THE PACUARE RIVER

   The Pacuare River, or the Rio Pacuare, flows for 180 km before it empties into the Caribbean. National Geographic selected the Pacuare as one of the top five rivers in the world for recreational white water rafting. The rainforests and canyons that border the river make for breathtaking scenery. The land is so pristine that you feel this is the way it must have been when Columbus arrived. Indigenous people live along the river. Jaguars, black panthers, racoons, capuchin monkeys and sloths call the shores of the Pacuare River home.

Costa Rica Eco-tourism

All of the traditional vacations have you staying in nice fancy hotels. Which I have to say we agree in and have no problem setting that up. But if you are coming to for a Costa Rica vacation of 8 - 10 days maybe you would want to do the option of one or two nights in our homestay program we have set up in a village in the mountains very close to the famous Pacuare River.

This is a program that is not for everyone but I can honestly say we have had 100% success rate. Basically what we do is we do a family vacation including all the normal hotels and activities. For one or two nights we stop into a village where live the local life for a day or so. We get a chance to eat their food, hang out with the locals, and even watch as they perform local song and dance for us. It is a very humble setting and part of the beauty of being in the area is to see how simple the families live but how they are full of smiles.

Costa Rica Family Vacation

If your are looking that your kids to learn something on a Costa Rican family vacation then we can take them and talk for hours to them about all parts of the rainforest. If you really want them to be aware of how families live in and around the rainforest then this is a once and a lifetime opportunity with so little to be said and so much to learn.

If you think you might be interested in including in this idea remember that this is a large economic boost to the families of the village and all profits stay in the village as part of this project. So for your next Costa Rica vacation you just might want to take a deeper look into Costa Rica and you can check it out with

Adventure Tours in Costa Rica

I happen to be a lover of outdoors and adventure. When it comes to picking the top 5 in Costa Rica I'm dealing with my personal favorite. This might mean we have to leave grandma and grandpa at home. I'm making them all 5 commercially operated tours. All 5 of these tours will keep the adrenaline you will want to be in half decent shape or atleast have good enough self-esteem for your friends to make fun of you while you are huffing and puffing.

We will list them from number 1 - number 5 all being lets say equal. It was just too hard of a pick to have to come up with a winner.

Costa Rica's Top 5 Adventure Tours

1.) Overnight hike and Rappel in Cavern: This is a tour we operate in the Southern zone of the country. It is an intense two hour hike to a cavern where we sleep behind a waterfall. You will be spending all night listening to the sound of the water of 3 different powerful waterfalls. From the cavern you will be rappeling a 120ft fall and doing a number a differen hikes in the area. You will also hike to the top of Costa Rica's tallest waterfall which is the Diamante Falls.

2.) Chirripo Trek: This is a 2 night hike to Costa Rica's highest point. This is the second highest point in all of Central America. The height you will reach is 12,352ft on the second morning leaving base camp at 3am to reach the top for sun rise. There is an endless amount of hiking to do in the area which lends itself to without question the most amazing views Costa Rica has to offer.

3.) Corcovado National Park: The two day hike to the Sirena station takes you deep into the jungle to the most bio-diverse place on the Planet. This is an adventure of hiking, being in the wild, and keeping your eyes out for the Jaguar. This hike takes you past some of the most beautiful beaches on Earth also.

4.) Rafting Pascua Section: This is a section of the Reventazon River which in 2011 will no longer exist because of a dam project. But if you are reading this blog and you get a chance to run this section and you are up for advetnure it is an amazing run. When it comes to adrenaline in Costa Rica on a commercial level this is hard to beat.

5.) Overnight Pacuare Rafting Trip: This is the cream of the crop when it comes to rafting. Not only do you get the big rapids but you also get the scenery. Voted as one of the top 5 rivers on the planet and one of the top 3 most scenice by National Geographic the Pacuare River is a must do for anyone who loves the outdoors. I went on it once and I returned everyday for three years. Its a place of complete peace and to spend the night in one of the few lodges or camping areas is an experience like no other surrounded by virgin rainforest.

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Rafting in Costa Rica

If there is one adventure we like to take pride in it is Costa Rica rafting. Most of our tours and adventures take part in the sport of white-water rafting during their stay in Costa Rica. Costa Rica is made up of mountains, rain, and no snow which make it a year long rafting paradise. When rafting is mentioned one of the first rivers that has to come into mind is the Pacuare River. This is an amazing river rated by National Geographic as one of the top 5 rivers in the world. The word "Pacuare" is an Indian name given by the nearby Cabecar tribe which live on the river banks. If a group is able and physically fit we always try and gear their trip around a Pacuare adventure. The commercially rafted part of Pacuare is spectacular but if you make the right contacts with some guides you might be able to run the upper section of Pacuare in the dry season which is usually operated only by experts and guides. There are many different rivers to raft in Costa Rica but Pacuare I must say is the best by a long shot. Some of the other popular rafting rivers are Savegre on the Pacific Coast, Rio Toro in the northern part of the country, and Sarapiqui River which unfortunately has taken a hit due to the earthquake a year ago.

The types of rivers you will see in Costa Rica are considered technical rivers. A technical river means that you can see many rocks on the surface and that the river is usually narrow (an example of a non-technical river would be the Nile in Africa. You can take the raft through the rapids straight down the middle and you will never feel a rock). The technical river is good and bad for a guide. It is excellent training for the guide because they are always making decisions of lines to take in a rapid and comand after comand of which way the group needs to paddle. On the other hand it can become difficult for a guide and it takes more time to train on such rivers than on non-technical rivers. Just for the record I have heard that Costa Rican river guides are some of the best you will find for two reasons. The first being that you can raft Costa Rican rivers 12 months a year and a lot of these guides are no the river 6 days a week all year. The second reason is that they are trained on these very technical rivers.

Family Vacation Costa Rica

If you happen to travel through Costa Rica looking to raft you might want to check out the Pacuare river. Do keep in mind that in Costa Rica there are many non-commercial rafting rivers that are absolutely amazing but just take knowing the right contacts to get to run them.

Family Vacation Specialist

Costa Rican Resource

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