white water rafting down the the Colorado River and is an adrenaline junkie. She said though the Colorado River had rapids with larger drops she still really enjoyed the float down the Balsa River!
On the flip side, I was a little nervous about being experienced enough to raft on the higher-level rapids. However, it was totally fine and so fun!
Everyone in the group rated the rafting a 10/10 experience!
Admittedly, our group also has experience with kayaking in Arkansas. Though the rapids we have done are definitely to a lesser-extent, the experience probably helped us with knowing how to manage the raft and use the paddles properly.
However, we were grouped with a couple from Europe than had NOT been white water rafting or even kayaking and they did great with paddling and loved the experience also!
Is White Water Rafting Safe?
If safety is a concern, don’t be worried about it!
There are different levels of rapids offered for the excursions, which helps to accommodate different levels of experience with rafting.
We rafted the portion of the river made up of class 2 and 3 rapids; the rapids were in close succession at the beginning of the float and then died down toward the end.
This looks worse than it is 😆⬇️
The rapids are exciting and fun and we managed to not flip our raft!
But, even if you do flip your raft, the guide is great about educating you on what to do if you fall out and demonstrates how he will use the life vest to pull you back into the raft!
The guide also let us ride on the front of the raft through a rapid and it WAS SO MUCH FUN.
Ready to Book?!
Price: $68 per person
Time: 5 hours (2.5 hour float)
Includes: Hotel pickup, cooked lunch at the end, fruit snack on the river, towels at the end
Age: 5 years and older
EVERYTHING to Know About White Water Rafting in Costa Rica with ARC!
Decided you are IN for rafting?? Here is everything you will need to know including how you will get to ARC, to the river, what to expect on the tour, what you will need to take with you and more.
San Bosco Inn
-3 Star Hotel
-Located in downtown La Fortuna
-Has free parking & a pool
-Is a pick-up location for white water rafting with ARC!
It is nothing fancy, but it was clean and had a GREAT location (and was less than $100 a night)
Getting to ARC
Arenal Rafting Company has a storefront downtown La Fortuna where you can go in and book your trip. However, this is not where the excursion begins.
They have another building a few blocks down the road where the rafts and buses are located.
Pick up is offered at MOST hotels located in Arenal
A ride is offered to and from their main building where the excursion begins/ends, making it easy and stress-free
Bathrooms are available at the main building to change before and/or after the float.
Getting to the River
The beginning of the river is about a 45 minute drive from the main ARC building
While on the bus, safety instructions and a demonstration of how to use the paddles are given, etc.
They also take personalized lunch orders while on the bus (chicken, beef or fish).
Along the way they stop at a local market where the guys of the company buy fresh fruits for the trip.
It was obvious that the bus stopped there before each trip, and I loved the feeling of them supporting each others businesses!
What to Expect on the River & Afterward
Once you hop into your raft, you will already start to experience some rapids. The rapids are stacked closer together and larger at the beginning of the float and then taper off later down the river.
While you are floating down the intense rapids be cognizant of your facial expressions. A photographer in a kayak will be floating by to capture the worst of your faces 😆
About halfway down the river, the fruit that was purchased at the stand on the way to the river will be cut up and provided for a snack!
Once you reach the calmer portion of the river, you can get out the raft and float down the river with your life jacket; it is a fun addition to the float!
At the end of the river, the driver will be there to pick you up and you will drive back to the ARC building.
Lunch is cooked and provided at the main building after the excursion and while you are eating they will show a slide-show of the pictures from the float!
The photos can be purchased for $40 (when we went) which we split with everyone on the raft.
How Much Time Should You Allot
The rafting itself lasts about 2.5 hours from put in to the end of the river. With the drive time being 45 minutes one way, you can expect the excursion itself to be about 4 hours long.
However, once you get back to the main ARC building, you will be provided with lunch and the slide show.
They cook the lunch while you are on your way back, so once you arrive your food is handed out. Plan for lunch to be between 30 minutes to an hour, making the total excursion time around 5 hours.
What to bring on the Excursion
While you are white water rafting, someone stays in the bus with whatever you choose to leave behind. All of our stuff was safe and accounted for, but I probably wouldn’t leave high-dollar items on the bus.
Towels are provided at the end of the float, which is nice!
But here are some things you want to be sure to wear or bring with you!
Waterproof shoes with straps- I highly recommend a sturdy sandal with good traction for getting on/off the raft and for when you float down the river. I have taken the Teva Hurricanes on my last several trips and love them!
Swimsuit with shorts– I recommend having your swimsuit on already when you get there and then wear a pair of shorts over them so you don’t slide on the raft as much. These Columbia shorts are a good option!
Change of clothes– After the excursion there will be an area where you can change into dry clothes while you eat your lunch. A romper is a good option to not have to carry both a top and bottom.
Go Pro: If you have a GoPro, bring your helmet attachments! (forgot mine) And I wish I had the footage!
Cash– If you want to purchase photos, have cash.
Waterproof Phone Case– If you want to risk it for the biscuit, bring a sturdy, waterproof phone case/holder. We brought one, attached the necklace to the life jacket and had no problems. But, obviously, this is a risk you have to decide if you are willing to take or not
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White Water Rafting Alternatives
There are a few alternatives to the Class 2 and 3 Balsa River rafting!
Balsa River Class 3 and 4: If you want a little more action, you can book a trip on the Balsa River with class 3 and 4 rapids as well. The trip is about the same length of time, but has more intense rapids. The price is $85 rather than $68.
Pacuare River: If you are truly wanting to go to Costa Rica FOR the white water rafting you can, again, head to white water raft the Pacuare River. It is WORLD CLASS and one of the highest-rated rivers to go white water rafting in the world.
Sarapiqui River: You can also opt to go Sarapiquí River, which is another option that is closer to the La Fortuna area than that of the Pacuare. Rafting on the Sarapiqui River is another river float with class 3 and 4 rapids.
white water rafting in Costa Rica will be a highlight of your trip!
After hiking around the volcano and hot springs hopping, we wanted to end the trip with a bang, and white water rafting definitely did the trick! Along with zip-lining in Monteverde, white water rafting was a HIGHLIGHT of our trip to Costa Rica.
*Rafting photo creds go to Arenal Rafting Company’s photographer!*
How to spend 8 days in Costa Rica seeing sloths in Manual Antonio, ziplining Monteverde, white water rafting in La Fortuna and more!
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