Whitewater Rafting in Sarapiquí Costa Rica

“Get down!”

Stephen, our guide shouted from the back of the raft as we headed straight toward another rapid.

Four of us dropped into the middle of the raft while water crashed over the sides. A few minutes later, he was telling us to jump into the river. Then, at one point, he deliberately flipped the entire raft.

White water rafting on the Sarapiquí River ended up being one of the most fun things I did during my trip to Costa Rica.

I visited Costa Rica in November during the rainy season, when the Sarapiquí River was pretty high. I was really glad that our section had Class III rapids that day, because I didn’t want to experience it on some baby rapids. We wanted the real deal.

Whitewater rafting in Costa Rica: Sarapiquí River

I went rafting with Hacienda Pozo Azul in Sarapiquí. Our trip lasted around two hours and cost about $60 USD per person when I visited.

What made Hacienda Pozo Azul Adventures great for me was convenience. This place was near to our hotel, it was affordable and they also offer other tours which we did as well. I was surprised by how many thing you could do here, all in one place.

The Sarapiquí river is one of the best rivers in Costa Rica for learning how to do whitewater rafting. We were lucky to find such a great place willing to take pure beginners out on a class III rapid and teaching us the ropes well enough that we were actually good at it.

You don’t need previous rafting experience. Before we entered the river, our guide went through the commands, what to do if someone fell out, and how to position ourselves in the raft.

Sarapiqui Day trip

When I arrived at the hotel, we were greeted with lush greenery and surroundings. I was shocked when I looked up at the trees and saw sloths sleeping in the branches. The staff came out and greeted us, showed us around the compound and showed us all the different facilities. The cost to do whitewater rafting is about $60 USD per person and the rapids go on for about 2 hours. Well worth it in my opinion.

At this point we could constantly hear the rumbling of the rapids in the background and we could see dense green forest on either side of the river. This made me feel like I was in a movie.

The start of the Costa Rica river rafting tour

Before we actually got into the river, we had to learn the basics. So on land, our guide, his name was Stephen, taught us all the instructions in detail. Different things he would shout out and we’d have to perform certain actions. All of this is done in perfect English by the way. Then we each grabbed the raft and walk a short distance to the River. The guide was in the back and he asked us where we wanted to site. My buddy and I sat up front while the 2 girls sat in the back closer to the guide.

When you’re in the raft you have to tuck your feet under a tight rope that keeps you grounded and from falling out the raft when leaning.

At this point, the raft is actually in the river and we are all inside it. But, it’s not in the rapids just yet. There are little inlets on the river where there is calm and the water is basically almost still. We ran through the drills one more time before setting off.

Then we’re underway down the rapids. They make it really fun and interactive by testing the different instructions. For example he’ll shout forward, high side, lean in, get down and we’ll try our best to react in time.

I was shocked when out guide just stopped the raft and told us to jump out. Is he insane? No, he knows what he’s doing and wanted to test the worst possible scenarios. You just flow down the river on your back with the padding of the life vest. We will then have to try our best to get back into the raft from in the water. It can take a lot of upper body strength. At one point our guide flipped the raft on purpose to simulate a wipeout and basically I thought I was going to die.

I was grinning ear to ear, while simultaneously being splashed in the face constantly by water spray. The wind, water and air felt like the most refreshing thing in the world to me.

On the shore and on jutting out rocks, we saw many different types of birds and monkeys in the trees. We even paddled backwards against the rapids just to see a sloth sleeping in a tree. The guide pointed out all wildlife that he saw and he’d educate us on them. Costa Rica has so many diverse plants and animals, it’s amazing.

There was another guide way up in front in a single kayak. This guide carried a camera and was taking pictures of us going down the rapids. It was insane how much control he has to be going down the river, come out the raft, take pictures, get back in, all while staying ahead of us to catch us coming down. All these images are from that one guide. The hotel later emailed me all the images via dropbox link.

About halfway down the rapids there were some small cliffs that Stephen asked me if I wanted to jump off of. Of course I immediately agreed. No one else in my group was crazy enough to do it I assume.

I Jumped out the kayak and swam to shore, where I had to walk up to a higher ledge to the cliff and prepare to jump about 20 feet down back into the river. There were some other tourists here doing the same thing and we were all hyping each other up like “Yeaaa, you got this”! I eventually just got the courage and jumped in the water. When I hit, I sank probably 6 feet. That was a super fun experience.

At the end of the whitewater rafting adventure

After this 2 hour whitewater rafting adventure, it mellows out at the bottom where we meet a truck that carried us back up to the hotel. You’ll be soaking wet when you get back to your car, so make sure you have a change of clothes for sure and shoes that can get wet.

Believe it or not, this isn’t our last adventure here today, we’re off right away to do something else at this place. If you’re in Rio Cuarto or Sarapiqui area and want an affordable set of activities including whitewater rafting. You can even stay here at the lodge and just go do things at your own pace.