The Pacuare River (Rio Pacuare)

Sections | History | Tourism | People | Rapids | Camping | Flora & Fauna | Dam

Introduction:

The Pacuare River, known as the Rio Pacuare, is one of the jewels of Costa Rica and according to National Geographic, even the world.   National Geographic has ranked the river as one of the top ten rivers in the world. The heart pounding whitewater along with its remote jungle location and its warm water (65 degrees Fahrenheit) make this a popular destination for adventurous travelers seeking a whitewater induced adrenaline rush.   

This tropical river is rain fed so it typically runs highest from May to January and the lowest water is seen in March and April.   However, the river can be rafted all year round.   Hurricane season can sometimes produce enough rain in 8 to 10 hours for the river to reach flood stage where it is no longer safe to run the river.   Since there are no main tributary rivers, only lots of small creeks that feed the river, the moisture content of the surrounding mountains plays a major role into the rivers water level.   

The Pacuare River starts in the Cordillera de Talamanca and travels approximately 108 km into the Caribbean.   The river has three main sections that are popular with whitewater enthusiasts.  

Sections:

The most common section is known as the Lower and goes from Finca La Cruz down 23 miles to the town of Siquirries and is typically done as a two-day trip.   For a one-day trip a second put in at Tres Equis is used that leaves for a 19 mile trip.   The lower section starts with a serious of class III rapids.   When the river enters the Huacas River Gorge the there are a handful of class IV rapids including Upper and Lower Huacas.   The elevation near Finca del Cruz is near 400 meters, 375 at the Tres Equis put in, and the river reaches approximately 40 meters at Siquirres which is nearly 1,200 feet in elevation loss.  

The section of the river known as the Upper is approximately ten miles long and contains many class IV and V rapids including multiple waterfalls.   The Upper ends at Finca La Cruz.   This section is typically only run in a whitewater kayak.

The upper most section of the Pacuare River, that is run, is known as the Upper Upper and is approximately 16 miles long and contains numerous class II and III rapids.   The logistics necessary to enter the put in on this section is the most common deterrent to commercial use.  

From the town of Siquirres to the Caribbean the river is very flat and has minimal current.   The river empties into the Caribbean just north of Puerto Limon in Tortegura.   The river is bordered by many banana plantations for the last 30 miles and as a result many blue bags, that are used to protect the banana crop, are found in the river, polluting it and killing the fish.   This last section of the river contains alligators and caimans.   A descent on this section is typically done by canoe and takes at least seven hours.

History:

The Pacuare River was first rain in 1975 by Micheal Cane.   In 1978 Cane started Costa Rica Expeditions to run commercial trips down the river.   During this time period Costa Rica was not a popular tourist destination.  

Somewhere between 1980 to 1983 Rafiel Gayo, who had previous worked for Cane at Costa Rica Expeditions, found a partner in the United States and brought down four rafts to start Rios Tropicalas.

In either 1984 or 1985 the company Adventuras Naturalas started running the Pacuare River commercially.  

Tico's River Adventures was started in 1986 by Roberto (known in Turrialba as just Tico) after a year working with Adventuras Naturalas.  

By 1990 Costa Rica was being discovered as a tourist destination and every year since has seen more and more people coming to visit the country and its rivers.  

The nearby Reventazon River was damned in 1998 driving more people and all the companies to now focus on the Pacuare River.  

Tourism:

In most of the country tourism as seen as more lucrative then growing a cash crop.   In the early 90s there were approximately half a million tourists every year, now there are almost two million people every year that come to Costa Rica as tourists.  

The main tourist season in Costa Rica is between December and April during the countries dry season.   A second busy season is in June, July and August.  

There is not such thing as a low season on the Pacuare River, unlike most all rivers in the United States that do not run high enough or have enough demand for all but the few months of summer.  

Vacation times vary between the US and Canada and Europe so there is a constant influx of tourists every time of the year.  

People:

The area surrounding the Pacuare River until the river meets the town of Siquerries is home to many natives of Costa Rica.  

The Cabecar Indians live along the east side of the river for the majority of the rivers distance.   Their sustenance is from farming, growing bananas, and some ranching.    Although this tribe is known to practice "black magic" they are considered friendly.  

The Burucas Indians once lived on the Pacific side of the Pacuare River.  

Before Christopher Columbus the Guitar Indians inhabited most of the land along the Caribbean.

Another tribe popular in the area were the Bruncas.   This tribe was famous for their gold.

Rapids:

As with most rivers with whitewater rapids the names of the rapids change depending on who you talk to.   Names are typically reserved for the larger rapids so not all the class II rapids have names.  

After heavy rains, typically just after Hurricane Season, the rapids on the Pacuare River have changed.   Some rapids have mellowed, some have appeared.

This is the most complete list we were able to come up with for the lower section of the river.

Starting from Finca La Cruz (the Lower section):

Plan A then Plan B rapids

About where Tres Equis comes in is Welcome (Bienvenidos)

Pelya Oho - Spanish for Open your eyes

At the first significant waterfall coming into the river is the rapid Rodeo or Donde (Donde is Where in Spanish)

Double Drop Waterfall on the right marks the beginning of the Huacas River Gorge and the rapid Double Drop starts it off.

Upper Huacas is the first class IV and mid way through has a waterfall coming down into the middle of the river usually requiring rafts to go underneath it.  

After the rapid Upper Huacas the large Huacas Waterfall pours into the river from at least a hundred feet up.  

The next rapid is Lower Huacas and maybe the hardest rapid (Class IV) on the section with a tight move against an undercut cliff face.  

Upper then Lower Pinball come next with technical moves between numerous rocks.

The gorge starts to mellow out and then comes Guatamala Rapid .

The last class IV rapid is Cimerones and is marked by a series of larger and larger river wide hydraulics.  

Indian Rapid is a dangerous rapid due to undercut features on many of the channels on the right hand side but is easily snuck with channels on the left.

Dos Montanas is an "s" curved rapid that feeds right into the steep and narrow canyon by the same name that was at one time going to be the destination for a hydro power damn.   This rapid was once much harder but heavy rains have mellowed the rapid out.  

The final rapid is Graduation or Boats to the Wall .  

Bobito for a time was a popular rapid underneath one of the more beautiful waterfalls in the canyon.   A landslide caused the rapid to quickly form but the strong force of the river has rearranged the rocks as to now you wouldn't have even known it existed.    

Camping:

For multi day trips down the river the adventurer has two options.   There are campsites, complete with kitchens, bathrooms and tents or lodges with cabins and restaurants.

There are three campsites on each side of the river and the two most popular are the C to C and Fernandos campsite.  

Adventuras and Rios both have lodges available for their clients and sometimes for rent.

Flora and Fauna:

Large cats have been spotted near the river but as always these animals are elusive.   A Black Panther was spotted approximately 2km from the river in 1986.   Jaguars have been spotted near the Haucas River Gorge.

Ant Eaters are common as well as raccoons, river otters, iguanas, white-faced monkeys, and sloths.   Howler Monkeys are found on the lower sections after the Dos Montanas canyon.   

There are five different but common snakes are found in the area.   The poisonous ones include the Coral snake, the Bush Master, Fer-de-Lance.   The Laura and Sopy Lota (long black snake that eats poisonous snakes) are also common in the area.

The Blue Morpho is the most popular and beautiful butterfly of the area.    

The Rainbow Toucan is most commonly seen when it is raining or foggy on the river.   Parakeets can sometimes been seen after the Dos Montanas canyon.   Other common birds of the area are the Orependula (Oriel), King Fisher, Tiger and Blue Heron, Hawks, Osprey, King Vultures, Sun Bird and Snowy Egrets.  

Most of the river corridor is first generation rain forest and has never been touched.   Common trees of the area include the Sabe tree, the national tree of Guatemala, as well as the red Indiana Desnudo (Naked Indian tree).

After Dos Montanas, the Heart of Palm, coconut and banana trees become very prominent.  

Dam:

The Pacuare River is under constant threat from the Instituto Constrrricense de Electricidad to be dammed.   The ICE is the telecommunications and power monopoly in Costa Rica and has purposed daming the river on multiple occasions to generate electricity.

Before 1991 a dam was purposed and started near the bottom of the Lower section at Dos Montanas.   However, on April 23, 1991 a major earthquake, registering 7.5 on the Richter Scale, shook the town of Peurto Limon for 35 seconds.   This caused many fissures in the rock at Dos Montanas and convinced ICE to stop working on that particular damn project.   

Another dam was purposed in on the Upper Upper section of the river in 2006 but the ideas was rejected by the people of the nearby city of Turrialba due to concerns about tourism and pollution. This proposal will, however, been brought back up to vote 10 years after the original rejection.  

The Reventazon River, which flows parallel to the Pacuare River, was damed in 1998 for electricity production.  

Special Thanks:

This information came from a number of resources but mostly from Roberto (Tiko), owner of Tico's River Adventures in Turrialba. Tico is a dear friend of Green Frog Adventures and was instrimental in helping the company get established in its earliest days. A huge thanks to Tiko for taking the time to teach us not only how to run the Pacuare but a little information about it as well.