Pacuare Outdoor Center — Local services in Siquirres

Absolutely best white water experience and the highlight of 2 weeks we spent vacationing in Costa Rica. Thumbs up to Pacuare Outdoor Center organization and amazing experience it provides and to me - for making the best decision to go with POC for this activity. My only wish is that instead of doing 2 day white water rafting, we would have done 4 day ultimate experience. Well, we have a reason to come back! As I was planning our summer trip to Costa Rica with my 3 boys (21, 14, 11), I really wanted to fit a two-day rafting trip on Pacuare river. I am so so happy I came across POC who helped us make it happen. From the initial communication to final goodbye after the completion of the trip, everything was just perfect and definitely will be the adventure to remember a lifetime. The entire tour is expertly thought through. The night before the launch, we opted to stay at Turrialba Vista, the B&B accommodations below the main house of the POC founder, Tom and it was a wonderful experience on its own. For the 4 of us, we had two rooms with 2 beds in each. Modern design, comfortable, with beautiful views. Tom treated us like family through our entire stay. We met their cool and super friendly dogs - Rocky and Shaq. We had dinner with Tom and his family and after dinner,,Tom even organized an awesome surprise for us. The following morning, after delicious breakfast we were off on our adventure. We drove our rental car to the meeting point, about 20 min drive, where our guide Arturo met us. We left our car and luggage in a safe location and switched to Arturo’s truck to get to the starting point. The luggage would later arrive to the lodge which means you don’t need to bring anything on the raft with you (except sunscreen and maybe your phone in waterproof case. Arturo provided us an orientation of how to row and we launched after a short practice. We had safety guide Manfred accompanying us in his kayak while on the river. The first day was a shorter ride with easier rapids to get used to rafting, with stop overs for a swim in a waterfall and another stop where we jumped off the rocks into Pacuare (for the brave souls). POC lodge where we spent the night is a beautiful place. The lodge is newly built, with rustic yet modern design. Overlooking the river, it is such a idillic place. The individual cabins have all the convenience needed - bathroom and hot shower, comfortable beds - and yet you have a feeling that you are camping in the rainforest - you are in the middle of it. There is no electricity available in the cabin, instead candles are provided. Our afternoon activity included zip lining and Tarzan swing near the lodge. No crowds, no lines, just our raft group. And again, the guides are there to oversee it, and ensure safe and super fun and amazing experience. Our second day included longer time on the river and more challenging rapids. My younger son did not feel comfortable doing it and it was not a problem. He stayed with Fernando who was bringing luggage to the our final destination and he also took care of my boy. Another super convenient service POC provided was driving our rental car to the final meeting point which saved us 1.5 hrs of backtracking as we were headed to La Fortuna after Pacuare. Arturo is an expert river guide. He made the experience super fun and yet we felt safe even on the most intimidating rapids. He knows a lot about the river and surroundings and pointed out fun facts as we were rafting. I can’t describe how magnificent Pacuare is with the primary forest and canyons and rapids. White water rafting is not exactly a walk in the park, we all had a really good workout after 2 days on the river and were quite sore the following day. The soreness served as a reminder of the great time we had. Super grateful to everyone at POC for this absolutely wonderful experience. This was definitely a highlight activity of our vacation in Costa Rica. I recommend trips organized by POC to everyone who is planning vacation in...

OMG, i just completed one the of the most incredible experience of my lifetime! Tom and the team at Pacuare Outdoor Center (POC) won my heart over! From our arrival at the San Jose airport through all our excursions to the journey back to the airport, I felt like we were in excellent hands. We were well-informed of what was coming up, what to expect, yet allowing for the element of surprise.

We started with a tour with a few points of interest of San Jose with a visit to the Cathedral and the historic downtown area. I was amazed with the attention to detail and the wealth of knowledge shared about the history of Costa Rica. After, we headed to our first treat, a hike through the lush vegetation, up the river to visit a few spectacular waterfalls. All of these occurred before we even checked-in to our accommodations. The week continued with one pleasant surprise after another. The first evening we experienced beautiful yoga and a delicious dinner (home cooked) Costa Rican style, with a delicious natural juice- smoothie.

Day 2 began with a delicious breakfast. After, we traveled to the river for our rafting 101 safety and training lesson. Then, we began our journey down the river for our 2 hour journey to POC. The river was such a trill and the lunch, the crew prepared on the river, hit the spot. The ambiance surrounding us of the lush vegetation (aka jungle) and side streams that we were able to explore, were breath taking!

We arrived to the base of the lodge shortly after lunch and took a short hiked up the mountain through the beautiful landscape to arrive at the lodge. I was in Aw with the beautiful landscape, accommodations, people, food, Activities, etc. What I discovered throughout my stay at the POC was that each moment was filled with a breath taking experience.

This afternoon our excursion included a hike up to the canopy to Zip-line through the Jungle. I found that this is the best way to get a birds eye view of the lush landscape, so inviting and beautiful. The staff again went above and beyond with a delicious dinner, after we relaxed, played card and board games, while over looking the lush landscaped and mountains into the river.

The climate in the evening and through the night was cool and refreshing, which led to a wonderful restful night, with the tranquility of the sound of the river flowing below.

Our third day was truly life changing as if the other two weren’t. The Tarzan Swing, I believe has got to be one of the best self development tool I have experienced. Words could never do justice to the adrenaline rush along with the thoughts that flashed through my mind as I prepared for the jump. (Simply, just do it). After the Tarzan swing we had yet another delicious breakfast which included pancakes, eggs, fresh fruits, guava jelly and fresh squeezed OJ. Then, we headed to the river for our final stretch with the level 3 & 4 rapids. Between the safety session on day one and the attention to details, our raft guide provided along with the support team on the kayak, I felt safe, nervous but felt we were in excellent hands. Sure enough this part of the river was filled with incredible obstacles, currents and majestic views and experiences. Lunch again on the river was exceptional.

From the River experience, we moved down the mountain to the Caribbean coast, to checkout the hipe of the Treehouse and the prestine Caribbean Sea. Upon our arrival, I was speechless. Truly a dream come true for the kid in me that loved to climb trees growing up.

The cool thing was that the beach was 5 minutes way. We went paddle boarding, experiencing yoga or just soaking up the sun and the sand while indulging in a tropical beverage. I don't want to spoil any part of your adventure, but I will share that every destination with POC was truly either, breath-taking, heart-felt or an adrenaline rush. The most difficult part for me was leaving. Simply put, I...

POC is simply the best.

I have been whitewater kayaking for almost 30 years and have paddled in a number of countries. The people at Pacuare Outdoor Centre run a top-rate professional operation catering to a wide variety of groups and individuals, and they do it in style.

We booked months in advance from our home in Australia. POC communication was easy, fast and demonstrated flexibility and responsiveness to our queries. We knew we had found the right partner organisation.

My family of 4 (kids aged 18+20) booked a 1-day canyon descent and 2 days of packrafting. No one else in the region appeared to offer solo packrafts. This was important to us as we prefer the control and skill-building that comes with it.

Our private tour with POC was superb. We lodged with Tom and his family at their B&B about 15 minutes outside Turrialba. So much fun. Games of pool. Glorious sunrises looking out over the valley. Our best mattress experience by far in 2 weeks at various Costa Rican destinations. And the best: the dogs. Special mentions to Shaq, Rocky & Fraser. The meals prepared by Maritza were the best local meals we enjoyed on our trip. Gracias Maritza :)

The canyon was so much fun: 5 waterfall abseils over about 3 hours. A very local company indeed, Johan and Ariel of Infinity Green Tours were professional, safety focussed and fun. Pura Vida! A mid-canyon fresh fruit snack beside Johan's aunt's house provided energy and a nice break half-way along. Then we were honoured to be invited to Johan's house where his mother had prepared a lovely lunch.

Our first day of packrafting was on the Pejibaye River. This was our warm-up day. Our head guide Luis "Luigi" gave us one of the better whitewater briefings I've experienced: comprehensive but not condescending. Then we paddled the lower part of the river, which was fairly continuous class II/II+. This was a great time for the guides to reinforce basic skills. And a bit of surfing. The Kokopelli packrafts proved to be compact, responsive and surprisingly stable.

What I liked best was the format of the day. After running the lower part of the river (a bit over an hour), we drove upriver and ran a slightly harder section followed by a re-run of the lower section. This was psychologically important; while the lower seemed intimidating on the first run for my family, it was just easy and fun on the second. It was a great opportunity to re-examine fear in light of very recent experience.

POC had recommended running the Lower Pacuare for the next day, spending the night at their on-river lodge and rafting down the grade IV rapids the next day. We explained that we really wanted to packraft individually. POC was amazing in adapting their plan to honour our wishes. We instead ran the Upper Upper Pacuare - a wonderful boulder-filled 10km stretch with fairly continuous class II+/III. The one IV we portaged. POC was flexible in letting me kayak the day while the rest continued in the packrafts. It was a perfect level-up on the day before and everyone had a blast. We ran it in 'expedition style' with a defined order; Luigi leading 2 of our team, followed by Cookie leading the final 2. It was a very well ordered arrangement allowing everyone to follow clear lines down the rapids.

A special shout out to Cookie, our kayak safety guide who was so much fun on the rivers.

POC took care of all our transportation needs during our stay; it was so convenient and the drivers were reliable and safe on those crazy mountain roads.

We didn't make it to POC's lodge on the Lower Pacuare on this trip. It looks amazing and surely represents a compelling reason for our return one day.

If you are Turrialba-bound, consider POC for your adventure partner; you are unlikely...