Has anyone went Whitewater rafting in Costa Rica?

If so, did you like it and with whom did you book? Price? How long of a trip? Were there levels (beginner, intermediate, advanced)? Did you see a lot of wildlife? Please share your experience. We will be there in jan 05 and are thinking of doing something like this.

I'd like to know about this too. I'm going to Limon Costa Rica with Carnival Legend on 12/29/04 and this is one of the ports. I'm sure I'll be rafting but would like more suggestions from past cruisers who've been there.

I don't know how much this will help you out as it is second hand knowledge. On our cruise in Feb 04 we did the zipline, but girls at our table took the ships whitewater rafting and had a wonderful time. They were not expierenced at all and had the time of their life. I think I recall that they said that the rapids were a class three level. I am not sure what the levels are.... but I know they had a good time.... and both got sunburns.

We booked our tour to the zipline through a local. I try to book outside the ship when possible to get more for your dollar.

Hope you have a great cruise.

We loved the whitewater rafting trip we booked through Celebrity on our visit to Costa Rica. We had class three rapids most of the way downriver with just a couple of smoother spots in between sets of rapids to catch our breath and brace ourselves for the next set. This is a very active excursion but well worth the effort. We did see wildlife walking down to the river and back out from the river but while rafting, our attention was definately not on looking for wildlife on shore. On the river, your attention will be on following your guides directions so you won't be swimming through the rapids instead of rafting over them. :eek: This is not a lazy river raft ride, it's whitewater.

Someone mentioned Rios Tropicales on another message board, but they were in Costa Rica on vacation. Has anyone used this company for their cruise?

Someone mentioned Rios Tropicales on another message board, but they were in Costa Rica on vacation. Has anyone used this company for their cruise?

Out of San Jose we used Rio Tropicales for a wonderful rapids trip on the Pacurare river. If you want to see the river we did, see the movie Congo. The section we ran was used to film the river portion in Congo.

Wonderful all day trip. Not sure if there is enought time on a cruise to do this particular river. Rio Tropicales was a good tour agency.

MasterBaker:

How bumpy was the river? I am asking as my wife had fusion of two vertebre in her neck a number of years ago, and was told not to do rollercoasters due to jarring and whipping of her neck. We did some very minor rafting years ago before her surgery, and I recall it as a sort of soft bump- sort of like mild to moderate trampolining, which she might be able to do.

Anybody else out there with experience that might have an answer?

Thanks in advance.

Bruce

Rotterdam, Panama/Caribbean, Dec 12, 2004

Master Baker,

If she can't go on a rollercoaster, than white water rafting is out. It is pretty rough.

I would love to do this on our upcoming cruise, but the information says "you must be a strong swimmer". I can swim, but I would not consider myself a "strong swimmer". Should this be a major concern??????? Should I really not do this?????

CindySue

I am 67 now and was about 65 when I did the rapids. I am not what I would consider a strong swimmer. I can swim my 40 foot swimming pool without stopping for one length. Without a life vest I am nothing. If you fall out of the boat there are rules you follow and your guide will tell you. Things like if you are headed down the flow go feet first. I really made a great effort not to fall out of the raft. My legs would not hold me up when we got to the lunch stop. I had to almost crawl up the hill. HA:)

Thanks JR. I really want to do this and I figured if they let me drown, it would not be too good for business!!!! I think this is what we will do.

Thanks JR. I really want to do this and I figured if they let me drown, it would not be too good for business!!!! I think this is what we will do.

Cindy,

They usually have another couple of guys in the little one man kayaks that are there also to help if someone seems to get away from their raft.

They are really good and you will enjoy watching them show off. They flip under and come up etc.

Ok, I checked with Rios Tropicales and they do not handle independent bookings for cruise ship passengers because of their contract with the cruiselines; ie they do the cruise sponsored excursions. So, unless I want to pay $98pp for the cruiseship sponsored trip, I need to find another company. Does anyone have any other suggestions about other companies? And price?

I too am very interested in this. I have always wanted to do this but am sorta a chicken. I am a good swimmer thought never done it in the rapids. How long was it?

Lexi

I've emailed mambo tours in costa rica at Mambotur@hotmail.com for info re: their white water rafting excursion. I'll let you know if I find out anything. Another company I've discovered but not yet checked out is Greenway Tours: http://www.cruceros.co.cr/ Has anyone used them or heard of them before?

bump to see if anyone has heard of or used these independent companies.:D

I looked into finding an independent white water rafting excursion provider for Limon, Costa Rica. I was unsuccessful because the independent operators do not exist, instead as you stated Rio Tropicales is tied into the cruise ships. We did the white water rafting trip through our cruise ship, yes the provider was Rios Tropicales. All of the equipment, tour guides etc, came all the way from San Jose to Puerto Limon (2 1/2 hour trip) because there is hardly any tourism in Puerto Limon for most of the year, at least when it relates to white water rafting. Therefore, independent operators would not be located in Limon, instead they would have to travel a long distance for perhaps a small group of people. For our tour there were more than 200 peoples rafting the Reventazon River, WHAT A BLAST. Had the most fun in years, category three during the month of Nov 03. In order to gauge how swiftly the river will be moving, check the weather two months before going, more rain, more fun going down the river. Remember, for $20 you get a CD mailed to your home with all the photos taken by the photographer who follows you down river, excellent buy. The money is worth it, consider how much it costs to do anything in the U.S., dinner and a movie for two would be close to price of a once in a lifetime event. We will be going back to Costa Rica Nov 05, just to get back to the Reventazon, by the way look up the word, you will be in for a surprise what the name of the river means in English.

fishinguspo,

Thanks for the review on whitewater rafting. Sounds like fun. I did get a response back from Mambo Tours. He said:

Hi:

>

>This is Mario Anderson, Mambo Tour mannager. I have receive your email

>where

>you are interested in White Water Rafting. This is what we offer you:

>

>The options are:

>1-) Class II – III . 9 miles . Easy to Moderate .

>2-) Class IV. 18 miles . Moderate to Difficult .

>3-) Class IV. 6 miles plus 9 miles of Reventazón Regular. Difficult

>

>It Includes:

>Transportation

>Lunch

>Equipment

>Specialized Guide

>

>Duration: 7 hours aprox.

>Price: From $ 75 USA per person

>

>We have special prices for big groups.

>You can visit us to our Web Page http://www.*****.com

>Any doubt or question please write us back.

>Thank you for chosen us!

>

>Warms Regards,

>Mario Anderson J.

So, it would appear his company does do this excursion. But, I guess I'm a little nervous to go trapsing 2 hours away from port on a non-ship sponsored excursion. I don't want to get left behind! So, we are thinking about doing it through the ship anyway.

I couldn't find the meaning of the word. Hmmm. On the trip to the River, did you have a guide that provided info on the area? Did they have a little training/instruction? I've never been white water rafting before. Also, how was the lunch? Any good? Were there drinks or anything available on the trip to/from the river? Or should we bring our own?

Thanks!:)

Oh yeah, and do you see any wildlife on the whitewater rafting excursion? Like monkeys, sloths, etc...? While on the road to the river or while on the river (probably too rapid to see much...ha. ha.) Just curious. Thanks.

I have been rafting in Costa Rica twice, both times on Rio Toro, in the north-central part of the country. We left out of La Fortuna.

I dont remember who our company was, but we loved it both times.

Both times, we spotted sloths, monkeys, and 1 snake. :D

Im actually looking now, for a reputable place to raft as a shore excursion.

Has anybody tried that *****? How was it? Get you back to the boat on time?

Im looking for Class IV, to Class V rapids, the bigger the better.

Has anyone done this lately? Looking for feedback.

Hi there,

I have done a couple of tours with a local guide Alvaro from Odyssey tours "tico" and I realized he runs rafting on both ports since someone in our group from the roll call has arranged a private tour to whitewater rafting from Puntarenas port, later we met them back at the ship and they were super happy with the adventure they had, I talked to Alvaro and advised me he runs rivers from both Puntarenas and Limon ports for cruise passengers and crew members as well. Odysseytourscr.com is his website and I read information about those adventures activities on his site. I highly recommend him!!