Costa Rica is an incredible country, offering long stretches of deserted white sand beaches, dense jungles filled with a rich diversity of exotic wildlife, lush rainforests, raging rivers, towering volcanoes, and smiling communities. On top of all of this though, Costa Rica has an adventurous activities scene which rivals that of New Zealand!
Costa Rica’s landscape and temperate climate lends itself to outdoor activity, and it is the perfect destination for anyone wanting to combine a love of the outdoors with an adventurous spirit! Throughout the country there are a wealth of activities and attractions so exciting, and in locations so breathtaking, that two weeks of my International Student Volunteer project were dedicated solely to an adventure tour!
Our days included time soaring through the treetops and our nights were spent in amazing cabin accommodation amongst rare rainforest species. We enjoyed hiking, abseiling, zip lining, mountain biking, horseback riding, bungee jumping, surfing, swimming, canoeing and canopy tours! Our biggest challenge was trying to fit it all in!
But potentially the most fun we had while in Costa Rica was spending three days white water rafting with Rios Tropicales. Costa Rica is one of the best places in the world to ride rapids, offering a variety of rapid ‘classes’ for all skill levels including both beginners and the most experienced rafters. We definitely weren’t experts; in fact, I had no rafting skills at all! Regardless, we had an absolute BLAST riding the river rapids!
International Student Volunteers – ready for adventure!
Our lives in each other’s hands!
Eyes on the road!!
Riding our first real rapid!
Having a blast!!
Head first!
The best fun had in Costa Rica!
Concentration is key!
Attempting to balance the raft – more difficult than it looks!
I have a feeling we’re tipping…
Definitely tipping!
He still has a foot on the boat! That still counts as being in…right?!
Rafting up to a class 4 rapid.
The water is winning again!
Rapids are incredibly strong.
Pushing through.
Determined to not fail!
We’re all soaked by now!
We Survived White Water Rafting Costa Rica!
10 Comments
Excellent pictures!
I absolutely love White Water Rafting and your trip looks like it was a ton of fun.
Did you feel like you drank a lot of water?? I haven’t been in a few years but I love how you can raft with people you know and don’t know and everyone instantly works well together as a team to get through the rapids and have fun, while still making sure that everyone is safe.
Thanks Sicorra! It was indeed a tonne of fun! I definitely drank a lot of water. At one stage the raft actually flipped, and so we all toppled in. That and getting a face full of water every time we would hit a particularly raging rapid! Was great fun :)
It is a pretty great example of how many people from differing backgrounds can band together as a team. One of my favorite activities!
This looks so fun! Great photos! Costa Rica is definitely very high on my list. Thanks for sharing!
It was an absolute blast – highly recommend a rafting trip! You can do overnight trips as well and they put you up in lodges along the rafting route. Our rafting trip went for 3 days. Was the best fun I’ve had!
Went white water rafting for first time in Costa Rica last winter and had a blast. That feeling of being slightly out of control is exhilarating.
Totally agree! Exhilarating is the perfect word for it – really gets your adrenalin pumping! So glad you guys got to go rafting and had a blast doing it!
Whitewater rafting is such a rush, so thanks for sharing. I have whitewater rafted in Montana and done considerable kayaking in Wisconsin, which is a lot of fun, too. I just started following your adventures and am really enjoying it:_
Thanks Jeff, so glad you’re enjoying our blog :) And totally agree – white water rafting is one of the best adrenalin rushes! We’ve now done it in both CR and in Iceland, which was unbelievable – would love to cross a few other destinations off our list, and might have to travel up to Montana if you think it’s great there too :)
Thanks for sharing this crazy experience! Your photos really show off the strength of the rapids, and just how fun it is to zip through those waters!
You’re welcome Heather, so glad you enjoyed the post! White water rafting is definitely the most fun! Highly recommend it – the rapids in Costa Rica were a blast! Happy travels :)