Categoría: Mountian Bike

  When selecting a Pacuare River rafting tour, I reached out to two companies- Adrenalina and a company who-shall-not-be-named. The company who-shall-not-be-named quoted me a price. One and a half hours... read more later, they quoted me a higher price. Previous reviewers had mentioned that they had been charged more than had been discussed while refusing to reimburse the surcharge, and another reviewer had suspected their belongings had been stolen by the company. Despite the tour company’s convenience of offering pickup from La Fortuna, I decided to go with Adrenalina, whose reviewers spoke more favorably. I’m thoroughly pleased with my decision. I felt that Adrenalina was focused on customer satisfaction.

Accuweather predicted lightning for the day prior to my tour and the day of my tour. I reached out to Manfred of Adrenalina the day prior to my tour to possibly reschedule. He sent me a photo of the current clear skies by the Pacuare River and reassured me that the weather would likely be fine, which it was.

The day of the tour, I applied Picaridin insect repellant and sunblock. I wore a swimsuit, swim skort, and crocs. I brought a jacket for the car ride, a change of clothes, and a towel. You may want to wear biker shorts for extra cushion during the rafting tour. I stayed at Casa Roland in San Jose where Miso picked my travel companion and I up a bit before 6 am. When the car windows were open, I preferred to sit further back in the van, whereas people who prefer cooler temperatures preferred being further upfront to the open windows. Miso drove us to a location for breakfast where we picked up Luis, our tour guide, and Ariel, our photographer. I found Luis’ presence soothing, his conduct professional, and his character trustworthy. We picked up a family, whose daughters’ joy warmed my soul.

Once we reached the rafting site, we had a chance to use the restrooms and snap some photos. Here, I spotted many mimosa pudica, which is a plant with leaves that fold inwards when touched. We put on our gear before the safety briefing. We were seated in a manner that balanced the weight on the raft. I sat on the front left section. If you have the front left spot, you may have a little trouble hearing “lean in”. I hope you’ll pay extra attention to your tour guide’s instruction. Directions primarily entailed paddling two times, paddling three times, paddling backwards, and leaning into the middle of the raft. In case you’re tossed from the raft, keep your feet forward, your head backwards for protection, and lie on your back. A rope can be tossed to you while you’re in position for you to be pulled backwards towards the raft.

We set off on our journey, admiring waterfalls and wildlife. Luis pointed out toucans, a caracara, a king fisher, tiger herons, and cormorants. I believe I may have seen a sloth or two as well, but I’m not certain. Halfway through the trip, we stopped for some pineapple and watermelon. The company who-shall-not-be-named stopped by and asked for some food, which our group shared some of the surplus. Once we got cozy with the paddling basics, Luis got creative with paddling techniques and towards the end, gave the two children the opportunity to ride the front of the raft like a bull. One of the girls fell backwards into the raft with her sneakers sticking up in the air as she laughed. Ariel captured the priceless moment with a photo. The joy was palpable, and visible in the lovely photos that Ariel captured. Luis intermittently had bursts of enthusiasm as well, which I found comical. I really feel like Luis went above and beyond to give us the best possible experience.

When we entered a narrow passageway, Ariel encouraged us to hop out of the raft for a swim. I felt a bit nervous that the water may be too cold, but it was surprisingly refreshing and fun to have a dip. When we wrapped up rafting, we had a quick shower and ate tender Caribbean chicken, which the girls told me was prepared with coconut milk. Afterwards, we joined Miso again on the bus for a trip back to San Jose.

What a perfect day…

I intend to return to Costa Rica and may join Adrenalina for their 2-day trip next time. I highly recommend you take a tour with Adrenalina as well.

  This is a great option for any weekend if you're looking for adventure, an amazing river, friendly and super knowledgeable staff, equipment in perfect conditions..stop looking and go for it!!... read more

  I have done white water rafting several times before and Luis has been the best guide I've had. He is very calmed, focused and helpful. He explained perfectly how to... read more paddle, what to do if you fall off the raft (which I did! but thanks to that I was back in my place in a matter of seconds) and other security recommendations. We had a blast! We did lots of different tricks and were able to swim during our rest stop and later during the tour. I highly recommend this company and definitely will go back! Danny, our safety kayaker was super nice too!

  We had an amazing day with Luís! Adrenalina offers a very competitive price and we had a super safe day with high speed and many jumps into the water. The... read more stop at the waterfalls was great and throughout the day Luís made us work as...More

  My son and I spent a day rafting at the Pacuare river. Amazing scenery, super nice and knowledgeable guides, and great rafting!!! Thx Adrenalina. Highly recommended!

  Amazing rafting experience! The place it's so beautiful and doing the rafring on paucuare river has been reallt fun. The guys of the company are great! funny, super handy and... read more professionals. Our captain was Fernando e he has been simply the Best!
The pictures have a cost of 10 dollars (which is very good price) and the lunch included in the tour is really good
Super recommended!