Costa Rica Outfitters

[rickg]

A group of us are looking to head to Costa Rica this fall and interested to hear of others experiences with different outfitters / guides. We are looking to run mostly IV with maybe a touch of V to stretch our abilities. I'd be psyched to hear what guide services have provided great times and also who to avoid.

Thanks
Rick

[TimWalker]

Hey Rick...I had a good time with Renaissance Adventure Guides out of Golden. They contracted the trip with Rios Tropicales out of Turrialba. It was mainly a III and IV experience but a great time. The Reventazon is a must, big water class 4, the Pacqaure is fun class 3 and the Lodge is an awesome experience. This trip is totally scheduled out and everything was provided. Not a bad option for someone not wanting to mess with logistics. I'd do it again!

[thayes]

I was there in 2005 and we went with Rios Tropicales on the Pacqaure. We did the overnight on the lower (?) Pacquare, class III, which included a stay at their lodge, and I would agree with Tim that it is an awesome place. They also run the upper Pacquare which I believe is class V, V-. Rios had a really nice set up and were extremely helpful and friendly, and like Tim said, they took care of everything, and ran raft support. All we had to do was to show up at the scheduled time and boat. We then hired one of their employees to show us down the Reventazon. It was big water class IV and tons of fun. I think we paid him around $25 apiece plus beer and food at the takeout. I am glad he was with us as there were some monster holes and pourovers. Also, I believe the river bed is very dynamic due to annual flooding, and the rapids change quite frequently.

[kayakben]

I went last fall with Costa Rica Adventures and had a blast! It is a much smaller company than Rios Tropicales, but that made for a great trip. The guy who runs it, Jeremy, is awesome: a kick ass kayaker, super friendly and very knowledgable about the area. They also gave us the option to customize our own trip (we spent two days learning to surf in the ocean) which was really cool. The only way I know of how to contact them is their website, www.costaricaadventures.net the site isn't as spectacular as Rios Tropicales, but once we got there the trip was amazing - mountain lodging, good food, etc. Check them out and good luck.

[Oopps]

Hey,

I would second the suggestion for Renaissance... great company and great guides. I haven't done a Costa Rica trip with them (haven't had a chance to go to Costa Rica at all) but I did an internship with them at one point and found that everyone who works there is great, met some of the Costa Rica guides and they were wonderful people and great kayakers... worth a look at least and might be easier to arrange as they are a local company (out of Lakewood, not Golden, accutally) and have trips for a few different levels.

www.raguides.com

I'm so envious... I wanna get to Costa Rica.

And don't worry, I don't work for Renaissance at the moment, so this is not advertising, just my 2cents.

[Matt J]

Just wanted to put a little plug in for the company where I am currently guiding. We at Rainforest World, are a smaller outfitter in Turrialba (Rios Tropicales is in San Jose) and are owned by a West Virginian who was one of the first men to paddle down here, period.

We are putting together several small trips currently and always cater to your preferences and abilities. I will be on most trips with two Tico guides so you will have a native English speaker with you (do not overlook the importance of this as I just witnessed a major problem due to language difficulties that involved two people, a guide and customer, that are both "bilingual.") We also feature a wide variety of rental boats including 4 new Bliss-Stick boats this season.

Check out our website at: http://www.rforestw.com as well as pics I posted on http://www.matthewrjohnson.com

And e-mail me if you have any other questions at matt@matthewrjohnson.com