Stephen V.
Change of venue to the Sarapiqi river due to conditions. The experience was great just a little longer ride back and forth.
Costa Rica · Your next adventure
Whitewater Rafting Adventure on the Rio Balsa Class II and III
Your experience
Good to Know
Embark on an exhilarating whitewater rafting adventure on Costa Rica's Rio Balsa, renowned for its Class II and III rapids. This half-day excursion is perfectly suited for both first-timers and those seeking a thrilling yet manageable river experience. The tour includes expert guides, a safety kayaker, all necessary equipment, round-trip transportation from Arenal Volcano area hotels, and a delicious Costa Rican lunch. No prior rafting experience is required to enjoy the wet and wild fun.
Looking for some thrills, spills and all around good time on the river? If so, you will love whitewater rafting on the Rio Balsa!
The day starts off when you are picked up from your Arenal Volcano area hotel. After picking up fellow adventurers you will be brought to the river. The drive from La Fortuna takes about 50 minutes, passing through small rural villages, mountains, and forest. When you arrive at the river, you will be provided with a helmet and paddle. Your guide will explain the basics of rafting and safety techniques. Then you will be on your way to adventure!
The Rio Balsa is a class II and III river that is regulated by daily dam releases. It is one of the most reliable and popular whitewater rafting rivers in Costa Rica. The total river run is ten kilometers, which usually lasts between 1.5 to 2 hours depending on the time of the year.
As your guide navigates you down the river you will pass by well-known rapids such as the Dredges and Magnetic Rock. You will have the opportunity to take a swim in the river and enjoy all around wet and wild fun. Remember to ask your guide if you can ride the bull. This is always a thrill! Of course, it is not an actual bull. You will be riding the front of the rafting boat.
After the rafting tour a typical Costa Rican style lunch will be provided. It is currently offered at a local family owned farm that grows traditional coffee and sugarcane. It must be noted that the location of lunch is subject to change.
Including round trip transfer the tour is expected to last around 5.5 to 6 hours, though again this is subject to change. This fun filled adventure includes transportation, safety kayaker, guides, lunch, and equipment.
Highlights
- Whitewater rafting one of the most popular rivers in Costa Rica
- Enjoy an authentic Costa Rican style lunch
What to Bring
Clothes that can get wet, secure shoes, sun block, dry clothes to change into.
Includes
Guides, safety kayaker, transportation, lunch.
Location and Availability
Available in: Arenal, Arenal Zone 2, Arenal Zone 3, Chachagua Rainforest Hotel
Tour space is generally available when requested more than two days in advance and remains subject to confirmation.
Tour Times
10:30
Tour Type
- Rafting
Explore the location on the map
Location
Latitude: N 10° 18' 27.72" (10.3077)
Longitude: W 84° 31' 21" (-84.522499)
Recent Reviews
Overall
98%
Expectations
96%
Experience
96%
Guides
97%
Logistics
96%
Value
96%
Donald M.
Diego was a great host. I got dumped in the river, and he did a lot to rescue me and get me back in the raft.
Kathleen T.
Best food the entire trip! And our guide was so fun! We trusted him with our safety and he shared a lot about Costa Rica with us, so we learned a lot, too
Bryon H.
A wild and wet adventure!
Cheryl P.
Guides were fantastic!
Carla F.
Great guides, excellent service. Felt safe and confident in the guides
Karen M.
Carlos was a wonderful tour guide. He kept us safe, and gave us tons of excitement and fun. My favorite tour of the trip.
This was the best! If you go to Costa Rica, you have got to do this. Enzo was fantastic!
Michael M.
This was the most fun we had on any excursion, it was awesome!
Ma'ayan M.
Had a wonderful time! Very much enjoyed this experience.
Alexandra B.
The only remark is the infrastructure for change to dry clothes: very precarious, plus was raining so we were changing to dry clothes under rain, making us all wet again!
Oliver B.
Superb
Andrew L.
Seriously good rafting
Julianne W.
This was the perfect level of rafting (class 1-3) for my 13 year old son during his first time. We loved our guide - Alonzo - and the other tourists in our boat. Alonzo got us working well together and did a good job pulling in my son and another teenager when they fell out. The lunch stop was delicious and the sugar cane demonstration and tasting was a nice surprise.
Crissy A.
Great trip. The guide was fun and entertaining. Really nice people that helped answer local questions.
Dinesh G.
One of the best parts of the trip. Highly recommended
Sean J.
Good tour. Enjoyed the experience
One of the best meals we ate on our trip was included in this adventure. Our guide was amazing and the rafting was perfect!
Nathaniel H.
Super fun tour, great choice for those who want to do something adventurous without getting too dangerous. Lunch was delicious!
Robin V.
Best excursion my family has ever been on. We LOVED it!!
Marco F.
Very well organised and quite fun. Good lunch as well.
Abhishek K.
Thrilling and exciting tour. Big thanks for rescheduling this tour.
Jennifer W.
Our guides were great and made us feel safe. He lunch afterwards was amazing
Marisol R.
Lots of fun and the guides were outstanding!
Kathleen S.
So much fun! Great guides! Awesome!
Bob B.
Had a blast with good whitewater and our guide was top notch.
Danielle G.
So much fun for first timer!!
Janan G.
This was probably our favorite part of our trip. Our entire group had a blast.
Clayton F.
Extremely fun and exciting. Could have done this all day.
Kendall B.
The guides ran this tour like a factory -- perfectly. They all were so much fun and outgoing. They knew their stuff and really made sure everyone felt comfortable and had fun. The lunch afterwards was so sweet and made us feel like family. The pictures from the rafting were even better! We loved the entire tour and everyone involved!
David P.
It was way more intense than we expected. Hahaha. But the guides were great and I think we just didn’t have realistic expectations.
Ana L.
Loved the tour! Our guide was very good. We saw more animals than I expected - a sloth, birds, and lizards too. It had just enough excitement (I fell in!) while still being doable for families. The buffet meal afterwards was good as well.
Karen P.
All around fantastic!!! Enzo was great on the bus with expectations and rules, "Super"Mario was our guide and he was terrific!!! We were surprised and delighted by the lunch and sugar cane demo and tasting. It was beautiful.
Theresa S.
Rio Balsa group was absolutely wonderful! Enzo set the standard very high for all other tours.
Inna N.
It was a highlight of our trip! Kids loved it! And our guide Axel was awesome. We also enjoyed delicious lunch at the farm after.
Yakov N.
Axel Fonseca, our rafting leader was great.
My children really enjoyed the white water rafting. We wished it was longer.
Gordon R.
Amazing! Super fun! We were energized and excited and the guides (especially our guide Brian) really made the tour informative. The river was so beautiful, the day so exciting, and the company so good that we'll never forget it!
Laura A.
Loved the guides
Sandip B.
Very well informed, enthusiastic and charismatic guides. Would like to thank guide Diego, again.
Vanessa R.
Augusto our guide was so INCREDIBLE! This was our favorite excursion out of everything we did. It was an absolute thrilling experience that we highly recommend.
Diane C.
Thrilling ride!
Ronald M.
Our guide Diego was amazing. The Class II/III rapids were a lot of fun. They also took great pictures of our rafr.
Mike S.
It was so great. learned more on the drive and the bonus visit to a local farm was unexpected and loved it
Jennifer F.
Loved the guide and our group! A long drive there and waiting. But a great day
Tushar M.
Best tour of the trip by far. Very well organized and a great experience making it easy for first timers.
Michelle D.
This was our favorite excursion. Excellent and fun with a great lunch
Janelle N.
Excellent day for us and our teenage kids! We had booked the Rio Balsa but were told on the bus that we were going to Rio Sarapiqui because the dam on the Balsa wasn't letting through enough water. Turned out just fine. Just the right level of excitement for the kids who had never been rafting before. Our guide Yudde was so fun and pointed out a lot of types of birds along the way. The fruit snack mid way and the lunch were delicious. And the photos were reasonably priced at $35 for our family of 5. The bus ride was about an hour each way but the scenery was nice along the way.
Falana W.
This was our FAVORITE activity! So glad we did this. The rafting was great! Felt scary and safe at the same time. Our guide was great! We loved everything about it. The pictures they offered for sale afterwards were actually worth it.
The lunch afterwards felt a bit rushed as well as the sugar cane production presentation. But overall I enjoyed this part as well.
Gustavo S.
This was one of the best experiences we have ever done, we loved MOMO (our guide)!!!! He made the trip SO much fun, special and memorable.
Heather G.
This tour was a blast. Almost all of us in our party took a turn "riding the bull" and are so glad we did because it was so fun. Jumping off the ledge into the river, and floating down the river on our own, was super fun as well. Our guide was perfect, giving us chances for the adventure and thrills we wanted while also taking amazing care of my 80 year old mother (not your ordinary 80 year old mother :)
Natalie C.
Excellent. Especially appreciated raft guide's assistance and expertise. I was the oldest in our party and guide was very careful of my safety.
Mari P.
A highlight of the trip. Koki was the best guide. My son said it was one the best days ever!
Krystal G.
Omg what can I say besides how freaking crazy awesome the rafting trip was! This beat rafting in Colorado! I couldn’t believe it. Gustavo was superb! I love to be around people who enjoy life and have a great sense of humor and this man had it all. He narrated for us during the short bus trip and we were lucky enough to have him as our guide in the water! So fun! I will miss him.
Sylvia C.
Great fun!
Yadira J.
Super recomendado.
Holly S.
This was a great tour. Stopping along the way, the lunch, the attention to detail was amazing. The guides went to the extreme to make sure we had a great time.
Christy C.
This was a 40 minute drive from our hotel near Arenal Springs, which was a bit long. The guides were funny and knowledgeable. My ten and fourteen year old children enjoyed it. Ages ranged from kids to seniors on this trip. There are rapids and you will get very wet, but we did not tip or fall out. It was not buggy at all (February 2022). We saw our first sloth and the views from the river were lovely. We enjoyed the "typical food" lunch provided. The tour provided photo packages for $35 for a group of 3 at the end, which we bought because you do not want to take your phone or camera on this trip because of the risk of losing or breaking it. Bring water shoes and dry clothes to change into after. They provided towels.
Delia M.
This was our favorite activity of the trip.
Dolores M.
This was by far my favorite excursion. Didn’t think I was going to enjoy it as much as I did. Our guide, Jorge (Koki) made our experience so fun and exciting. I hadn’t laughed (and screamed) so much in a while. The lunch we were provided after the whitewater rafting was so delicious and the sugar cane and gusta demonstration and tasting was an added bonus.
Pamela E.
Great tour. We had alot of fun and our guide was great.
Adam W.
Best tour of the holiday
Jason A.
Awesome day all around, perfect difficulty level for my family and the meal/live music at the end was very entertaining for my whole family.
John F.
This was a great excursion. Gerald was a funny guide who went the extra mile to make our trip outstanding
Heather S.
Our tour guide Gerald was amazing!!
Grant W.
The very best activity we did our entire trip! Everything from the guides to the rafting was such a blast!
Lisa J.
Carlos did an amazing job -talking to all of us on the bus, teaching us about Costa Rica, safety tips for the river, etc. we LOVED that we got to have a delicioso lunch at a local farm and learn about sugar cane…would’ve been fun to have an opportunity to purchase Guarro or coffee here too! It was such a wonderful day and we loved making friends with others in our group.
Rachel P.
The guides and driver were very friendly, and spoke English well. I fell in the water, and Gusy was there to grab me right away. He was very quick and some of the guides spotted sloths for us. The lunch they took us to was delicious and felt private. This was a great experience! Would do again.
Mercedes R.
This was the funniest activity we did on our whole vacation! We wish we would have also done the class 4 rapids!
Robert W.
Best experience, guides were amazing.
Aaron L.
This was one of our favorite tours of the trip! The guides were really great, the river was fun, and the photo packages were very reasonable! There were a few logistical negatives. There were no bathrooms at the river drop-off point, which meant we drove for about an hour and then got straight in the rafts. A bathroom would have been appreciated. The changing rooms afterwards were communal - one large room for the guys and one large room for the ladies. It would have been nice to know up-front because some of our group would not have bothered to bring changes of clothes.
Luis L.
Our guide Momo, was one of the best. the raft and following tour were unforgettable.
Bob F.
It exceeded our expectations in that it was more water than I had ever experienced and I have done a bunch of these. Wow is all I can say.
Phyllis G.
Fabulous guides and experience. Exciting, thrilling adventure!
Pieter S.
There was a stop to eat some fruit. But after the stop we all expect we were in the middle of the trip, but we continued rafting for maybe 5 minutes and we were at the end. Very strange.
A surprise that the lunch was in a biological farm with an extra some explanation of cane sugar
Abby R.
Guides were excellent.
Melissa D.
Guides were just as wonderful as the experience
Janis K.
Enzo was our raft guide the tour lead. Awesome adventure and very nice lunch experience afterwards.
Trent K.
Safety first! These guys were great. On time pickup and informative the entire trip - in the raft or in the van. Great place for lunch also. Pure Costa Rica experience.
Janice S.
White water rafting was awesome! The tour pointed out all different wild life and it was very safe and fun experience. They also gave us beer after the ride was done, a free lunch and coffee and a little bit of sugarcane tasting!
Alex W.
Amazing tour. Guides were funny and experienced. We saw lots of wildlife and had a great time. Post rafting wr got lunch at a local farm and the food / experience were equally great.
Joseph K.
This excursion exceeded my (high) expectations. The rafting itself was high-octane fun, the scenery was second to none, and the post-adventure meal/sugar-water tasting was the icing on the cake. Extra big shout-out to our tour guide Enzo, who did a fantastic job from start to finish.
Darika K.
This was our favorite part of the entire trip. Our tour guide Enzo did a fantastic job. The tour included sugar cane tasting and we got to know more about Fortuna on the drive to the river.
Melinda S.
This was my first time rafting, ever, and it was nerve wrecking, but honestly, amazing. I am so grateful for the guides, specifically ours, Roger, who had 13 years experience, and kept us in sync and safe the entire trek. He was informative the entire trek and we really enjoyed ourselves. The Wave Expeditions is a stellar company and I highly recommend them. Plus, the lunch afterward and demonstration with sugar cane was cool!
Dalit M.
fun!. tour feels a bit rushed.
Tammy W.
Such a great guide! The river was up because of the rain so was a exciting ride. Yet our guide was so good I felt safe and confident. So much fun!!! Loved the sugar plantation and yummy lunch. Was an unexpected treat at the end
Rita F.
Loved it! Professional fun slightly scary but so fun!
Yogendra N.
Best white water rafting experience. wish I could come back and do Level 4-5
Ellie C.
Our guide was extremely professional and had complete control of the situation when a couple of members of our party fell out of the raft (!). One member even lost a shoe and our guide retrieved it as it came floating down the river.
Chloe M.
Enzo was a great guide to work with. We felt safe but still had adventure elements. Would do again
Victoria B.
Great and friendly guides.
James C.
Another excellent tour. Highly recommend. Rafting guides were friendly & knowledgeable. Managed to see anteater, monkeys & other interesting wildlife.
James B.
River was not as deep or fast as we expected. However, it was a fun and exciting day.
Mario O.
Best experience, incredible value, and awesome guides!
Scot S.
This was exciting. Not for the meek, a little scary which I enjoyed. Our guide, Carlos Alfaro, was fantastic. He was the best part of our Costa Rican trip. Thank you
Weston S.
Incredibly fun and exhilarating without feeling dangerous. beautiful rapids and jungle and fun/enthusiastic guides. The lunch at the end was one of if not the best of my entire Costa Rica trip.
Sara C.
amazing guides and tour
The private lunch at the organic cafe and sugar cane extraction activity was amazing!!!
We had a great time with the guides on this trip. So much so that they invited us to their soccer game that evening and my son actually got to play with them. Highly recommend.
I have done a lot of tours. I would have to put this in my top 5. It started with the awesome guides all the way to the organic farm...amazing. Fresh fruit, feeding cows on our break. The amazing food at the farm and of course learning about sugar cane was another bonus.
Alina S.
Our guide was very entertaining and knowledgeable . It was our first whitewater rafting ever and we enjoyed this experience so much. Definitely felt safe with our guide.
Gwen S.
Best part of the whole vacation!!!
Michelle F.
Top notch!
Chris B.
Awesome time
AhnaMia M.
SO MUCH FUN
Mike W.
We wondered how each activity we did could be as good as the last, but it was. Wave Expeditions are truly professional. The lunch at the farm visit after was perhaps the best of the trip.
James B.
Had great fun and loved it
Chris B.
Had a blast. Loved the guides and food provided was authentic and great.
Robert H.
Great river, great guides; we had a blast. Lots of big rapids and a calm area we rode in the water. Nice fresh fruit break! And the casado lunch after was a nice add-on. Not to be missed!
Mark C.
The lunch was not very exciting but authentic resulting in a decrease in rating the experience and tour meeting my expectations.
Susan C.
Again, not the fault of the tour. The whitewater to short in duration. I would have preferred a longer more intense whitewater experience. Lunch was awful. Guides very safety conscious, good equipment. Felt very safe.
Colette S.
This trip was fun and an adventure. Our raft guide "goosy" or Agusto was great at his job. Our raft with a family and little kids hit a rock and the raft got stuck in the rapids. With the help of other guides they got the raft loose and everyone was good. Meal at the end was great!
Thomas F.
Fantastic fun with enthusiastic, experienced guides. The rafting route offered both exciting a calm stretches, and the tour featured added extras we weren't expecting, such as a demonstration of how to extract sugar from sugarcane.
Sanne R.
Best adventure on this trip, it was really a great experience, small groups great guides, not begging for tips. On top of the great water rafting experience we got great lunch at a wonderfull farm and even got to learn about sugar canes and could taste the drink and coffee from the farm. Really a fantastic experience!
Danielle M.
This excursion was way more intense than the description describes, it would be helpful to let people know they will be getting completely wet and there is possibility of falling out
Mark Q.
Guides were fantastic; tour was fun, and pickup/dropoff were efficient with not a lot of waiting.
Leslie Q.
The tour was a blast and the lunch was good.
Sandra K.
Exceptional! The guides were absolutely great...safe and entertaining. Halfway through the rafting we stopped on the beach and had fresh pineapple and watermelon. What a great surprise! Good lunch afterwards, too!
Christine C.
This was fantastic! Loved every minute! Our guide Jairo was fantastic and is to be complimented. Will never forget this amazing experience.
Christine W.
Awesome all around.
Lisa G.
SO MUCH FUN! Our bus tour guide was amazing, our raft guide could not have been more fun, saw so much wildlife, felt that the company took safety seriously
Jamie H.
Great experience from start to finish. love the rafting. They were great with our 9 and 11 year old kids. I felt totally safe. The changing room and cold beer after was so nice. We really enjoyed the lunch and visit to the farm after. Just a perfect day.
Mary C.
This was our favorite day of the whole trip! Antonio again was our driver - and he continued to provide the best service! Super Mario was our tour guide - and he was amazing! The white water rafting and floating down the Balsa were thrilling. The tour guides stopped along the rafting trip to view a sloth family and howler monkeys. We had so many unexpected events - including a snack of fresh pineapple and watermelon atop a turned over raft, a traditional Costa Rican meal (where we had our best pinto gallo!), and a coffee making and sugarcane processing demonstration. We absolutely loved this day!
Jennifer W.
All of the guides were excellent. Jorge Koki was amazing!
Ulrike G.
WOW! That was so much fun. Something I never thought we would do, but we did it! The guide, "Super Mario" was outstanding. It was hard for Ruben to get up and down in the raft, but he was so patient and helpful. Also, the pictures were AMAZING!
Mo Mo is the best!
Lisa K.
Loved!!! This was a highlight
Allison G.
They showed us some wildlife along the way and were playful while still keeping everybody safe. Also dropped us off at La Fortuna and gave us an excellent restaurant recommendation.
Elizabeth M.
Very enjoyable! Friendly, knowledgeable and experienced staff. Typical Costa Rican food at lunch. Very tasty! Well worth your time.
Acela O.
Had a great experience, safety first, team leader was a great guide very
Knowledgeable of area, fun and extremely friendly!!! Tour and lunch was great.
Sharon A.
Everything was awesome. The entire crew, food, tours! Everything was awesome
Amy A.
This was a fantastic adventure. Our guide was very experienced and also fun. He aimed our raft directly toward the deepest holes and roughest rapids, which for our family with 3 teens, was perfect. He also knew all the trees and plants along the way which was informative. The lunch at the farm was delicious. Great trip!
Keith N.
Great trip and guides made us feel safe despite difficulty of rapids
Perry F.
LOVED this day! Not only was rafting so fun and beautiful, but the lunch (& coffee & moonshine!) afterward was absolutely delicious. I highly, highly recommend this experience.
Malorie T.
My favorite of all the activities we participated in!
Julie S.
I was very impressed that you were able to meet our request to have Jeffrey as our guide. He was awesome once again.
Milagritos B.
Great experience. My family and I had a lot fun.
Mary-Ellen Q.
Our guide, Horatio, made this experience one of the best in my life. We had SO MUCH FUN! I loved getting splashed and roaring down the river. I loved seeing the sloth, the mangrove trees, the rocks, the brahman cows and the river. What a thrill. Horatio made it easy for me, with my replaced knee, to sit securely in the back so I could paddle well. I felt sorry for him as my friend, Polly, was too frail and was unable to sit on the side of the boat. Horatio calmly made a rope holder for her and let her sit on the bottom of the boat and she didn't have to paddle but just be a cheering section. It was all done so easily and professionally. I really appreciate his patience and humor. The lunch we had was the best I had in Costa Rica and the coffee, slide, and sugar cane exhibitions were well put together and timed. With our bus guide, Carlos, this was an OUTSTANDING EXPERIENCE!
Peter G.
Great fun and really enjoyed the lunch in the finca.
Norbert S.
This was an incredibly well done tour. I was surprised to find out that it included lunch at an organic farm where they also included a coffee and sugar cane demonstration. I wish more of the trips included these more local restaurants.
Paula F.
This went above and beyond our expectations. Our tour guide Pita was very knowledgeable and made sure we were safe, had fun and were able to take pictures.
Alan H.
The rafting was great, right on the edge of exciting and safe. Staff gave us good training ahead of time. Expert guides who spoke good English; ours (Yorjani) was particularly enjoyable. The snack on the river was a nice surprise. The lunch meal was very nice. I could have done without the sugar cane demonstration, but that is a minor quibble.
Kim R.
What a fantastic time! Again, I was a bit fearful about whether I could do this adventure but the guide clearly have experience working with many ages and abilities. I had so much fun. It was well timed with the fruit break and the river is great that the bigger waves are in the beginning and then it gets more relaxing. The changing station worked well. The lunch was provided at a beautiful place where I was able to capture several photos of beautiful flowers. The lunch was delicious and the turnaround time on the photos display was impressive. The whole day was perfectly timed - not too short and not too long. Many laughs and thrills all day. Highly recommend them.
Kim B.
The lunch at the organic farm was a bonus!
Rachel L.
Loved our guide, Super Mario. I told him I was a little nervous and he looked out for me. He had lots of information about the area and wildlife and made the trip so much fun with his humor and with instilling a sense of teamwork. Please tell his company that he is the best!
Brittany C.
My only comment is the changing rooms were tight and we felt rushed getting changed. Otherwise this tour was an amazing experience.
Mary C.
This was such a blast and out guide Yorjani was skilled and great fun!
Takiya J.
Amazing experience and our guide Joseph was AMAZING! He was very knowledgeable about rafting and was very funny as well.
Janei J.
This was one of my favorite tours. It had the right amount of thrill for a first-time rafter. The cool water provided reprieve from the heat.
Trent C.
Everything was great except having to return to their office to purchase photos.
Leslie D.
Our favorite experience. Sloths in the trees, toucans flying overhead... excellent guides that made the day so much fun. Rapids were a little intense but we all loved it!
Holly L.
Jairo was a great guide, we felt safe and had an amazing rafting experience
Talitha H.
Our guide Marcos was excellent! He was in tune with our family and interests and took the time to point out different birds, monkeys and lizards and sloths. He was a blast to be around and made us all laugh and really get into the experience. He was just great!!!!
Margaret G.
Very much an enjoyable experience! The guides were great- joking with everyone, but serious about safety instructions. The visit to the Organic Farm was a really nice bonus- highlighting Costa Rican foods and customs. We enjoyed it very much! This was definitely a great value too!
Kimberly K.
This was absolutely wonderful - our guide was very fun, while at the same time being safe. Great company!
Megan B.
My husband actually said that this was one of the best days of his life!
Jane E.
This actually exceeded my expectations. Wow, what an experience. Carlos who was in charge of our boat was great and obviously knew what he was doing. We had such a fantastic time doing this. The lunch was wonderful.
Matt S.
Our guide Mario was amazing
Berendina R.
Would have liked a more challenging and longer raft
Danielle Z.
the water level was low so was a little too tame
Marc R.
We ended up rafting on the Rio Sarapiqui instead of the Rio Balsa. It was perfect for our family (mom, dad, and 4 teenage boys), with a nice mix of calm water, light and moderate (class II and III) rapids. The guides made it fun and did a lot of the work, our guide Jeffry was amazing - he lived near the river and was very knowledgeable about the wildlife, the river and made our experience great. They had a photographer with our group who took amazing photos of us at different points throughout the trip, mostly at some of the more challenging rapids. It was nice to be able to review the photos afterwards, during the BBQ lunch they had for us, and it only cost us $30. We ended up getting 75 high resolution professional photos, which were delivered within hours via an email with a Dropbox link. Overall it was a great experience and we would highly recommend Wave Expedition to others.
Maire P.
Favorite thing i did in Costa Rica
Alicia G.
Great guides, great equipment, wonderful lunch and sugar cane presentation afterwards and our pictures came out super! We had a gal in our raft that was screaming the first ten minutes of the ride then she got washed out of the boat (gently). Our guide, Koki, got her out very quickly and after that she was able to relax and enjoy the ride...she realized she was in good hands. We all had a good laugh at the transformation.
Todd H.
A great first day of activities
Nancy G.
One of the best part of the trip. Guide was Carlos (I think) and he was fun and shared with the enthusiasm of our group. He was our guide in the van as well as rafting. The meal was the best for the entire trip! Absolutely loved this adventure.
Dawn H.
Our guide Carlos was fantastic! This was probably the most fun I’ve had in years. It was a full day and slept very well that night.
Mona N.
The rapids were quite small. We were told that they are bigger during the rainy season.
Maria G.
The guides and equipment were excellent. The river and surrounding scenery was beautiful. We had a great time. It was exactly as I had hoped it would be. Plus we got lunch which I did not expect.
Ginger H.
There were only 1 and 2 rated “rapids” so it was pretty mild and lame. It was more like a float trip than white water rafting. If I had known that this time of year the rapids are not really rapids I would have done something more adventitious.
Marvin M.
The guides knew their stuff and were all around fantastic.
Julie B.
We had such a great time on this river rafting trip. The only thing I could have asked for is that we could have done the whole thing again. Great staff, we had FUN.
Barbara P.
This was our favorite activity- was so much fun! Javier, our driver, and Jairo, our guide, could not have been better. Pictures turned out great. Having an opportunity to change into dry clothes before lunch was an added bonus. The lunch itself was very good- the restaurant staff was so friendly and we enjoyed learning about the sugar cane process.
Ken P.
Our guide was really good. The lunch was excellent and the short program after interesting.
Carol R.
Really a fun activity
Patrick G.
Lunch was excellent. Sugar cane/coffee demonstration was a nice touch to the tour.
Trish G.
Fun trip. The lunch following was excellent!
Michael H.
The whitewater rafting on the Rio Balsa was also excellent. Really, really good.
My wife Becky said it was "wonderful". Would recommend it to anyone.
Dorryl H.
Excellent!!! this was the highlight of our trip along with the beautiful gardens at Los Lagos.
Sherry S.
More than expected! Friendly staff and enjoyable experience.
Debbie Q.
Wave Expeditions staff were all very informative and concerned for our safety on the river. We had a great time !!
Buffie S.
Perfect afternoon on the river. Guides were personable and knowledgeable. And just plain fun! Gerald was AWESOME
Maja K.
This tour exceeded expectations. The guides were professional and safety conscious but were also fun loving and happy. The fresh fruit stop halfway through the river ride was welcome, the ice cold beer at the end a wonderful treat. We were not expecting such a lovely cultural experience at the organic farm. The food was excellent and the coffe demonstration, the sugar cane extraction and the sampling of sugar cane products tasty and informative. Overall, an excellent tour.
Karen S.
Exceeded our expectations. Our guide Horacio was amazing and the organic farm was incredible!
Ashna C.
it was not the balsa river we went to as it was dry; we went an hour away; it was amazing; so fun; we had a great guide and my girls had so much fun; the lunch and snack were delicious; it was the best
John C.
It was fun but not as fast paced as I expected, especially the second half.
Kathleen T.
Kids were delighted by the waves. Fresh fruit was served. Guide gave some history as we traveled.
Lyle R.
Overall great experience.
Beth B.
Terrific guide, fun day. We loved it! Highly recommend.
Extra special was the delicious lunch at Arenal Vida Campesina. All the food was organic. Fantastic meal!
Gerald H.
Excellent excursion. Very enjoyable and safe.
Deborah R.
This was a ton of fun. My family loved it!! However, it's important to note that this was described as a half day tour, but it really took the whole day.
Kerry P.
guide - Gerald - was wonderful
Geoff S.
The rafting was pretty tame compared to other trips I have done. Other than that, the experience was a lot of fun, and we saw a sloth only a few metres above the water at one point - lots of excitement.
Joann W.
Super fun, great day ... VERY WET from the start I wish I would have brought extra shoes too. Loved the lunch after and sugar cane demonstration along with the coffee pour.
Holly S.
We had a blast from beginning to end.
Fred R.
My first whitewater rafting experience here was fantastic, fun and exciting. The farmhouse meal was unexpected and super. Great fruit break halfway through the voyage
Carolle C.
Best day of the trip. Guide Carlos was amazing loved it
Stephen R.
Very nice day. The guides and lunch were very good.
Nina G.
We could not go on the Rio Balsa as there has been a bridge collapse but we went to a different river which was further away, but was still so much fun and worth the extra time in the minibus!
Lauren S.
My husbands first time rafting and he can’t stop talking about it!!
Joy H.
We loved the whitewater rafting on Rio Balsa. Our guides were great. They made sure we were safe and could enjoy ourselves. The lunch after the adventure was more than we expected. I think this may have been my favorite tour.
Emily H.
Food afterwards was great, would have been better with more people in the raft, the other guides were great but the specific one I had in my raft was creepy and made me feel uncomfortable.
Jeff L.
Guide and Transfer were great. This was a safe fun time. We both loved it. The after raft Lunch was awesome as well as the fresh fruit mid raft break. Best time. Great Day
Amanda B.
Again our expectations were exceeded! The guides were so knowledgeable and nice! The lunch was way more than I expected. This was great!
Taylor W.
SO MUCH FUN and the trip to the Sugarcane farm and tasting the sugarcane and sugarcane moonshine was a great surprise for us.
Stewart M.
Great trip. Perfect fit for our family. The lunch and tour of organic farm were a nice surprise.
Russelle C.
Great crew.Tato, our guide was very knowledgeable and caring for our family. I also loved the lunch that was provided. Great setting to eat and the property was nice.
Ernesto A.
Best part of the trip hands down.
Brian G.
Awesome tour with delicious local luncheon and cultural experience. Best tour in costa rica
Josephine K.
We had a blast! The rafting guides were great. The lunch after was delicious and we really enjoyed ourselves.
Chappell E.
My favorite part of our trip! Our guide Carlos was amazing! We felt safe and had some laughs as well. The rafting itself would have made for perfect day, but when we stopped for lunch at the local farm, wow! That was probably the best meal that we experienced our entire trip!
Scott L.
This was one of the highlights of a trip that was amazing on so many levels. The white water rafting was an incredible experience and more challenging than I was originally expecting. The guides were all friendly and helpful and they made the experience very fun. My only "complaint" would be that the trip ended too quickly. It was definitely an experience that we both would repeat.
Joseph K.
One of our best experiences. Staff was fabulous.
Chris S.
Loved this excursion, the staff was excellent!
Roger M.
We were taken to a different river as the water levels were apparently unsatisfactory. No problem. Guides were fantastic. Fun day. Bit squeezy on the bus though.
Diane D.
Wow, such a great day! Rafting was amazing! Saw some wildlife along the way; stopped for fresh pineapple and watermelon; drinks provided; lunch was included and was delicious; learned about sugar caning; toasted at the end of lunch; stopped at a cafe for snacks and saw some 5 to 7 ft. iguanas! Guides were so knowledgeable about the area.
Lorene D.
Diego was an excellent tour guide and the meal afterwards with some cultural information was really great.
Carrie T.
Best whitewater rafting trip ever!! Marcos was our guide and he was so knowledgeable and interesting. Great team leader!
Aditi S.
excellent guides.
Brittany H.
The fruit was so refreshing and delicious. It was a nice break!
Bob M.
one of the highlights of a fantastic trip
Donald R.
GREAT experience, great guide -- we've rafted a few times before, and this was probably our best experience yet!
Paul G.
Best rafting ever! Prolonged suite of just right whitewater; thrillers, not killers.
Scott H.
Best part of the trip.
Roger D.
Good equipment - great rapids (given our ability level) and the guides were good fun. A great day out.
Richard V.
Excellent!
Jayne B.
Great fun for everyone, lovely staff
Vanessa M.
Our guide was very informative about Costa Rican vegetation, produce, and culture on the drive to the Rio. He gave excellent safety protocol instructions and made the trip extremely fun. We had one person in our tour group who was extremely nervous and he went above and beyond to make her feel very comfortable.
David G.
Best value for the cost. Oso was our guide and he is a fun loving guy. The fruit snacks were at a perfect stop and the river rafting was exactly the adventure we wanted. The meal after at the finca was delicious!
Danielle P.
Great tour guides and epic rapidS!!!
Danica M.
A must do experience. My favorite excursion on this trip. This company was amazing and they take pictures and videos for you during the experience. Had a blast and would highly recommend!!
Matt K.
The lovely lady who fed us after the trip gave us some of the best food on the entire vacation and we are still talking about it. Really good guides - we had Jairo.
Michael G.
The rapids were stronger than what I would consider fun
Olivia S.
My favorite tour of the whole trip! Our guides we're very knowledgeable, energetic, and a lot of fun! The fruit served while rafting with some of the freshest and most delicious I've ever eaten. The lunch at the sugarcane farm was very delicious and the tour that we received there was a lot of fun as well.
Firoza P.
This was one of the best trips for WW Rafting. Really well organized and well run. Guide was great. Totally enjoyable! Lunch was great, demo was fun, everything was well planned.
Devin S.
Wicked fun!
Monika D.
So well organized. The fruit stop with the goats was such a treat. Dinner was amazing and the sugar cane demonstration was an unexpected treat.
Margaret B.
Wonderful tour. We enjoyed it from start to finish. Some upselling, but not as much as other trips.
Madhavi D.
This was our favorite excursion. The guides were great, rafting was so fun. The snack break of fresh fruit was unique and enjoyable. The lunch and sugarcane tour were wonderful.
Joni N.
The BEST tour on our vacation. They did an excellent job as guides and made it really fun.
Tammi L.
Same as Big 11 AMA comments. Was a great day and overall experience!
Cathé R.
This tour exceeded my expectations. Jose was a fabulous guide! He had a great sense of humor, and was very skilled with his raft. He was safety conscious...and we practiced reacting to his commands before we got on the river. The fruit that was served halfway through the trip was delicious. Then the dinner at the farm was excellent, and the demonstration of crushing the sugar cane stock and drinking the juice, and then the fermented juice, just topped off the entire experience! I would do this again in a heartbeat!!
Kristin M.
Great first time experience! Loved it
Greg H.
A lot of pickups at other hotels which greatly extended our time since we were the furthest hotel out. Nice surprise having the lunch at the end with the coffee.
Lynda H.
The rafting was great and well organized.
Christine M.
Great guide, helpful to a woman with a bad knee!
Thomas M.
skilled guide, good commentary, very helpful to my wife
John A.
This was the highlight of the tour. The rafting was fantastic. The meal after rafting on the small coffee farm was a really nice touch. Top noche!
Bruce K.
Fun and exciting white water adventure. Went with two of our grand children, 10 and 11 years old. We loved the guides, the white water, and the delicious lunch and tour of coffee and sugar cane after. Great day!
Toni S.
This was our first white water rafting, and I was scared. But Our Guide/boat pilot was very experienced and careful with us. I expected fewer, gentler rapids.
John K.
Great tour great guides loved the organic farm
Teresa C.
By far best company! Felt safe, fun guides! The lunch was a treat and delicious. Amazing culture experience.
Ann E.
Great tour, food, tour and experience.
Lenora B.
another fun day in Costa Rica This was a fun day
Brad G.
Exceeded expectations. Lots of fun. Nice fresh fruit snack break. Great lunch and sugar cane demonstration.
Calin O.
Our guide was wonderful and saved a couple of us from falling into the river. We really enjoyed Carlos and all the information he gave us regarding the wildlife, trees, etc.
Lois L.
Dionis is the best!
Linda H.
Fantastic guide, excellent equipment & delicious fruit during our adventurous rafting experience.
Paul S.
Really fun! Good rapids, not too hardcore (would have loved a difficulty 4 or 5), the guide was so skilled we were never off course or in any danger. The fruit stop was fun and delicious and the coffee plantation after was fun and tasty (nice intro to Guaro). The bus could have a little better seats (other buses were newer or had better cushioning) but it wasn't' too bad.
Cindy B.
This was suppose to be beginner Cat 2-3 and it was more 3-4. I was fine but my 2 friends had no previous experience and it was not as enjoyable as it could have been.
Rosanne M.
First time rafting - wonderful experience! Rio Balsa scenery was beautiful. Enjoyed the fresh fruit during the break. Delicious lunch (and coffee!) on the return trip to the resort!
Sherry M.
Best tour in the LaFortuna area. Great fun and the lunch afterwards was very good too!
Larry P.
I couldn't have had a better day, ever. The guides were sensational and the rafting, just incredible. We laughed all the way down the river and both of us even rode the bull through some rapids. The luncheon we had at a local farmer's home was just incredible and the explanation of how sugar cane was extracted was very learned and enjoyable. The tour of the facility was excellent and the guide extremely knowledgable. Just a totally wonderful day, which should not be missed by anyone.
Jep H.
Way beyond my expectations. I did not, however, realize how hard we would have to paddle. A few times I ran out of steam and did not feel I was carrying my weight with the work. I would highly, highly recommend this to anyone who wants an adventure, and never did this before.
Cheryl P.
We had to change buses a couple of times and had too many hotel stops before the trip. It seemed confusing to the staff too. Wasn't expecting that. Jairo was an amazing guide.
Lois M.
Was hoping for a longer rafting experience but the time spent on the raft was great.Nice lunch following.
Janeen S.
We loved the thrill and also the organic farm lunch
Bonnie K.
Loved the tour, but the pick up on the way there, they had to wait for others at the location in town and we sat for about 1/2 hr -45mins. Then it was a long drive to the start. Should be noted, that you are going to be sitting in a van for 2 hrs before you even start.
Roger T.
Next time would take the tour with more rapids.
Kelli B.
Wild wonderful magical exciting! 10
Jennifer J.
The tour we originally booked had to be cancelled due to debris in the river from the hurricane. We were very happy with how easily rebooked we were on a different tour and really enjoyed the entire experience.
Bonnie G.
It was a lot crazier than we expected, but Jairo was so great and he kept us safe. Lunch was really good at the sugar plantation and the owner gave a wonderful explanation of sugar cane and guaro.
Esther C.
The best part of the whole tour. It was fun, and challenging. The staff were excellent in keeping us safe. Where we ate our meal at the organic farm, was interesting and well done. Highly recommend this.
Roy P.
My favorite excursion of the entire trip. What an experience. The expertise of our raft guide, Carlos was amazing. Fantastic photographs of the experience available for a very nominal fee.
Colleen W.
Carlos was amazing! The top half is level 3 and a real rush, the bottom half less challenging but a relaxing ride. The refreshments on the rating trip were delicious, and the lunch at the local farm was wonderful.
Andrea M.
I felt safe and had a great time.
Erika F.
This was our favorite tour- the guides were great and the lunch at the Costa Rican farm was wonderful.
Jes R.
One of the best experiences on this trip. Was intense and fun.
Velvet R.
Awesome tour and guides! Pura Vida!
Meg R.
Such a fun experience!!! We loved the local pineapple and watermelon at the snack stop and lunch afterwards was at a very local place so we got traditional Costa Rica food which was simple and delicious. We felt safe with our guides and rafting was SO fun!! Class 2 and Class 3 rapids meant it wasn't too scary and was perfect for our first time rafting, We just wish the whole thing was Class 3, as we found the Class 2 section to be more about taking in the scenery than the thrills on the water. Would do this tour again in flash, it was one of our trip highlights!!
Wendy C.
This day was very good - the guides on the rafts were fantastic and the guide on the bus was really good also. It felt very safe because they gave us a lot of verbal instruction about what to do and what not to do once we were on the rafts. The rafts/life jackets/paddles, etc. were all in very good condition. The lunch that they took us to afterward was really delicious and the location was beautiful too. I would highly recommend this tour!
Claudie L.
A great adventure. Kids had a superb guide (Orland), and ours (Didier) was also great.
Gillian I.
Awesome. Once again we had incredible guides who went out of their way to help our disabled son participate fully. Wonderful family fun day and the meal that was included was absolutely delicious!
Bari W.
Fantastic day overall.
Constance H.
The rafting was amazing and the staff was exceptional at this company. They all made sure we had fun!
Annalisa A.
The guides were the best part of this trip. They were really fun people and I had a great time with everyone. The rafting was also awesome. The rapids were small enough to feel safe but big enough to have fun.
Kim W.
Really loved this tour. Guides were amazing and the stop at the organic farm for lunch at the end was a great feature of the trip.
Sean C.
we had a great time do this, it was great the guides were great. but expecting to be taken back to La Fortuna we were taken to a sugar cane/ coffee plantation for 3 hrs!!! that was not what we signed up for.
Tara K.
We had a blast on this excursion. I am not certain I would choose to do the stop for lunch if I picked this a second time.
Linda K.
Excellent guide and fun. Recommend it for any family.
Bridget H.
Very fun! Excellent experience and knowledgable guides. Great!
Summer L.
One of the highlights of the trip. Great company and so much fun. Highly recommend for others!
Patrick F.
food very good
Derek A.
Very awesome adventure. As very experienced white water adventurers, we will take the 3-4 class trip next time. Great day... Great Staff and very professional and experienced.
Chris K.
Was one of our favorite activities. The fruit in the middle was a nice surprise and the food was nice at the restaurant so overall was a great day.
Melissa G.
EXCELLENT!!!!!!!!!!!
Aaron M.
Not only were the rapids and guides great, but the stop at the local farm for lunch was awesome!
Alison M.
fantastic day, the guides were awesome and the lunch at the farm was charming and delicious
Edward V.
This was one of the highlights of our tour. Our guide Didier was absolutely brilliant and great fun - I'm confident our raft was the most fun out of the whole group and he went a long way to making it so. The place we went for lunch afterwards had some of the best food we ate in Costa Rica during our entire stay - just incredible.
Sheila S.
Great tour! Very fun and felt safe. Enjoyed the lunch.
Kristin T.
Our guide Pablo was awesome. This was a great experience, and accurately described as moderately adventurous.
Cindy S.
One of the most fun times of the entire trip. It was great!
Kate M.
Another tour we loved. The guides were great and we ended up getting more than expected! We thought we'd have a box lunch, but it was a wonderful sit down lunch with a traditional meal, sugar cane experience, plus more.
Ashley S.
Guides were great and the lunch on the farm at the end was awesome!!
Gary H.
A very exciting time, guides were knowledgeable and helpful, would definitely do it again.
Mary B.
Another fabulous tour with amazing guides. Highly recommend this tour company.
Heather A.
enjoyed the tour. It was a big group so felt it lost a little due to the number of buses and the length of the last stop before hitting the river. Our guide made the ride a little rough as I don't think he was as experienced and hit rocks pretty hard along the way. The lunch event was fun and the sugar cane was cool. Enjoyed it but also thought it was pretty tame for what it was ranked. Probably would have done a smaller group and more exciting rapid.
Sandy G.
Terrific guide and raft company. Really enjoyed the additional indigenous farm/coffee/hooch tour, lunch was delicious-Outstanding!
Debra D.
Loved it. Water is so warm compared to our whitewater in North America .
Jim S.
Easily the best activity we did. An all time great.
Deborah W.
Brilliant! Guides were smart, funny, knowleagble and enthusiastic. Lunch was spectacularly tasty. Beer on the bus afterwards was brilliant. A great day.
Kurt C.
This was probably the best tour for my wife but talking some guest at the hotel they took a class 4 tour that I think might have been more exciting for me. But saying that the Drive and guides we awesome and the lunch location also a good time.
Alyse T.
Rafting was much shorter than I thought it would be. Lunch was very good and the guides were very nice.
Charmon A.
Loved the lunch and coffee plantation tour!!
Teddi L.
Our tour guide was AWESOME!! He made a great trip even better. Our favorite excursion on our trip!
Merrikay L.
Amazing experience, would do it again. Great guides, well prepared and so much fun.
Jane B.
Guides were fantastic. This was a highlight of our trip. Wonderful experience.
JoAnn B.
Fabio was a lot of fun and rafting was great. The lunch and sugar cane presentation was a nice plus.
Cheryl P.
Great trip - grows rapids great guide, great food! We were in the same raft with friends we made the day before in the zip line tour!! Made even more friends rafting. Loved it!
Kyle S.
best activity in our stay at Arenal
Marguerite M.
Excellent rafting company. Guides were extremely qualified. The luncheon at the farm was excellent. Everything exceeded expectations.
Mary H.
want to do it again
Marcela
Great adventure didn't get whole white water rafting experience river low for ride but awesome scenic views
Michael M.
The only real negative was the river was low so it wasn't as exciting as I'd of hope but that isn't something the tour company could control
Lanette N.
This tour was our favorite and the guide, Fabio was awesome! We loved it! Plus there was lunch at a local coffee farm that we didn't know we'd be going to.
Didier, our guide, was the best!
Brigitte J.
amazing staff and awesome planning of the whole activity!
Charles C.
Superb. Great guides and variety of white water. Wonderful lunch afterwards at an organic farm. Only logistical issue was horrible changing rooms. It would have been better if we all just changed under out towels at the landing site as the facility was very dirty and crowded. This outing was one of the highlights of the trip.
Our guide was amazing, the fruit break was much needed. The one thing that wasn't as awesome- it came with lunch... at 2:30pm... would have been nice to know have a big snack right before so you don't stave
Wonderful trip. Our guide, Jerald, was great! He made sure everyone, including our 8 yr old, had an awesome time. Lunch at the farm was also a great bonus!
The best outing, great team, the lunch and farm tour after rafting was so unexpected. We enjoyed wave Expedition . So much energy and give you great history of the balsa River from the crew team.
Tour guide, Fabio, did a superb job. He was a great team leader.
It was exciting, safe, organized and a lot of fun!
soooo fun! even for someone as non-athletic like me. i fell in and felt safe the whole time. i also LOVED our lunch and cultural learning stopover. and the fruits and beer after rafting. definitely my favourite excursion.
Best Activity of the whole trip!!!!
Fantastic experience.
Lots of fun. Good guides.
This was another activity to remember. The tour guides, one in particular, were wonderful and we had a ball. The rafting was exciting! It was nice that lunch was provided and we had a bit of time to learn about Costa Rican culture at the coffee/sugar cane farm. This was another great day!
My second favorite tour of the trip! Guides were knowledgeable and awesome!
Great tour guide, he made the trip better!
CARLOS WAS THE BOMB!!
GREAT JOB
Really had a good time. great guides. They had a lunch break for us. and then a real lunch that was fantastic.
Fabio was a great guide!
Again, guides and travel were great. We just wish that we had more options in terms of choosing the difficulty. We have both done Class III-V rapids in parts of the US so this was a little disappointing. Additionally, because it was Class III, some parents thought it was appropriate to bring their young children, which negatively impacted our experience. Overall, it was still fun, but I would maybe do things differently, perhaps the Class IV river.
Fantastic rafting.
Pickup from hotel timely. Guides were friendly and informative. the visit to the fruit stand/rest stop before the trip was perfectly timed. The visit to the organic farm/restaurant and sugar cane demonstration were an unexpected and welcome bonus. Jairo was the BEST river guide!
We really enjoyed ride and guide. Lunch at the organic plantation was nice.
Carlos was great. Loved everything about the tour
Fabio did a great job as our guide
EXCELLENT experience
This tour was a real hi light. The guide Favio was excellent. So much fun.
Scared the crap out of me; but it was good.
Carlos was a great tour and raft guide. everyone made it a fun experience.
That activity was the best and I had the most fun on that day!
Shuold rent GoPro cameras.
This whole experience was outstanding ---although I did get bruised from an over-zealous non-English speaking tourist who accidentally hit me with his paddle. Our boat guide took such good care to see to my safety and the whole day was great fun.
Probabaly the best tour for overall experience, with a fantastic lunch and extras such as towels, beer, etc provided that made the tour great
We have been on lots of whitewater adventures, so we have some experience to compare with this group. Our guides were excellent in their water and safety skills. They "read the river" really well to make the most of every wave! We enjoyed the fresh fruit snacks along the river side. The lunch at the end of our trip was absolutely delicious and was served on banana leaves. Local special brewed coffee and the sugar cane liquor toast really made for a complete local experience. Everyone was friendly and engaging! We had the time of our lives!
Very nice and fun experience, friendly guides!
Our guide Tom was great! We had a blast on the rafting trip!
This was a great tour and was even more expansive than expected. The white water rafting was so fun! After rafting we were treated to a delicious home made lunch at an organic farm where they shared their coffee making and sugar cane production history with us. We got more than we expected here and enjoyed very much so!
Great tour and guides. Great treat and surprise at the lunch spot they stopped at afterwards.
The tour went above my expectations. I expected rating and some kind of minimal box lunch. A fun experience, fresh fruit, good lunch, sugar cane demo--- awesome day!
Totally fun trip and probably our best activity on the whole trip.
Over met expectations.. Love it. guides were great.. nice ending with sugarcane demo.. etc .. highly recommend.
This was by far our favorite excursion on the trip. The shuttle guide was fantastic and funny and so much fun. Our boat guy Mauricio was very experienced and trained us well on how to navigate our boat down the river. They were all soo much fun and made the experience a joy for all the rafters. They were quick to lend assistance when anyone fell out of the boats. The meal was AMAZING. The coffee demonstration very interesting. The sugar cane demonstration was a treat as well. We got 3 adventures in one. Everything was perfect.
Fun and wild, more so than expected!
The rafting was the highlight of the trip. Our guide, Carlos, was wonderful. He was very attentive, knowledgeable and professional. He truly made the trip safe, fun and completely enjoyable. As a non-swimmer and bringing my senior citizen mom with me, I was a little nervous but Carlos was so attentive my nervousness quickly resolved and we both had a wonderful time.
The farm/restaurant where we had lunch had the best food we had the entire trip! We were very impressed. We would have liked more time to eat as we were rushed to leave to see a sugar cane demonstration.
The rapids were pretty lame, not class 3 rapids.
Awesome!!!! The river was so much fun. The lunch after was excellent and all the guides were extermely nice and helpful.
Excellent!
Want to do this over and over again. Great time. Guides were fantastic and knowledgeable. Did I say I want to do this over and over again. Best thing I did while in Costa Rica.
Drive not so great. Guides wonderful. White water fabulous. Guides wonderful. A truly perfect experience. Lunch was also great was a sugar cane lesson.
Again, the guides were top notch. Helpful, friendly, and very professional. The fresh fruit at the break was a special treat also! An amazing time was had by all of us.
Rafting was wonderful and exciting. The rapids were plenty for us. The break, pineapple and watermelon served on the overturned raft was a treat.
Freaking awesome and super fun fun! Highly recommended! SO MUCH FUN! Loved the staff!
Mauricio was our guide and all the guys working the river were friendly and fun. Definitely felt safe and taken care of. An amazing experience! Lunch afterwards was delicious.
Overall very good rafting, very appropriate given my younger daughter's age (10). The group was very large but we had fun. the food and sugar cane experience afterward was a nice touch, but food quality was just okay.
too many people, it was really crowded
Absolutely fantastic! Gerald (Flaco) was the BEST instructor ever. Fabio on the bus was hilarious and really set the tone of the day. Not only were the rapids beyond fun, but I loved the fruit break midway through. Lunch afterwards was one of the best meals we had in Costa Rica...and the sugar cane demonstration were incredible as well!
We had the best tour guide (shout out to FLACO). He was highly entertaining, not to mention extremely strong. The stop for a fruit break was a perfect added touch.
Favorite!
Tour guides were super awesome
Went above and beyond! Lunch was delicious and the coffee wascso superb.
It was a lot of fun!! We left safe and the staff were super friendly.
The rapids were claimed to be level 2-3. The first section of the adventure the water was extremely rough (more comparable to level 4-5 from my experience). Enjoyed the adventure overall especially the lunch break.
Only issue was that we had to wait for about 1.5 hours for the dam to release water - most of the time was spent sitting uncomfortably in our raft for the ride to begin due to low water.
Great tour, great staff, great time!
This was an amazing experience. Our guide was so much fun and took such good care of us. We saw a lot of wildlife on the river including sloths. The rapids were challenging without being terrifying. This was our favorite activity as a family on our trip.
guides made it a lot of fun!!
Loved the whole tour!
Above and beyond meeting expectations. All guides were great. Lunch was delicious and the added coffee treat and sugarcane exhibit was phenomenal! Also the beers at the end of the rafting was a delightful touch!
The guide didn't like our group, it was obvious.
Our guide was awesome. Wish I remembered his name. I think this was our best excursion and I would encourage everyone to do it. (Gave it a great review on Tripadvisor). The organic lunch was the best meal we had while we were in Costa Rica. Wonderful tour!!!!
our guides were excellent. wonderful experience.
This was the second-highest highlight of the vacation, only to zip-lining. Lots of fun, great guides. The only downside is that they offered to sell us photos of ourselves, but I never found the photos on their website and they never returned my emails. I would have bought at least one.
Had a wonderful time on the river and the added lunch and talk about coffee and sugar cane was a plus
Call us if you want to see more reviews.
Before you go
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difficulty level of the Rio Balsa whitewater rafting?
The Rio Balsa offers Class II and III whitewater rafting, making it an ideal adventure for first-timers and those seeking an exciting yet accessible experience without extreme difficulty.
What is included in the Rio Balsa whitewater rafting tour?
The tour package includes professional guides, a dedicated safety kayaker, all necessary rafting equipment, round-trip transportation from Arenal Volcano area hotels, and a traditional Costa Rican lunch.
How long does the Rio Balsa whitewater rafting tour last?
The total duration of the tour, including round-trip transfers, is approximately 5.5 to 6 hours. The actual river run on the Rio Balsa typically lasts between 1.5 to 2 hours.
What should I bring for the Rio Balsa whitewater rafting trip?
Participants should bring clothes that can get wet, secure shoes, sunblock, and a change of dry clothes for after the rafting adventure.
The people behind your vacation
Personal service from Pacific Trade Winds
- Highly trained Costa Rica vacation specialists
- Personal customer service and concierge services at the highest level
- TripAdvisor Hall of Fame recognition for service
- Ranked #1 in its TripAdvisor category
Make this tour part of your Costa Rica vacation
Request a vacation package including Whitewater Rafting Adventure on the Rio Balsa Class II and III.
Related Costa Rica Travel Planning
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- Explore Costa Rica vacation packagesExplore vacation styles and itineraries for your Costa Rica trip.
- Plan a custom Costa Rica vacationTell Pacific Trade Winds what you would like to include in your vacation.